Watches
Takeaways?
- Punctuality is very important
- With respect to yourself:
- In today’s fast paced world that waits for no one, being punctual is no longer a choice, it’s a absolute necessity. With 20 equal candidates are fighting for that 1 managerial position in the bank, you being late, means you being cancelled out.
- Punctuality is important because it speaks volumes about how you live your life. It shows that you care enough about the things you have committed to and respect yourself enough to give yourself the full experience of that particular activity. It shows that you are enthusiastic. It shows that you value your day and how it is spent. It shows that you are motivated, organized, in control…
- Punctuality draws many inferences into your character.
- If my dad needed to be at work at 8.30 a.m., he would reach the office at 8.15 a.m.
- I realized this when I followed him to work one day, and noticed he was the only person in the office.
- “Wow, daddy. Where is everyone today?” I asked
- “Work starts at 8.30 a.m., dear” he replied with a smile, and got to work deftly.
- When the clock struck 8.30, a few people streamed in. It was only at 9 that the office was finally packed.
- Later on the way home, my dad told me that he liked being punctual, or better yet, early. He said, “It’s important to control time, not let time control you”.
- At that time, I just kept silent because I didn’t really understand what he meant.
- Then one day I had an interview for a prestigious scholarship. I woke up on time and left the house on time. Everything was going according to plan. Until I walked past an old lady whose grocery bag burst from the weight of all the fruits in it! The fruits rolled off the pavement and onto the road, but she was too feeble to pick them up. So I rushed onto the road to help her.
- By the time I was done, I saw my bus drive past. Even though I ran for it, I still missed the bus.
- I arrived for my interview fifteen minutes late, and panting.
- My interviewers were not impressed by my tardiness and needless to say, I didn’t get the scholarship. I was really disappointed because I thought I had a good chance.
- Even though I thought helping that old lady was a good excuse for being late, I realized that to my interviewers, it didn’t even matter that I had an excuse. I was late. Full stop.
- I was really disappointed, but there was a lesson I learnt: no matter what the excuse is, when we are late, it still looks like we didn’t control time, but let time control us.
- It was then that I finally understood why my dad liked going to work early. While I was definitely cared about this interview which I had committed to, was more than enthusiastic about attending it, and motivated to do well, my interviewers did not see that in me. Because I was late.
- Punctuality draws many inferences into your character.
- With respect to others:
- Punctuality is showing that you respect other people’s time, it shows that you value their lives. This will help you earn their respect.
- If you are late, do not think it is minor. It is serious. You are selfish. You value your self over others. You rob them of their precious time.
- Problem: You try to be punctual, but you simply can’t.
- This is a lie. If you truly valued the other person, you would make the effort to ensure that you are not late. It is an excuse that exemplifies your selfishness.
- Punctuality is a choice to remove your selfishness. It applies for all aspects of life. In meetings, school, friends, family. If you care enough, you would be on time.
- Anecdote about this person you know (ie, MOM).
- She knows her husband strongly values going to church on time. Yet, when she is already late and holding him back, she does not hurry, she walks to the car slowly and does not appear anxious.
- Do you think that she values her husbands feelings? Do you think that she values her husbands time? Do you think she values her husbands values? And, is she respecting this individual and loving him? Is she being a supporter and friend, rather than a hindrance?
- No, no, and no.
- She is clearly selfish.
I once read an interview with a successful real estate businessman called Jared Kushner, and he was asked what the best thing was that his dad taught him.
He said,
“I remember when I was younger, I had an interview in the city, at 9:00 in the morning on a Tuesday, and he said, "When will you leave?" I said, "I'll leave at 8:00." He said, "What if there's traffic?" I said, "There's never traffic, I do this drive all the time." He said, "What if there's an accident?" I said, "Fine." He said, "What if there's a terrorist attack?" He said, "If someone's nice enough to give you an interview, you get there on time. It's your job, and you leave at 6:00 and get there at 6:20 and sit there in a coffee shop until 9:00 waiting for the interview." But the basic point of the message was, there are things in life that you can't change, which is what other people do, but you can control your own actions. So to the point that you could control your own actions, you have to do everything in your power to do it.”
- Emphasize: Remember to be punctual. If you are faithful in the small things, you will be faithful in larger things.
2.
- Purposelessness wastes time. To help your daughter find her calling and purpose in life, you need to build her experiences.
- Are your daughters making full use of their lives?
- While you are reading, jogging, painting or working, other people may be studying, socializing, drinking coffee, or travelling.
- While you are doing something, so is everyone else.
- The world does not wait for you.
- While you are taking that final exam or making that sales pitch, so are you friends, so are your colleagues.
- Your competition moves with you.
- You get back your grade, you get back your sales production numbers, 75 versus 90. $1000 bonus versus a $5000 bonus.
- Your competition moves faster than you.
- Your competition wins you.
- Your competition just took what could have been yours.
- While we all share the same time, what we choose to do with it is everything. Are your daughters making full use of their lives? If they are intelligent girls and are sitting around doing nothing, you, as a guardian and mentor have failed. You have failed to help them realize their fullest potential. You are cheating and robbing your daughter of achieving her dream.
- In the next few paragraphs, I will focus on overcoming purposelessness. Purposelessness robs you of precious time that could’ve been spent more productively. It leaves you rooted to a spot while everyone else surges ahead.
- Purposelessness is a result of a lack of exposure which causes a very narrow range of life choices to select from. Purposelessness can be overcome by encouraging activity and experience.
- As a parent, encourage activity. Don’t teach her to sit still.
- Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
- Well, duh, okay genius you got me there!
- What if it was getting into a fight… versus staying at home and watching television?
- You would think that staying at home would have been better, but on an alternative view, do you believe that that would’ve robbed her of a possible learning experience?
- With the right guidance and good communication channels (this is crucial) you can rest secured that if you encourage activity, any activity, your child will grow positively.
- If you reduce your control on her life while simultaneously be her open channel of communication who she can trust, both parent and child can grow together, going through experiences that will change both your lives and eliminate purposelessness.
- Can use your own anecdote or just take mine. See below:
- I have a friend, Natalie, (joce’s friend- natal) who has a fantastic relationship with her mother. They talk about everything and share their experiences with one another. Her mom trusts her, and lets her do things that most mom’s would think twice about.
- For example, Natalie has a degree in Geology. What’s that? Well, I’m sure it’s a lot more complex, but in short, it’s the study of rocks.
- Point to note: we live in Singapore. There aren’t very many rocks that we can study.
- But today, Natalie is one of the happiest and greatest girls I know. She’s confident, secure, genuine, kind, and generous, has a wide array of interest and hobbies, is lovable, popular… you name the great personality trait, she’s got it! Her life is, for the majority of the time, in perfect balance- and she’s so happy with where she is today. That’s not something remarkably difficult to find nowadays.
- Do you know what kind of life Natalie lived in her younger days?
- She started out as an insecure child, a little bit of a tom boy, quite out of place and awkward. But Nat was blessed with an awesome mom (I’m so blessed to personally know the family and grow up with Nat) who encouraged her to experiment and was always there for feedback and guidance. So Nat tried out gymnastics, moved on to hiking, astrology, track, basketball…and eventually realized that she loved the outdoors. In junior college, she joined ODAC (Outdoor Activity Club) and learnt about star constellations, botany, mountains and rocks, until one day, she just knew that Geology was what she wanted to do.
- Natalie is an example of how exposing your daughter to many experiences and being her open channel of communication will help her to understand and find her calling in life.
- Your goal as a parent should be to facilitate your daughters experiences so that she her a clear view of her situations and is able to make informed decisions.
- It’s about letting them find out their strengths through trial and error, and being there as a advanced and experienced guide that prevents the good that can come out from those experiences to be turned sour by misguided thinking or inaccurate evaluations from outsiders.
- Point to note: Helping your daughter to not waste time, and make full use of her life, IS NOT equivalent to forcing her to take those ballet lessons you always dreamt your daughter to take. It’s about encouraging her to go out there and try new things, leaving the experimenting and discovering to her and review sessions to you.
Conclude.
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