he sad story of life is that many people have wasted the years of their life thinking that the goal of life is to keep up with other people, never realizing that they are not to be compared with anyone.

The miracle you seek in your business today lies in your preparation plus opportunity. The song “Opportunity Comes But Once” (remix) sang by Aki Special (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdO6IMfIw7Q), captures this notion perfectly with near-prophetic lyrics.

YOU create opportunity. Opportunity will not walk up to you and say ‘Hello friend, this who I am…’. It is a matter of perception. You must have a revelation to see that every moment in business is an opportunity for increase. You are fired up for opportunity when you think creatively; when you align your creative thinking with creative timing.

This is why it is important to be careful what is allowed into the mind at all times because what you feed on at night will determine your momentum in the morning. In other words, ‘what you feed yourself daily will make you to become the Star that others will see; it will also create what you see every day in the mirror. When you act like men without vision watching television, you are watching men with vision benefiting from your time and resources.

Men can take your shoes, your car, and your property. They are all replaceable. Yet, when they take your time, it is absolutely irreplaceable. Therefore, stop trying to be responsible for the gifts and talents God has given others; be responsible instead for what God has given you.

Creativity is contagious, as is a lack of it. When you flock with men who have no evidence of business, the tendency to think and act like them will be high.

Therefore, I want you to realise that we are blessed based on our different abilities to influence and affect our generation. If you want the stigma in your business as an entrepreneur and an innovator to be turned around suddenly at your next appearance, you need to cultivate the habit of time management.

AFRICAN TIME IS THE TENDENCY TO BE OVERLY RELAXED, EXHIBITING AN ATTITUDE OF INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS TIME-BOUND EVENTS – ARRIVING LATE FOR BUSINESS MEETINGS, DEVELOPMENTAL CLASSES AND EVEN PARTIES.

It is the acceptance by our black mentality that nothing will start at the absolute time indicated on the schedule. When you exhibit this attitude constantly as an entrepreneur, you will soon enough become a MIF ‘Manager in Failure’. When you don’t use your time effectively, you are missing out on life itself, and your purpose in it.

Every moment is a gift, every second, every thought and every idea is a gift. Every opportunity is a gift, every person you meet is a gift, and I am here to show you how to maximize what you got. This article may seem rattling; yet do you know we tend to be busier than any other generation and we think because we are busy, we are effective.

I want you to challenge your business schedule and ask yourself “are you really been effective or is your business clustered with all kinds of stuff that demand you and drains you, and stops you from becoming the best in yourself or do you call busyness business with all the chaos of life without been effective?”. Do you wonder what will happen if the time you spent gossiping at work, is actually used to work? Do you wonder what will happen if the time we spend doing stuff that really do not count are invested in the things that we are created to do? Hear this, managing time is like managing money, except that TIME is more limited.

The first thing you should realise as an entrepreneur is to understand your significance. If you are doing anything that somebody else in your life could do, you are not reserving your strength for your highest use. In the cause of my PhD studies, I was ready to spend 4 months learning new software by myself. I had already committed 2 months of my time to it with no tangible progress until I met a research fellow who took me through the drill in 3 days. Imagine 2 months gone and 2 more months would have gone but my reaching out saved my agony. What you do with your time is the thing that will make you prominent in your generation.

Let me share here some secrets for effective time management:

Number One: You must Pause and Ponder. What do you spend your time doing?

Identifying those areas where time is being wasted and where it is being well spent will help you to prioritize. What counts is not the amount of time that you put in overall, but the amount of time that you spend working on important, worthwhile tasks.

Number Two: Create Purposeful Events

Many people spend precious time and energy trying to be more efficient without having a purpose. You wake up in the morning and you have no direction on what you want to do. Having set goals can also be a good motivator.

Number Three: Keep a To-Do list

You can keep a list of things that need doing in your head, but it’s far better to free your mind of this by writing or typing a list, putting a reminder in your mobile phone or computer which you can then refer to throughout the day. Ticking off jobs as you do them can give a real sense of satisfaction and spur you on to complete the rest — plus, of course, using the list will reduce the amount of time you take up thinking about what you need to do.

Number Four: Prioritize your list

It’s no good compiling a list if you put everything in the wrong order! What is your priority in life? There’s always a temptation to do the things that you want to do first, rather than the things that you need to do. Sort out your priorities and deal with the important things first. Whatever is left incomplete at the end of the day probably didn’t need doing immediately anyway, and can be dealt with on another occasion.’

Number Five: Avoid procrastination

Most people have a tendency to procrastinate and look for ways out of doing what they should actually be doing. It’s especially easy to do this if you’re surrounded by lots of distractions that give you an excuse to put something off. So, try controlling your environment by removing most of those distractions. Make sure you take the time to do things ‘right’ or to the best of your ability on the first occasion, so that the fewer mistakes you make, the less time you will waste going back and having to do it all over again. The lazy man is full of excuses and a man of excuse is another MIF ‘Merchant in Failure’

Number Six: Be Organised

Being disorganized only wastes time. Think about the time you spend each day trying to locate something in the workplace or at home. You may need to lose some friends, reduce your life excesses and working environment in order to operate more efficiently. Put things that you don’t need well out of the way — or get rid of them! It may be the reason why you were sack from work, by your fiancé or fiancée, no person wants to have anything to do with someone who is totally confused and disorganized.

Number Seven: Delegate

It seems obvious, but you can free more time up for yourself by getting others to do jobs for you! The idea is to hand over any tasks that someone else can do — particularly if they can do them faster or just as well as you. This can be applied in both your work and home environments. In the workplace, consider delegating to a colleague: you never know, they may even welcome being given that particular task — especially if they are good at it! Don’t be greedy by hoarding everything to yourself, you will soon be a dead man and forgotten if you want to be jack of all trade.

Number Eight: Live in time and don’t be a time-out.

Learning not to put all the pressure on yourself by saying ‘no’ can be one of the best things to do to free up some time as well as help you to avoid burnout. If someone asks you to do something, ask yourself questions such as ‘Is it my responsibility?’ or ‘Am I the best person for the job?’ If the answer is ‘no’, then don’t take on that particular task. Don’t allow yourself to be the dumping ground for everyone else’s problems. A timely “no” can definitely help to maximize the time you have available. You cannot be on the goal all the time, look out for yourself and rest. That is why the Eagle has a nest.

Number Nine: Focus on your focus

A man of shattered focus cannot make history. Keeping your focus on the job in hand can help to get it done quickly. The only way you can keep your focus is to avoid distractions — whether these are from people or other external influences. Being properly organized helps you to initially focus, but only by avoiding disruptions will you be able to maintain that focus throughout your tasks and activities.

If you really need to get on with something, lock yourself away and switch off your phone until you’ve completed a particular task. You’ll have plenty of time later to reply to any messages or missed calls!

Finally, you are not a biological accident and don’t let your business operate in accidental discharge. Overnight success is no success because it is an apparition and will not last. Build your business with effective time management and you will sit with stars and dine with Kings.

This article was first published in www.thecomfortzone.se by Dr. Cel Iwendi, Life Coach, People Motivator, Truth Speaker.
https://ekoconnect.net/2016/05/african-time-entrepreneur/

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