A few weeks ago I was invited to give a seminar on how to use the time to a group of executives in Dallas Texas.
I am sure that all attendees expected a conference with ideas, or strategies, to manage an agenda, how to use assertive communication in their presentations, and how to be effective in their leadership with their team of subordinates; But the reality was different - and I don't regret it - having prepared a different seminar for this group of executives.
When I started my talk I said these words: “I want to share with you how to make the most of life; because life is time; and if I take advantage of life correctly; I am taking advantage of the time correctly ”.
In my career as a coach in competitiveness, finance and leadership issues, I have seen a phenomenon in many senior executives that has to do with good time management, true quality of life and leadership; and about this phenomenon I want to speak to you, reader friend, on this occasion.
Almost always when talking about the subject of time management, it is spoken at the corporate level, but what about time management to enjoy good health, enjoy family time, or simply have time for one's own emotional, intellectual development?, and professional?
When I made the decision to start the Axel Pineda Foundation, I did so thinking of carrying a clear and inspiring message in four areas which are: Spiritual, Physical, Financial, and Family; because the health in the individual's life definitely depends on the ability to manage time in each of these areas.
As the years passed; When I teach diplomas, workshops, seminars in various parts of the world, I am moved by the fact that very financially successful men talk to me about their physical illnesses, their family failures, especially with their children, they express problems that have to do with their emotional state. for situations they have had to face for mistakenly managing time.
Every man or woman who wants to conquer the rungs of true leadership; sooner or later she has to face herself and develop the ability to coordinate her time properly in the four areas that make up life.
The essence of good living consists in reaching the realization of being, and as a result obtaining the power to do; taking this simple equation to the ability to have.
Many want to have; without having done before, and many want to do; without first having been. Sadly, the universal laws of matter, time, energy, and space do not work in a different direction; first you have to be, to be able to do; and then have. Many human beings who exercise the wonderful profession of executives do not understand that without aligning their lives in the proper framework; no matter how many professional achievements they conquer; If they do not learn to master the art of managing time properly at the end of their days they will experience the pain and regret of not doing the right thing.
I want you to think about the following: What are the highest priority actions in your life?
Your personal development, your family, your company, your executive position, your physical health, your money, etc. Anyway… you determine by counting from one to ten what position you give each of these actions in your life.
In the corporate world, the expression: "I wish I had more time" for… this… or that… but it is not possible.
Many times people are identified as leaders who are far from meeting the basic requirements to appoint them leaders; And we must remember that a true leader is one who sets the example at all times.
It is important that all human beings do not lose sight of and understand that the proposed goal of our appearance and existence in this life is to be happy; no matter what situation or condition the world faces. We are simply here to strive bravely, tenaciously, and determined to fulfill that divine purpose; -be happy every day of our life-.
I want to share with you some principles that I have put into practice in my daily life and they have given me positive results and I want you to do the same:
1. Take care of your mind; take care of your body:
The boss, the executive director, the administrator unfortunately tends not to feed his body properly; because he doesn't eat at the right times, he eats too fast, he doesn't drink enough pure water, he leads a too sedentary life, he lives a life with high levels of stress, and unfortunately these are the links that diseases need to activate in a mind, to be vivified in a body.
Many executives and entrepreneurs are the ones with the financial stability to feed their body and mind with balanced nutrition; but for not adequately controlling their time they do not; and the only thing they give the body is food that will only cruelly destroy them in the course of the episode called life.
It is scientifically proven that products such as meat, refined sugar, drinks with preservatives, carbohydrates, -when consumed in excess- cause destruction of unlimited amounts of cells; putting the immune system at a weakened point; unable to counteract disease-carrying pathogens.
A few years ago at the foundation we hired a team of scientists led by Dr. Hellen Greenblatt, a well-known immunologist-scientist, to help us with an investigation with which we wanted to determine the influence of physical state to maintain a correct emotional state, and I was very surprised the fact when they showed us the results of the evaluations carried out on 500 executives from various companies.
They all made supernatural efforts to maintain themselves in acceptable emotional states in order to carry out their tasks; But when they got home at night, 82% of them fell into fits of anger, rage, screaming, because 97% of them had an immune system far below acceptable conditions; but their eating habits justified these facts because they did not eat breakfast, they did not consume pure water, they did not exercise, and of course they did not sleep well.
If you want a better quality of life; start with the basics, take care of your mind, take care of your body.
No one can forge himself as a true leader, unless he becomes aware to be the example of the followers.
No one will be able to achieve a good quality of life, unless they learn the art of managing and using time correctly; and taking advantage of time correctly means living the experience to the fullest each day; being an example to others in everything; and when someone is an example; that someone is constituted in the book of destiny as a true leader.
2. Enjoy your family:
This aspect is something that I personally had a hard time learning because we regularly have the idea that the weekend is for the children; for the spouse, but when talking about family there are many aspects to take into account.
I visit many schools where I speak to young people, and also to parents about the importance of living together as a family, as a couple, to talk and tell our anecdotes that over time will become our stories, which possibly Let's tell them to our grandchildren, and our grandchildren to future generations.
Someone asked me the question: Axel, what was the first word your daughter said? To be honest, I didn't understand the question. But over time it made me reflect and realize how far I was from my children. Many times it seems that we are physically close but emotionally really; How close are we to them?
Perhaps you will remember or you are one of the generations when we all dined together at the table, and listened to the talks and advice of our parents or grandparents. I am sure that we need to apply those principles in our modern life where fellowship is almost complete and we have lost the path of true destiny to our life.
Take advantage of the childhood of your children, enjoy the company of your spouse, at the end of your days you will have no other achievement more important than being next to the person you love and seeing your children forming their own families, with values, with principles, and above all true achievers; Your gratitude will be immense because they will be the fruit of the value you gave to time at some point in your journey through this space called life.
3. Value those around you:
Years ago I interviewed on my radio show a man from whom I learned a lot, because he was a successful man in all aspects of his life.
I asked him the question: What is the advice that you give us to take advantage of the time? To which he replied thus: Valuing those around me.
As it does? I asked him: call them by their names, recognize their qualities in each of them, encourage them whenever I have the opportunity, reward them with surprises for their efforts, learn from them, build them by my example, give them advice when they ask me. So I asked him: and what do you get in return? He answered me like this: Admiration, respect, affection, support, and many other things, which are priceless.
And those around me are my parents, my partners, my employees, my neighbors, my children, my wife, my clients, and when I value them they help me to be better in all aspects of my life, and I take many things from my immediate attention because there are people who will solve the issues for me; and I'm sure they will do a better job than me.
This interview left me a great lesson that I have been applying and recommending in my workshops, seminars, and diplomas on managerial leadership; and I realize that it works perfectly.
I can say with all certainty that when we value others, delegating is simplified to an extraordinary level, and that action gives me time to free myself and take better advantage of the minutes, hours, and days that I have on this earth.
4. Take advantage of your days to sow a Legacy:
It is scientifically proven that in the United States the average life is 68 years - and with many health problems.
If we multiply the 70 years of life by 365 days that the year has, it gives us the amount of 25,550 days; And if we multiply this amount by 24 hours that it has each day, it gives us the amount of 613,200 hours. -means that the average human being lives on earth 25 thousand days and little more than 600 thousand hours. "Really life is short."
Transcendence through a legacy has to do with all the instruction, teaching, and training that is given to the child in his early age and they will be the reflection of what we were and did; in such a way that their lives will be projected according to all the information that parents have received.
When we talk about transcending in our future generations, it means implanting good habits, defined character, identity, virtues, and skills, at the same time teaching him to become a great negotiator with all the talents and virtues to be a person with a winning attitude towards the lifetime.
Transcending with a legacy has nothing to do with all the material wealth that a man can inherit from his children, rather it has to do with all the spiritual wealth that has been implanted in the child's mind in his childhood. Many are those who associate poverty with money but this has nothing to do with money, rather poverty has to do with the way of thinking, the essence of poverty is in patterns of behavior, and in thinking rational of the individual himself, the core of poverty is found in the attitude of the human being, and in the false information that he has about himself. Sadly 97% of humanity what they inherit from their future generations are bad habits, bad habits, bad character, a wrong attitude towards life, we inherit our children, fear, shame, guilt,values of misery, in essence, the inheritance of children is a false identity.
Work, financial problems, emotional problems, marital difficulties, are too many who forget to dedicate time with leadership to their children, and time passes so quickly, that everyone is unaware of the consequences, at the end of the day what the only thing that many have left is to regret not having done different things.
To ensure that we are leaving the best legacy of life to our children, we must start from an early age to share dreams, longings, and vision, as well as forge the child's character, with love, but with strength, with passion, but with sanity., make sure that we are not implanting fear, shame, and guilt in the child's heart, so that when he reaches his adult life he can reflect and live with freedom of attitude and thought and believe that everything is possible for him to achieve and that he can carry out all his dreams, using his talents with which he was equipped from birth.
Let us remember that life is very short; we must make sure that at the end of our days we are happy and fulfilled and we can shout to the winds of the universe that we did what we had to do and we did it well. -Yes you can-. It is all a matter of will and desire.
