By Colin J Campbell

You may have heard the comment that there are not enough hours in the day, or that it feels like a rat race, on a treadmill and they couldn’t get off.

As I thought about this I asked myself, “What has changed?” We don’t have any less time than Einstein or Churchill, and their lifetime achievements are world renown. We have more tools today to help us do our work, so why do we feel we can’t accomplish what we set out to do in the time we have?

I came to the conclusion that it has nothing to do with time; we have the same amount of time in a day for eternity. The real problem is how we think. We spend too much time worrying about the future or what do I need to do next, instead of staying focused on the present.

In a conversation with my son’s drama teacher some years ago, he made a profound statement, in reference to the rush that students seem to be in to graduate. He said, “It is not a race, you don’t get a prize for getting through life first.” Our creator gave us the opportunity to savor life and enjoy it and enjoy every minute of it and that is the key, enjoy the present moment in every situation.

The good news is that it is possible to change how we approach each day, it is like exercising a muscle, it requires a great deal of effort but with time and consistent effort it becomes easier. Personally learning to live in the now changed my life, I no longer worry about how many hours there are in a day. I no longer feel that I am in the rat race. Neither you nor I are rats, we can change how we view ourselves in an instant.

Here are some ideas that I developed to help me to live in the now after reading, “How to stop worrying and start living,” by Dale Carnegie.)

1. Live in day tight compartments.

Living in the now in the present moment is like living in a day tight compartment. What happened yesterday, or for that matter a moment ago is the past and should not be dwelled on and what happens tomorrow or in the future is the future and should be of no concern. Life becomes much easier when you stop worrying about what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. Jesus Christ said, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” Matt 8:22, that is a parable over 2,000 years old, perhaps there is something to this.

Sir William Osler, considered to be the father of modern medicine and the founder of John Hopkins Medical School, told a graduating class at Yale, “a man like me who had been a professor at four universities and had written a popular book was supposed to have brains of a special quality.”

He declared that that was untrue. He said that his intimate friends knew that his brains were “of the most mediocre character.” He went on to say, “that when he was a medical student in Montreal he was not a particularly great student, certainly not the brightest of the lot but what had made a difference in his life was this quote from Thomas Carlyle, “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

Osler, a Canadian, became Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. What was the secret of his success? Dr. Osler said that it was living his life in day tight compartments. Just like a large ship that has air tight compartments that can be closed off if there is a leak, he focused on living in the now, closing off the compartment from yesterday or tomorrow and not worrying about the past or the future.

2. Stop worrying.

Not an easy task for most of us but absolutely necessary for personal sanity and health. Worry is usually brought on by something that we have no control over. No matter how much we worry about it the outcome is not in our hands.

Here is Dale Carnegie’s three-step method to deal with worry:

1. a) Analyze the situation fearlessly and honestly and figure out what is the worst that could possibly happen as a result.
2. b) After figuring out what was the worst that could possibly happen, reconcile you to accepting it, if necessary.
3. c) Devote the time and energy necessary to try and improve the worst that you have already accepted.

Worry is stress and reducing stress is essential to well-being, nothing has a more detrimental effect on health than stress. Living in the now will reduce stress.

3. Adjust your attitude.

Develop a positive attitude, look for the best in others and expect the best for yourself. Be expectant; be willing to listen to what others are saying rather than what you can add to the conversation. A positive attitude makes it difficult to be critical of others and makes it much easier to hear what they are saying.

4. Develop systems to achieve results

It is human nature to set goals and then attempt to achieve them and when we do we wonder what the big deal was because the reward is never what we imagined it to be, so we have to set another higher goal and the process continues. Adding to the rat race and defeating the purpose.

Part of the problem is we start with what and how instead of why. Finding the why and then creating a system to achieve it is far more satisfying method. By focusing on the system and allowing the system to achieve the desired results.

For example, if you have a goal to win a marathon, the key component will be your training regime. You cannot win a marathon unless you train every day. The problem is you may not have the physical make up to win a marathon and when you don’t win you are going to be very disappointed.

If your why is to run a marathon for the satisfaction of completing the run then you can develop a training system to achieve that. By focusing on the system, i.e. to train everyday effectively to run a marathon you will develop the skills to reach the goal, if you win that is a bonus.

On a personal note my success increased ten times when I stopped focusing on closing a case and rather focused on a specific number of contacts with people every day. It didn’t matter whether they were clients or prospects or strangers I met in the coffee shop when I focused on the system the results improved tenfold and the stress level decreased just about the same amount. My why became having an opportunity to meet with more people to talk about achieving financial independence rather than the what and how.

Having a system and adhering to it is much more enjoyable that trying to achieve a specific goal and the end result is a much more satisfying life.

5. Learn to meditate.

Taking time to stop and sit quietly several times a day and clear your mind of all that is going on is essential to better health. The easiest and simplest way to learn to meditate is to focus on your breathing, sit is a comfortable chair or on the floor and focus on breathing in and out. Do this for five minutes, and gradually increase over time. When your mind wanders gently bring it back to focus on your breathing. The good news is that it is cumulative what you do today will be added to tomorrow and over time you will build a sense of centred calmness that you can invoke in any situation. Meditating and mindfulness is more popular than ever before simply because it works, it reduces stress, leads to better health and allows creativity to develop.

When you do this you think less about what ails you and the less you think about it the less it will bother you. We live in an age when the number one killer of baby boomers is hypertension, most of which is self inflicted as we try to live by someone else’s rules and our mistaken belief that we have to be constantly doing in order to get ahead. Its time to get off the treadmill and recognize that taking control of life right now is a choice and you can make it.

6. Gratitude

There is nothing that one can do that is more important than to express gratitude for all that has been received. It may be nothing more than being grateful for life itself and the air we breathe. The key is to write it down, keep a journal and daily write down what you are grateful for, do this before you go to bed at night. You will be amazed at the results.

7. Don’t be afraid to fail

Our education system makes us believe that failure is a bad thing when failure just proves what doesn’t work. Take a risk, view failure as just a stepping-stone to success. It is essential to keep a journal of progress in order that failure is not repeated. Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Recognizing failure and avoiding doing the same thing again is the only way to make progress.

Thomas Edison is famous for his inventions; he is also famous for how many times he failed before he succeeded. We know of his failures because he kept meticulous notes of what didn’t work. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you had to crank your car to get it started every morning? Edison invented the acid battery that still starts your car today. He recorded over 49,000 experiments that didn’t work before he finally succeeded.

Edison’s failures are classic and worth keeping in mind when it appears that there is no solution to a problem. It is also a testament to the hazards of setting goals. If Edison had been working on the battery with a period in mind he may never had succeeded, however that was not the approach he took, he knew he wanted to develop a way to store electricity effectively and that it would have value, what he didn’t do is set it as a specific goal to be achieve in a specific time, which is the risk of goal setting. It is much easier to become discouraged if the perceived time frame is not achieved.

These are some ideas that can help to make life a whole lot more fun and still accomplish everything that needs doing daily. Time will not be as important as it once was; we have all the time we need, the same allotment that has existed for eternity. Great accomplishments in life are much easier to achieve when there is no worry. The best way to get to that point is to live life in “Day tight compartments.” Focus on the now. Life will become more centred, there is time to reflect on what has been accomplished

One last point, Canada Life’s recent mortality table says the average Canadian male will live to 85 and average Canadian female to age 87 (non smokers). That means that 50% will live even longer, perhaps to age 100. Which half are you going to be in?

 

– Colin J. Campbell – CLU, Ch.F.C. is the managing partner of Guidance Planning Strategies Ltd, an independent wealth management firm serving businesses and families in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. www.gpsbc.ca

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