Not all minutes are created equal

Are you running out of creative juices?  Do you get the feeling that you are not catching up with the changing times?  That feeling is good, but you need to do something about it.

Not all minutes are created equal. Some people make every minute productive. Some simply waste it. It is common sense to embark on a serious personal journey of growth and development, but the question now is this: If common sense is so obvious, then how come common sense is not so common after all?

Allow me to provide some practical tips on building ingenuity and getting your creative juices flowing — and working for you.

Are you sitting in your cubicle doing nothing but pushing pixels and wondering why you have a creative idea drought? Get out of there. Take a walk. Visit the bookstore during the break, have a change of scenery and, refuel your creative mind with new things you see. You cannot squeeze out creative ideas when your well is dry.

Information is important. More important is the ability to process the information, understand it, and then apply it. Going through these things on a constant basis is how you improve. Many people attend my seminars and take down lots and lots of notes, but when they get home, they file their notes somewhere, never to be revisited; they just wasted their time and money.  There are a few who do realize that they actually do not need to collect tons of information, but to act on a few key points and make them a part of their work or personal life. Those are the ones who experience positive change.

Let’s talk about reading books. Do not read your books the way you listen to a monologue.  Converse with your books.  Highlight words, write down your thoughts, argue with the author. Put your ideas on the margins, because this is how you learn from books.  Some people do not want to “dirty” their books, and so the pristine untouched book is kept on the shelf gathering dust.

Take care to not just read, but to read sensible material. Many young people today waste their time reading trash. I have always wondered how their lives are supposed to improve when all they read are love stories featuring vampires and werewolves. Maybe this is the reason why great men of history like Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, William Wilberforce, and John Newton are foreign to them. If they stay on a steady diet of vampires and werewolves, I am sure their newfound heroes will be the “Walking Dead!”

What about digital devices? I used to spend a fortune on CD’s and DVD’s, and I would read books and attend seminars both here and abroad. They all cost me a fortune. And then Steve Jobs introduced the iPod. It was not an original invention; I remember buying a “Rio,” which was a predecessor to Jobs’s device, but it was crude, unfriendly, and difficult to use. I shelved my Rio and ignored the iPod. Until one day, a bright young enthusiastic boy named Vohne showed me one he was using, and that got me hooked.

From that time on I had a portable, user-friendly, extremely effective mobile university I carry with me at all times. It is without exaggeration that I claim today that the device, which has since had many other models, is still a constant companion and a very important tool for my personal learning. And the good news is that all those CD’s and DVD’s that cost me a fortune are now offered for free in the form of podcasts. And they get regularly updated when one subscribes to the service.

I listen to podcasts when I brush my teeth, when I wash my face, when I am dressing up. I listen to podcasts when I am in my car and when people complain about the agony of enduring Metro Manila’s worsening traffic. I have a wonderful time learning through my portable university — all for free.

The desire to learn has to be there, and the desire should bring with it a bias towards action. Most people miss out on learning because they prefer to be entertained rather than educated.

Do not waste time, and do not waste resources. Time is the most valuable currency you and I have, and when you waste your time, you waste your life.

Live and learn; and then learn to live.

(Spend two inspiring days learning leadership and life skills with Francis Kong as he presents Level Up Leadership this Feb. 18-19 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 for details.)