By: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group
KOLKATA: If you remember, in Part 9 of the series, I have discussed that though various obstacles will come across you on the journey towards goals achievement, which you have to overcome; there are two such obstacles, which may even hamper your goal setting process. In parts 9 to 16, we handled the first such obstacle i.e. ‘self-limiting beliefs’, inculcated over a period of time since childhood. Today, we will talk about another deadly obstacle i.e. ‘negative time-utilisation habits’, which at times consume a big chunk of your productive time.
Negative time utilisation habits
Before actually venturing into the goal setting process, you must be prepared to change some of your time utilisation habits. First, we need to identify our time utilisation patterns, and then we will identify, which activities are not taking us towards our goals.
I take my own example. I was very much fond of playing games on computer or mobile, watching cricket and unintended surfing on the internet. These activities were eating up a big chunk of my productive time. When I decided to work upon my workshop seriously, first of all, I analysed my time log for one week. I observed that these three activities were silently killing me from inside. I decided to change these habits and decided to save time for utilising in productive activities, which may take me closer to my dreams. As I repeatedly lay stress on the concept of moving from negatives to positives, I decided to utilise this time in creating my workshop’s content. The result is before you.
It took about one year or so in getting rid of these three habits, though I may confess that even today, I could not completely get rid of these habits. During the process, at times, my efforts became weak and I was pulled by these habits; but again, I had to control myself in keeping away with these time killing habits. Whenever I was tempted to watch cricket or to play computer games, I asked myself – ‘Is this activity taking me closer to my goal?’ The answer was always in negative.
It is not so that I do not watch cricket today or play computer or mobile game today or do not surf the internet today. Though, the fact is that today I follow cricket only like any other sport, like tennis or football. Now I am no more a ball to ball follower of cricket commentary, except in high voltage matches like semi-finals or finals of big tournaments. I still play mobile games but for small time, not as a time killing habit. I still surf the internet, but now I only visit the websites, I want or need. We have to identify, whether we are utilising our time for fun or wasting our time excessively on the activities, which are not taking us closer to our goals.
The fact which matters most here is that it takes time to develop this awareness. It cannot be developed overnight. Moving from negative time utilisation habits to positive time utilisation habits is not that much easy. It takes a lot of determination. The best way is to first become aware of negative time utilisation habits by analysing your time log for at least one week; and then try to inculcate good time utilisation habits to replace the old habits, so as to fill the vacuum.
“Remember, if today you do, what is required to be done, whether you like it or not, the day will come, when you will have all the time and resources to do, whatever you want to do and whenever you like to do. But if today you don’t do, what is necessary to do; you will be compelled to do, what life throws upon you.”
Excerpt from ‘How to Add 50000 Productive Hours to Your Life’
(In some of the next articles, we will see how you can tap the unlimited power of your sub-conscious mind towards achieving your goals; and after that, we will move on to the real goal setting process, during which I will take you to the journey towards the life of your dreams; and believe me friends, you are going to enjoy this journey a lot. So, stay tuned every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. Happy G.O.P.T.A.)
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Creator & copyright holder of the concept G.O.P.T.A.© is an Author, Certified NLP Lifestyle Practitioner, Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker and recipient of Honorary Doctorate of Excellence (Management) by prestigious Young Scientist University, California, USA. He is Founder of ‘Read, Learn & Earn Movement’ and is popularly known among his fans & followers across the globe as ‘Time and Goal Guru’.
His book ‘How to Add 50000 Productive Hours to Your Life’ is available at Amazon & Flipkart in English at http://bit.ly/HowToAdd50000ProductiveHoursToYourLife
