Hey Everyone,
How are you all – and firstly before anything else, apologies for not updating recently – I have been rather pre-occupied with various parts of my business which needed restructuring and have been on a crash-course learning Russian, new Facebook methods and planning my next book.
More importantly, don’t worry I haven’t given up on my dream or you… my dear loyal readers, fans and subscribers. However what it does bring me to is that, I want to discuss something that will be of benefit to you and that is – for some things in life, there are certain things which if you give up, can be of major benefit to on.
For me, personally, I’ve actually given up quite a few things since I went to study at university, and upon graduating I’ve given up numerous other things as well, not for the bad of course, but for the good instead.
By doing so, I’ve saved at least hundreds of pounds every year. Probably more.
In fact, it’s a lot more, if you start involving my accountant…Don’t get me wrong, now and again I’ll relapse a little – it can’t be helped. But on the whole, giving up has done mega-wonders for both me, my family and my business.
The strange thing is that… I’m not talking about cigarettes, or alcohol etc..or anything like that. Not that I ever smoke or drink in the first place. Instead I’m talking a whole different kettle of fish, something out of the contrary.
That is, a few years ago I gave up television, then I gave up buying books and DVD’s regularly, followed by giving up on renewing my car to keep up with the Jones (surprising I have a friend who is called Simon Jones and he regular changes his car every 3 years or so) and recently I gave up on buying new phones or gadgets.
Now, that might be a major shock to anyone who is reading thing. Usually when I talk to people about this, they look at me like I’m a mad man, someone who is a cheapskate and they start backing away, ready to make a dash for the nearest exit.
Frankly, the truth is that if one has ever read the book “Rich dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki, then one will understand that the things I gave up are classified as “Liabilities” in that they originally might have been expensive but in fact, the initial purchase prices was actually a modest amount, and the least of one’s worry, especially when compared to the running and maintainence costs, day in, day out, come rain or shine
For example, a car is wonderful, initially you could spend anything for £100 – £1million, but the actual ownership is where it hits one the worse. Think car insurance, maintenance, road tax, petrol or diesel or even LPG/hydrogen, even electric isn’t exactly free, then you have to factor in the depreciation costs. The moment a car touches the ground and leaves the showroom, your losing money into a black hole, money that you won’t be able to ever recuperate back. In fact you might as well throw your wad of money into the ocean instead.
So okay, a car will provide you satisfaction in terms of enjoyment, showing off to your friends and neighbours etc… but is there really a need to change your car every 3, 2 or 1 year? If the answer is yes, the showroom dealer and you would probably be on first name contacts, however would it better if you actually didn’t bother changing your car so often and instead use that money to invest in something that would return a better outcome instead?
Anyway, I’m not here to discuss about finances, how and how you shouldn’t spend or save your money and one thing’s for certain, don’t worry: I’m not going to suggest you give up and live a crash diet like I am completely. I think that would be a bit unrealistic.
And to be honest, I don’t think you need to.
But by taking the small step that I will be recommending today, I think you could claim back something that reward your life and that imagine, if you have two weeks of your life every single year free to do something else? Something that your would enjoy, like a longer vacation, time to spend on a hobby etc…
So the question on
“How does one claim back over two weeks of your life?”
Well, surprisingly – it’s very simple and involves something call “Time”.
You see “Time” , is something that many value in abundance in that it’s also one of the biggest obstacles that hinders one to the path of success…
You wouldn’t believe the amount of friends (that’s if I have any left- since they are always busy), colleagues and email subscribers who come to me saying they’d be able to achieve a lot more if only they had more time.
But the key point is that, when you take a look at what you do with your time – and I’m talking a real, honest look here – you often realise that you’re actually wasting a lot of it, perhaps on useless things.
The main concern is that we’re all are of a victim of just blurting out quickly that we don’t have the time when really we do. Frankly, it’s just that we’re spending it doing the wrong things; television being one of the main offenders and checking emails and socially network sites such as Facebook constantly being the second. Then there are those who are hooked up on their apps. on their fancy touch screen phones, checking messages, tweets and twittering all day long.
I mean, just think what you could achieve if you had an entire two weeks – I’m talking a whole 336 hours – to dedicate to generating a second income stream or to enjoy a hobby, or perhaps to even learn a new language and better your prospects.
For example, You could easily set up a website… you could very quickly create a saleable product… you could without doubt learn how to trade the financial markets or get your head around sports betting. Or you could become a whizz at copy-writing, ebook creation, email marketing etc…
So,
“how do you free up that kind of time?”
It’s easier than you might think…
Rule no.1 – Sacrificing a little to gain a whole lot more
I can’t stress enough, that the amount of time I’ve freed up by not watching television is huge.
Of course, I still spend time on news and culture but by picking it up from books, cinema and newspapers and yahoo news etc… it’s more direct and I don’t lose those hours that you inevitably do slouching in front of programmes that you don’t really have any interest in.
The next step is try to cut back the amount of times you check your email and Facebook accounts – that alone would help save anything between 30mins to 1 hr – multiply this by a year and you would save anything between 182 to 365 hours a year.
And that’s the thing here – that’s all I’m suggesting you give up…
So okay, maybe you still need a bit more time and in that case – cut back on just one hour of television a day and over the year: bang! You’ve got another 365 hours you might have lost.
You still get to watch the good stuff. Even without a television, I’ll still sneak on various sites such as the BBC’s iPlayer, or 4OD to watch my favourite programs such as Top Gear, the history and dispatches documentary as well as the hilarious “IT Crowd”
The key is that if you do decide to make a conscious decision to cut down on the time you spend on checking your email and Facebook / Twitter accounts, watching less television, you’ll become much more aware of the time you’re wasting on reading irrelevant and unimportant status uppates of your friends as well as watching nonsense on TV that are there to fill the time up between good programmes.
I personally think there are a small sacrifice to make, but the reward is huge.
Now, I hope you try this, but do remember…
It’s all very well, reclaiming an hour or perhaps even two of your life each day and what you do with the time saved is really none of my business, but my suggestion is that you spend it on things that really make it count, and that it’s important you use it wisely, otherwise what would be the point of saving time here and there only to spend it other no activities which have no benefit at all.
If you’ve been struggling to find the time to develop a second income, most definitely spend this hour to work towards that.
If you’re already up and running, then why not use your reclaimed time to brainstorm new ideas, try new approaches and further expand your potential.
And if you’re already in the lucky position of owing a second source of income, then perhaps it would be wise to spend it with your other half of the family, they would surely appreciate it, or perhaps you have a hobby or you’ve always had a dream of visiting somewhere else, but the language barrier is hindering you. In that case you could spend the time saved to learn a new language.
And finally….
Rule No.2 “It’s your time, so make it count.”
Best wishes,
Nigel
PS: Time is not a schedule, nor is it torture. The ideal optimum is that time chases you i.e. where you manipulate time to last longer to a point where you a comfortable with it and never have to say “If only I had more time”. And whatever you do….never let time run or ruin your life.
