Hey You! Pay Attention!
Here's an old riddle for you. I'm sure you've probably heard it before but it holds an important lesson for all of us - although possibly not the one you first think of.
What is it that you can use, but you can't own? You can spend but you can't keep? And once you've lost it, you can never get it back?
The answer is of course, Time.
Time is the most precious thing that we all have in our lives, and yet we waste far more of it that we truly make use of.
You might think that I am about to launch into a full-scale discussion of time management strategies but before you click away in anticipation of a long boring post I can assure you that that's not what this post is about
Not that I am saying there is anything wrong with time management strategy because there isn't and it's a very valuable skill to know how to make the most of each minute of your day.
Instead I want to quickly talk about paying attention.
They say that when you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, the present is likely to kick you where it hurts.
The past is a place for memories and experiences that you can learn from to make better decisions the next time you face a similar scenario. But the past is done and there is nothing you can do now to change it.
The future is a place for dreams and goals but the future is uncertain and depends entirely on what you do next in your life and in your business.
The present however is where you should be wholly focused and paying full attention to what you are doing to create that future you dream of.
What have you done today to create a better future for yourself? Are you paying attention to the plans you have created for achieving your goals? You have made plans, haven't you?
By joining Wealthy Affiliate you have given yourself a great opportunity for success but are you making the most of it? Are you paying ATTENTION to the training and actually putting it into ACTION so that you can experience the ACHIEVEMENT of your goals? These are the 3 A's of success.
While WA brings many opportunities, it also brings distractions. Interacting with the community is a great part of WA and I have enjoyed making new friends and acquaintances here and learned many valuable lessons from them too,
But it's also important to make sure you balance time spent socialising with time spent on building your business.
Another distraction is time spent chasing rank and rising up through the Wealthy Affiliate rankings. I'm well aware that the finger can now be pointed straight at me here - after all I have somehow risen to become an ambassador so I must have spent a lot of time on the site.
I would reply by saying it's now just gone midnight here as I write this and I have spent the last 5 hours working on my business. I do log into WA during quiet times in my day - over breakfast or lunch times and during planned breaks in my work. As I have already said - I enjoy the interaction with all you great people. But first and foremost my priority is my business and when I inevitably slip back down the rankings, that will be absolutely fine.
Bottom line - if you have big plans for what your future is going to look like then make sure you are paying attention to what you should be doing in the present!
All the best
Dave
Recent Comments
75
Great post Dave
We have all been given three places to live, past, present and future and it's up to us where we want to reside.
If we stay in the past we will never progress
If we live in the future, Our head is in the clouds and we will never be any earthly good but if we choose to live in the present we can build our future.
WOW did that make any sense?
Thanks for sharing Dave
Hi Chuck
You are speaking my language my friend 😀
Building the future we desire will all depend on what we do today to make it happen.
Thanks
Dave
Balance is the most important thing in everything, isn't it, Dave? It requires effort and mindfulness.
I have spent so much time here in my first three months out of sheer excitement, I think and felt a big guilty about it but since the beginning of the new year I'm focused sharply on my business. Just like you, I first work on that and then I enjoy WA.
I think your experience is similar to many of us Lenka. We learn lots of stuff, build a business, see our ranking improve and get excited about what it might lead to.
However it's not as important as putting in the real work on getting content created and traffic driven to your website.
If we can get that right then WA will always be here for continual learning and sharing with others.
Good luck
Dave
Thank you for sharing such an insightful post Dave! I try to make it my goal to spend no more than an hour in WA in the mornings as I am enjoying my coffee, after that, the rest of the day is work for me. WA can cause me to loose time tho, sometimes it's just so much fun!
Hi Maria
It sounds like you have already gotten your priorities right which is great.
It's nice to be able to enjoy the social side of WA but i always find i enjoy it more after getting some real progress made in my business.
Thanks
Dave 🙂
Great post Dave.
We need to learn from the past to apply to the present. And you sent a good message, about our time spent on the WA platform.
It is a great place to learn and socialize, meet like minded individuals, but we need to balance it with the creation of our online business.
Great message!
Wanda
Hi Wanda
There are definitely many positive aspects of WA and the learning and socializing all have a place.
As you mentioned, getting the balance right is the key, and prioritising your business must come first.
Thanks
Dave 🙂
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Thank you Dave for this great post. I would say I have a good handle of my time. WA is not the only activity that keeps me very busy in order to bring me comfort in life. Usually in the late afternoon to evening, I am able to spend time doing WA activity and catch up. I love WA and am looking forward to set up a new website for a business that a friend of mine and I have been doing as a business and have customers just by word of mouth. In the meantime, i always make sure I set aside time developing my current website that needs work. So really, socialising at WA, gives me very limited time, I am afraid. My goal is to succeed establishing an online business and I have a long way to go. I will have others when I feel I could but not to aspire or compete for ranking within WA. I will contribute when I can what I feel is helpful to the community. Personally, I have helped people needing help outside of WA and it is one of the things that keep me busy.
Again, thank you for the post above that touches on individual’s specific circumstances.
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn
It's great to hear that you have a good balance between things and know what the priorities are for you.
Glad you found this post helpful.
Best wishes
Dave