“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade wins in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain
Category: Time Management
#Quote Of The Day | #Time | #Thoughts | #Mind | #QualityOfConsciousness
“With time and thought, one can do a good job.”
– Jules Verne
#Quote Of The Day | #Time
“You can do so much in 10 minutes time. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good. Divide your life in 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as
possible in meaningless activity.”
– Ingvar Kamprad, Founder Of Ikea
How TV Robs You Of Life & Valuable Time | #Life | #Mindset
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.”
—Martha Graham
BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
April 16, 2019
Individuals go on through their lives following their daily endeavors in many different fashions. People from all walks of life take a variety of paths which follows what they see as best choice in their life. The one commonality that we each have individually is that we are blessed to have ample amount of time.
Time is quite an interesting concept. As a thought-form, time brings about a kaleidoscope of different ideas. Time is often correlated with work, appointments, deadlines, key dates, precious moments, and many other instances. Because of this, time is valued to some extent by everyone, even if we don’t inherently ruminate upon this regularly.
Curiously though, because we are lucky enough as individuals to have a lot of time, we often have blatant disregard for it – myself included – in one sense or another. Everyone usually takes time for granted because most people live long lives, but that still doesn’t mean time should be wasted.
Speaking of time waste, the average person watches 5 hours of TV per day with some watching even more than that. At 5 hours per day, that amounts to 1,825 hours per year. That is 18250 hours per decade, and 91,250 hours per 50 years. That’s a lot of time! Over the course of 50 years, the total amount of time spent watching TV daily amounts to 3802 consecutive 24-hour days over that span. Or “just” 5 hours a day, for 50 years.
For the sake of simplicity, let us assume most of us happen to get 8 hours a day sleeping. In an entire 168 hour work-week where the average person spends 56 hours a week sleeping, and 40 hours a week working, that leaves one with 72 hours free. If one were to spend 35 hours a week viewing television, then that would leave 37 hours of free time. That’s nearly half of all of one’s available time spent watching television. That seems ludicrous, does it not? That doesn’t even begin to cover other activities individuals may carry out.
The point of bringing this is up is that, even though many people tend to think they “don’t have any time” to do constructive things [i.e. take better care of their health], my rebuttal to that is that in fact most [if not all] individuals do. Even the busiest people on earth can learn to rearrange their schedules to be more efficient, especially if time is being used watching TV or meandering about aimlessly online.
Everyone will have different reasons for how they individually spend their time, and how much time they spend doing what they do, and that’s really their own business. This post isn’t about judging people, but about self-analysis and ruminating upon the possibility of addressing misconception of individuals not having enough time, which seems to be an illusion to certain extent.
Ponder this: what would you do if you only had one month left to live? Think about it seriously.
The fact this post is being read by you shows that by that very fact you have lived many years, and yet not all species have that opportunity, or are that lucky. Some animals, in fact, do not live long at all, when compared to human years.
Butterflies, on average, only live one month. Their entire life span narrows onto one month. Sure, many will say that “but they’re a different species” and “time is relative” and those assertions would be right, but one thing is sure: even with magnitudes more of free time than butterflies, nearly half of all free time seems to be wasted, unless for some odd reason watching TV is so valuable that one need invest nigh half of all their free time doing it.
Let’s ruminate further. Think about when someone presses pause on a movie. Think upon that for a really long time. After quite a while, wouldn’t the screen seem lifeless, like there’s nothing going on? No movement, no change – nothing. For one to notice the signatures of life there has to be change, motion, cycles, ebbs and flows and much more.
Now, when someone sits on a couch, for hours, days on end, doesn’t it seem antithetical to the very nature of all living organisms? Doesn’t life move? Doesn’t life experience? Doesn’t life change?
Our ancestors conquered movement, doing incredible things that most people couldn’t imagine now days. But these days, not only do some people “have no time,” but they don’t even exercise when their health depends on it. Was guilty of this myself at a time, but no more.
Thankfully, life gave me a few chances to be able to learn from past mistakes, and after severe bouts with disease I took control of my life, instead of letting life control me.
My main thought at the time was: what would I do if 50 years from now, when looking back at life with one foot out the door, someone told me I had wasted thousands of hours throughout my life? I know I’d have an ocean of regret, if not more. That would crush my soul even more than the fact that I was going to miss those I loved very much. I would be thinking how much more time I could have had with the people I loved. I would do anything – ANYTHING – for merely one more hour, or even minutes with my loved ones.
Being able to spend one more moment with someone you love is precious. Imagine being able to spend hundreds of hours more, or even thousands, over the course of a lifetime?
Why wait, and why not start now?
After all, the time is there for the taking.
And each and every single one of us individuals have it. Until we don’t.
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Author’s Note:
It’s always struck me as odd as people will often say time is a precious resource, but on the flip side, they will not make time to have more time. Doesn’t that seem paradoxical?
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Suggested Reading:
Have You Ever Walked On The Moon?
Stranger On The Moon
Wings Are Made To Fly, Seeds Are Made To Grow
Why A Sound Mindset Is Crucial: The Light Side Of Mindset Vs. The Dark Side Of Mindset
Mindset Mindset Mindset!
A Sound Mindset Amidst The Obstacles Of Life
Mindwaves & Mindfulness
Modern Misteps Meet Mindfulness
How You Deposit A Truckload Of Black Pearls Into An Emotional Bank Account
How Are Your (Emotional) Bank Accounts Doing?
Emotional Bank Accounts: Mutual Funds
Emotional Bank Accounts: Deposits & Withdraws
Emotional Bank Accounts: Gems Gems Gems, Babies Everywhere!
Emotional Bank Accounts: I Call Your 7 Cents & Raise You A Dollar
Poker & Life: Pulling The Friend’s Card
Imagination Unleashed
The Inherent Power Of Curiosity
A 7 Cent Investment Into An Emotional Bank Account To Convert A Hater?
What Do You Find Inspiring?
Poker FlashBack: Swimming With Sharks, Swimming With Whales
Imagination Rises Out Of The Jaws Of Defeat
What’s Your Story?
You The Individual Are Author Of Your Own Journey, Of Your Own Destiny
Harry Potter Fans Trash Talk? Say WHAT?!
Consciously Creating The Road Of Change, The World Of Tomorrow
What Are Your Personal Defaults?
The Opening Salvo, The First Minute
The Seeds Of Today, The World Of Tomorrow
Assumptions Are Mother Of All F@!$ Ups
Piercing Perspectives #1: Taking Things For Granted | Health & Mindset
Piercing Perspectives #2: You The Individual Are Extraordinary
Piercing Perspectives #3: The Divide & Conquer Left Right Paradigm
Piercing Perspectives #4: Poker As A Mirror For Life
The Individual, The Foundation Of Society
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If you find value in this information, feel free to share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
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About The Author:
Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.
#Quote Of The Day – #BruceLee | #Mindset | #Perspective |#Life
“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”
“If you truly love life, don’t waste time; because time is what life is made of.”
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
“Notice that stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”
“As you think, so shall you become.”
– Bruce Lee
Editor’s Note:
The only thing I would add, which is arguably also his most famous quote which is oddly missing, is Lee’s ‘Be Like Water’ adage, which says:
“Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless. Like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
You’re On The Clock | #Time #Mindset #Perspective
“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time because when you give your time, you are giving someone a portion of your time that you will never get back.”
BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
March 29, 2019
As a preamble, the idea for this blog post stems from a conversation I had with my friend nigh a week and a half ago. The whole point of the notion, ‘you’re on the clock’, simply refers to the amount of time you have left in life.
With that out of the way, the main topic that my friend and I talked about was mindset, though from two separate avenues. He talked about it through music as he is a musician, and I talked about it through self-directed learning. This conversation was reminiscent of many conversations I’ve had with people about mindset, and it’s always great to see two distinct angles have one overarching commonality.
How do mindset and time couple, though?
Each of us have plans that we would love to accomplish (don’t we all?), but it never seems like we have enough time. Moreover, ideas often grow like weeds and it’s incredibly easy to get side-tracked on myriad ideas without focusing on one specifically or logging enough time into that one main project or idea that has been waiting in the wings for quite some time.
What’s worse, time keeps on ticking by: life waits for nobody. That is a very sobering and disheartening prospect. Every second that passes, only passes once – once. This of course is glaringly obvious, and yet, I would argue that everyone including myself donates time by the truck load into the ever present vortex of distraction.
Precision with time is so paramount, that it is my belief that there should be courses taught on this very subject, for it affects all aspects of our lives.
Have travels in mind? Spend time taking a trip to whatever destination it might be.
Wish to learn more? Spend more time educating yourself.
You love to help others? Spend more time aiding others in any way you can.
Need extra income for x, y, or z reason? Spend more time at work.
Want to have quality time with whomever? Spend time with that person.
Now, do me a favor, reread the last five sentences and tell me what’s the most important word in all of them.
What did you come up with? Was it the word time?
My contention would be that time is the second most important word all those sentences. You could ask, how could that be? This post is about time, isn’t it? Certainly, it is. But time is not something we have control over. How we spend that time is. As such, the word I want to home-in on is ‘spend’.
Spending implies something that is used up, consumed or exhausted. These are sobering words that bring about the implication: time is valuable.
In fact, so much so that, the full latitude of our lives are spent [there’s a derivative of that word again] in such a way to highlight what? Key moments in time.
I do not believe anybody would argue that time isn’t valuable. However, if it is valuable, how come time is taken for granted by all of us including me? I can’t answer for everyone else, but I can answer for myself. I know that although I try and be incredibly precise with my time, I always want to do more, I always need to do more, and yet, I do not do as much as I would like or am able to. Why so?
Because time, like water, is everywhere – it is a mainstay in our lives. Its easy to overlook something that’s part of your life, every single day, for the rest of your life. How many things come close to that?
If time wasn’t gifted to anyone – and it is a gift – and one had to work to purchase it, people would treat seconds like rubies, hours like black pearls and days like treasure chests full of invaluables from times immemorial. Hell, people would hoard seconds like water in a desert.[1] Perhaps a perspective similar to that would make all individuals value time more. It’s certainly something to consider and a rumination I will attempt to focus on quite more daily.
Now to that damn clock: it keeps ticking, it’s always ticking. What’s the destination of your clock? Where is your time going?
For me personally, at this moment its writing this very blog. After that? I’m uncertain, and I can readily admit that.
Life is full of uncertainties, but how you – the individual – spends their time doesn’t need to be one of them.
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[1] These analogies might be something to expand upon in a future post or a write up of a different sort.
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If you find value in this information, please share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
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About The Author:
Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.
Modern Misteps Meet Mindfulness
“Nothing is worth more than this day.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
December 5, 2018
Nowadays, not a day goes by that individuals are not exposed to constant notifications, texts, videos, apps and daily reminders – these are everywhere. Be it at home, at work, or on the go, these never-ending streams of information drain hundreds of hours off of our schedules yearly.
In fact, according to a study conducted by the University of Southern California in 2013, the average individual in America goes through more than 13 hours of media daily.[1][Bold Emphasis Added]
Most of it does not add much meaning to our lives either, unfortunately.
Society’s addiction to this overarching all-things-now pattern has increased proportional to our technological advancement, if not more so. Not a day goes by without the instant gratification that is contained within all forms social media, the mainstream media sound-bite reality, texting, on-demand Google answers, and much more. This instant connection to all-things-now has spawned a new type of addiction: addiction to Speed.
In Speed – Facing Our Addiction To Fast and Faster – and Overcoming Our Fear Of Slowing Down, Dr. Stephanie Brown Ph.D. makes the argument that individuals of myriad types have become addicted to the instant gratification that is hyper-prevalent in modern lifestyles. Psychologist Brown notes:
“That gratification comes from two places – the illusion of rapid connection to other people, and immediate access to information we feel we need, be it a Google Map, an investment insight, or the answers to a trivia question.”[2]
This type of addictive behavior can have serious detrimental consequences for individuals. What’s worse, society has acclimated to it in such a way that it’s become natural to operate in such a manner.
What is Dr. Brown noticing exactly? Brown casts light on the matter:
“What I am seeing in my practice as an addiction specialist is that, especially in urban areas, this speed trap is outstripping people’s ability to manage, to fulfill all of their responsibilities, and even to cope. The idea that we literally have at our fingertips the tools to do so much more than we actually have the capacity to do well has created an impossible bind that leads to chronic stress and a sense of failure. You do not have the ability to be on 24/7 like a computer, but you believe you should be able to keep going, and that you will be able to do so if you only try harder. And so you push yourself incessantly, creating an addictive spiral.”[3]
Coming to terms with this, it is crucial as individuals to know that this is taking place in order to be able to tackle this issue head on. Issues that are unknown cannot be solved, and only by employing a proactive approach can individuals be able to displace and conquer such issues.
In order to thwart these subversive circumstances, an examination at the opposite side of the spectrum is at hand. If a full-steam-ahead-no-matter-what approach is what society has become addicted to, then a more mindful, detached, and self-engaged approach stands at the opposite side of that coin.
Mindfulness – the state or quality of being mindful or aware of something – is the first step in overcoming this conundrum. What mindfulness offers is a thoughtful, relaxed, and engaged version of what individuals can are capable of doing when their mind is at ease and focused.
The problem is that this Mindful state of being is nigh never achieved because of the issues noted above by Dr. Brown, as well as others. Another salient and ever-present reason for this is that people get into the bad habit of autopiloting through life without much thought.
One thing Poker has taught me is that many players can engage in autopilot, meaning that they tend to play the game in an automatic fashion without much thought being put into each and every circumstance. Similarly, many, if not most individuals employ this type of approach in daily life.
Some glaring examples of the ways this can be noticed in life are: (1) seeing how many people forget someone’s name after they meet them, or (2) how many people don’t remember a significant portion of their drive on their way home, or even (3) how some people text while driving. There are many more examples, but those are some of the more common ones that help shed light on the matter.
Being cognizant of this, it’s important to keep in mind that mindfulness can only be achieved by being mentally centered, by employing a hyper-focused, top-down approach that allows individuals to ‘be in the moment’.
As Captain J.A. Hatfield once shared:
“The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men.”
If you want to achieve anything significant in life, we must home-in on what we think. As the sage Buddha once noted:
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world.”
What world will you make for yourself: a world where instant gratification controls you, or a mindful life where you control your world?
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Footnotes:
[1] Elizabeth Williams, Mary. “Why Every Mind Needs Mindfulness.” Time Special Edition – Mindfulness: The New Science Of Health And Happiness, 2017, p. 10.
[2] Dr. Stephanie Brown Ph.D., Speed – Facing Our Addiction To Fast & Faster And Overcoming Our Fear Of Slowing Down, p.4
[3] Ibid., p. 5.
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This article is free and open source. All individuals are encouraged to share this content and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
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About The Author:
Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.
