The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months

Chapter 7

Intentionality

Everything you want to accomplish in life requires an investment of your time, so when you want to improve your results, you must face the fact that your supply of time is completely inelastic—and perishable.

Even in this era of rapid innovation and technological advancement, time, more than any other resource, still limits our results. When we ask our clients what keeps them from achieving more, most often we hear that it’s a lack of time—and yet, time is the most squandered of all personal resources. A study conducted a few years ago by Salary.com found that the average person wastes nearly two hours of every working day!

The Importance of Yes and No

The reality is that if you are not purposeful about how you spend your time, then you leave your results to chance. While it’s true that we control our actions and not our outcomes, our results are created by our actions. It stands to reason that the actions that we choose to take throughout our day ultimately determine our destiny.

In spite of the priceless value of time, many people engage each day on its own terms. In other words, they satisfy the various demands of the day as they are presented, spending whatever time is needed to respond without giving much thought as to the relative value of the activity. This is a reactive approach in which the day is controlling you, and prevents you from performing at your best.

To realize your potential, you must learn to be more mindful about how you spend your ...