Time Always Wins

Ruled by the Clock

      Time always wins. Tick, tock, tick, tock time marches forward. Sooner or later, we will stop, but it will not, just like taxes.

      Awareness. Are you awake enough to know what you're doing? Often I find myself in auto-pilot. I find myself focused only upon what I have to be doing. The alarm goes off. Maybe I can snooze it, once or twice, but mostly I have to resign myself to getting up and getting ready. Have I mastered that task list that determines my fate, or am I following someone else's lead? Have I convinced myself that satisfying their demands also serve me and my family and friends? These are questions I find time to ponder and attempt to use a slight edge to implement.

      Always busy, doing something. Even sleep is something. If I don't get enough sleep, I cannot think clearly enough to be sure I've taken a vivid review of the task list.

      Wasting time, productive use?

      Productive is also subjective. Productive for whom? Them or you and yours?

      The order is important, too. Priority and time both need to be considered. Some things have windows of time where they need to be accomplished. Some things are preparatory - they need to be done in advance of some point in time, like a scheduled meeting. Others have to be done now, like right after a meeting, to capture what steps will need to be accomplished before the next meeting or event occurance. Of course priority should never be ignored.

      You and Yours, then short-term emergency, or, at lease, short-term priority escalation or life-long priority? Emergency or short-term priority escalation, in relative terms, that I use, relates to this whole concept of being able to really only perform ONE task at a time. And, manage but a handful of tasks. This handful should be the most important. Survival, comfort, luxury, perhaps that is the order you choose? Or, do you consider it more noble to forego some level of comfort for the survival benefit of others?

      Even survival is subjective. Water, food, clothing and shelter likely lead the list, but the whole requires much, much more. There's the physical, which was just (mostly) addressed, but there is also the emotional and the spiritual. How often do we neglect or even fail to recognize these? True work and life balance really requires that we find opportunity to satisfy the needs of the whole.

      So. Are you really multi-tasking? Are you really busy doing what's important to you? Or, are you just busy, doing just enough, and passing time to a future event (looking forward to something)?

with gratitude and in service,

Tony Koker

Photo credit: CanStockPhoto.com

Half Empty or Full - You Choose

Happy Holidays to All 2013

      Please take a moment to reflect on What Is Most Important In Your Life as we move into a new year. Tony, Lisa, Michael, Noelle, Amanda and Curt.

      Most of our friends know that my parents are both gone, and Lisa's Dad passed almost 4 years ago. We were left with incredible holes in our Heart’s, but, because we put our Golf Balls into our jar first the best parts of Barry, Tony Sr. and Ann Marie live on in our lives forever.

      I'd like to relate a little story for all of you.

      A professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him.

      When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

      The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

      He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

      The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

      The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

      'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -god, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

      The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

      The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

      So... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.

      There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities.

      The rest is just sand.' One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked.

      It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

      Our family and team Believes in You and Your Dreams, we hope You will take the time to reflect and relive the most important part of this amazing life.

We Believe In You
Tony & Lisa Koker
1-781-864-2624 anytime.
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Image credit: CanStockPhoto.com

How Do YOU Define Success?

How Do YOU Define Success?

      Do you find it noisy? Life seems to be an endless challenge by nature, the elements, our senses and our ability or lack thereof to keep going. I find I've developed a blinders-on mindset, when things get too noisy. Keeping focused on the most important one or two things, and letting everything else take care of itself. We are bombarded, but our ability to cope has to do with many different cycles. Did we get proper nutrition, yesterday? Did we have a good night's sleep? If not, do I need to make some changes today to fix that? We certainly have to deal with survival issues, first, right? Or, can we skimp here and borrow from another reserve? Maybe I can keep this streak going, just one more day, even though it is not optimum?

      I don't think that we can operate in any other way, than a blinders-on, heads-down way. Although our powerful brain is always processing hundreds, if not thousands or millions of stimuli and commanding responses, consciously we only get a glimpse of all of that. Bits and pieces we perceive as ideas or emotions - a combination of various senses constantly flow within our minds. However, the more focused, or single-minded we choose to become, all of that quiets down. It never goes silent. It just becomes the white-noise background.

      What do we choose to focus on? To be successful, I think we have to focus on those things that move us towards success. But do we recognize this, and, have we taken this control by developing the habit of commanding our mind to serve us? It all starts with what we desire to achieve out of life, I believe. Success has to be defined by us, individually. Too many of us identify with what we do for a living. Our job is our fixed routine where we focus all of our efforts. Everything else is done with what is left over. Were we born with the skills we use for this job? No way. We may have some talent, but in order to use that, we had to develop and hone our talents. We had to add skills, some which have nothing to do with the talents we have. To be successful, to me, means leaving a legacy which I've worked to establish by developing my talents and learning skills to accomplish the goals of my heart-felt desires. Once we ask ourselves to reflect and identify these desires, the rest is a one-day-at-a-time journey, where a slight edge is used to break free and own our life and legacy.

with gratitude and in service,

Tony Koker

P.S. If you are like me, and want to join with our group, where we work on our skills together, every week, then reach out to me and I'll plug you in.

Image Credit: CanStockPhoto.com

What are your goals for next month?

Next Month's Goals?

      Someone recently asked me this question, and this is the response I gave. Hopefully it will give you an insight that works for you.

      I stay focused on my 2 or 3 heart-felt desires and manage daily decisions, rather than focus on specific goals in the future, or challenges of the past. I have goals for every day, every week and every month, as well as long term, as measures to throttle my intensity. But my passion is the fuel. Staying focused as much as possible, and taking action is the practice that either takes me beyond my goals, or, life happens, and this also keeps me running and stepping on the gas again. Ultimately my goal is to have a fulfilling life, enriching all and everything within my reach as much and for as long as possible. The result always seems to exceed any goal I've set, and I've come to take that for granted, a little, I think. I'm having fun attracting and sponsoring Black Diamonds into my business, easily and consistently, through education and teamwork. It's always about how you make other people feel.

with gratitute and in service,
Tony Koker
A Mentor with a Servant's Heart

Image credit: CanStockPhoto.com