Become A Miser Of Moments: The Power Of Just One Hour A Day
“The days come to us like friends in disguise, bringing priceless gifts from an unseen hand; but, if we do not use them, they are borne silently away, never to return. Each successive morning new gifts are brought, but if we failed to accept those that were brought yesterday and the day before, we become less and less able to turn them to account, until the ability to appreciate and utilize them is exhausted. Wisely was it said that lost wealth may be regained by industry and economy, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance and medicine, but lost time is gone forever.”
The quote above is from a man named Orison Swett Marden (1850 – 1924).
He was the founder of Success magazine and American inspirational author who wrote on success in life and how to achieve it.
The above quote can be found in his book “Pushing to the Front” in a chapter called “The Possibilities In Spare Moments”.
The chapter contains some great pieces of inspiration and encouragement for anyone who feels like they don’t have any time in their day to get the things they really want done.
Become a Miser of Moments
Marden gives some powerful examples of great people from his day who accomplished amazing things with very little time each day.
He says, “Great men have ever been misers of moments.
Cicero said: ‘What others give to public shows and entertainments, nay, even to mental and bodily rest, I give to the study of philosophy.’
Lord Bacon’s fame springs from the work of his leisure hours while Chancellor of England. During an interview with a great monarch, Goethe suddenly excused himself, went into an adjoining room and wrote down a thought for his ‘Faust,’ lest it should be forgotten. Sir Humphry Davy achieved eminence in spare moments in an attic of an apothecary’s shop.”
And those are just a few of the many examples he shares!
What I want you to see is that we all need to become “misers of moments.”
We need to seize the small moments of our day and harness them until their accumulative effect has a bigger impact than any of those small moments ever could.
And DON’T think that you have to redeem your whole day and never waste a moment again.
A simple hour could be life-changing.
The Power of Just One Hour
Marden says something about the power of just one hour.
He says, “One hour a day withdrawn from frivolous pursuits and profitably employed would enable any man of ordinary capacity to master a complete science.
“One hour a day would in ten years make an ignorant man a well-informed man.
A little further on he continues and says…
“In an hour a day a boy or girl could read twenty pages thoughtfully—over seven thousand pages, or eighteen large volumes in a year.
“An hour a day might make all the difference between bare existence and useful, happy living.
“An hour a day might make—nay, has made—an unknown man a famous one, a useless man a benefactor to his race.”
And then he finally challenges us all with this…
“Consider, then, the mighty possibilities of two—four—yes, six hours a day that are, on the average, thrown away by young men and women in the restless desire for fun and diversion!”
My Challenge for You
Don’t misunderstand me.
I am not claiming to be a time management master.
I still waste moments of my day.
I still have days when I don’t get things done.
But I am learning how to uncover those wasted moments in my day and utilize them to accomplish more of the things that will really make a difference in my life and others. (And I am noticing the difference it’s making.)
I would encourage you to do the same.
Be a miser of moments.
Collect those moments until you have an hour of total (or combined) time each day.
Then begin to use it until you know – from experience – all that really is possible with just an hour a day.
NOTE:
I’ve personally been implementing the 1st key and the 3rd key of my 3 Keys to Increased Focus, Efficiency, and Creativity pretty regularly and they’ve really helped me to better harness these moments. (I’m still working on being more consistent with the 2nd key.)
If you’ve been thinking about grabbing a copy, then I just wanted you to be aware that I will have my recording up for 4 more days.
(It will be available until August 30th at 12 pm PST. Then I will take it down and probably offer it again in the new year.)
Photo by wwarby
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