By Jef Menguin

You will not have time to do everything that you want to do. But you will always have enough time to do everything that truly matters.

I live my life simply. I write simply too. My words are simple because I do not know the complicated ones. I write what I have learned. And whatever I’ve learned, I learned through the three methods I know: experience, observation, and imagination.

I am not in denial. I know that many Filipinos do not honor commitments. I know that many of them are latecomers. I know also that this is true to various peoples in the world. I met them. I read about their stories.

Those Filipinos who are more conscious about time, I believe, can best define Filipino Time. It does not need a genius to make sense of this, right? The best users of time must be the one to define it. You must have experienced and observed how they live their lives. They do not need time management techniques that we usually read because they do not manage their time. They live time. They live life. Because time is life.

The New Filipino Time is living a fruitful life. I believe this is the key to all time management principles that you need to learn. When techniques do not contribute to you living a fruitful life, then those techniques must be thrown out of the window.

Let me give you two examples.

The New Filipino Time is not about creating more time in our lives. Have you wished you had 36 hours in a day? I wonder what could happen to all of us if we had 36 hours in a day. Many people complain for not having enough time to do everything and to be everywhere. Not even a thousand years will be enough to do everything. And I doubt if many of us would like to live a thousand years.

Those who are not conscious about time, unfortunately, are not also conscious about their choices. When I was a college student, many of my classmates complained that they do not have much time to read and work on projects. But they always have time to talk about how bad the school system was run, the blockbuster movie they watched the night before, or just about anything and nothing. Observing how we spent our days, made me realize that many people have unlimited time to spend on useless things and always find the time very limited to do the most important things.

Here is the brutal fact. There are many Filipino boxers. All of them have the same 24 hours as Manny Pacquiao. Many Filipinos sing well. They have the same 24 hours as Arnel Pineda and Charice Pempengco. There are many people who wanted the best for the Philippines. Some of them complained much too. They have the same 24 hours as Efren Penaflorida. For many of us who wanted to become millionaires, Manny Pangilinan’s 24 hours in a day is no longer or shorter than ours.

I mentioned these people because you know them. I am not asking you to compare yourself to them. Let us just be clear – we do not need an extra time for each day. Each hour is an opportunity to be fruitful. Each hour is an opportunity to be happy. Each hour is an opportunity to be significant. How many hours in the 24 we have everyday do we spend on being fruitful, happy and significant?

The New Filipino Time is not about packing more activities into one’s day. Often, people who want to see me ask whether I am busy. Of course, they can view my calendar in my website (But I do not write there everything that I do).

My answer: No, I am not busy. I just keep myself productive.

Busyness is not the business of a fruitful person. The New Filipino Time is not about completing many tasks in a day; it is also not about producing a lot of output. It is about outcome, that is, the results which make us fruitful, happy, and significant.

Here is a brutal fact: Most people think that it is cool to multi-task. Your brain cannot multi-task. The best producers and inventors in the world are not the multi-taskers but those who focused their concentration on doing what they believe to be important.

Here is another brutal fact: You do not have to finish everything that you have started. When you are in a middle of something and you find it meaningless and useless, you do not really have to finish it. Throw it. Or get out.

I get out when the movie I am watching is a garbage. I made the wrong choice when I entered the cinema; I will make another by staying. I know of many people who will choose to stay simply because the ticket is expensive. You have already wasted your money, why do you have to waste your time. The same is true with “free seminars” sponsored by some MLM companies. Some use deceptive means like making you believe that you are attending a “financial intelligence seminar”. Time wasting is financial ignorance. Fruitful persons do not allow other people to manipulate them and waste their time. Whatever is not important cannot be part of their day’s agenda.

The New Filipino Time IS about focusing our day on our most important agenda! This is the key to the success of those who make the best use of their time. Not expanding the hours. Not doing more task in a day. But simply focusing and staying on the most important agenda.

There is one sentence that I like you to write today. Memorize it. And say it before you start any task.

I MUST DO THE MOST PRODUCTIVE THING POSSIBLE AT THIS GIVEN MOMENT.

How do you know which of the many things that you need to do is the most productive? Those tasks that when done will lead you towards the fulfillment of your agenda – of your purposes in life – are the most productive. You do them because they are important to you.

Let us do a short game. Get your paper and pen. Doing so is better than typing on a keyboard.

Are you ready?

Good! Okay, please do the following:

1. List down those which you value the most. Some people write God, family, work, church, school, education, friends, etc. You may limit your list to the ten most important.
2. Next, write down the activities you have done for the last seven days. Try to remember everything. It does not have to be all work. You may include watching TV, road travel, shopping, etc. I also suggest that you include the amount of time you spent for each.
3. Answer this: which of your activities you have done for the last seven days made you fruitful, happy, and significant? If you included family in your list, how many activities and how much of your time was spent on developing your relationship with your family? All activities which do not make you a better father, husband, employee, leader, friend, citizen, etc do not make you live a life that is fruitful, happy, and significant.

From now on, I encourage you to change your idea about Filipino Time, or simply about Time (for time does not really need a nationality). Be careful on how you make choices. Be careful on how you live.

You have to make the most of every opportunity. Use every hour, every minute, every second, and every moment to accomplish your most important agenda.

Jef Menguin is a Filipino inspirational speaker. He encourages leaders to make the best use of their time in his leadership workshops. Visit his blog – http://jefmenguin.com/?cat=259 – or email him through inspire@jefmenguin.com.

The IKTA Syndrome

by Francis Kong (November 7, 2010, from www.franciskong.com)

Speakers like me struggle with listening to other speakers all the time.

• “Oops…he did not pronounce it right….”
• “Oh no…there is a misspelled word in his PowerPoint.”
• “That’s an old joke…”
• “I’ve heard that one already…”

This is not good. This means I will never be able to learn anything.

Sometimes when I listen to speakers speaking, mind would say: “He got this from Charles Swindoll’s book entitled “Grace Awakening” third chapeter left hand page bottom corner…”

The mind processes thoughts five to ten times faster than the human ear can ear and my mind is just so noisy.

This is what I call the IKTA syndrome.

IKTA  is an acronym that means: “I Know That Already.”

Then this thing operates, it closes my mind from learning anything new.

This is not a good thing.

IKTA should be countered by another acronym BAIDI (BUT AM I DOING IT?)”

Sure. I have heard it before but have I been applying what I have heard and the next question is: “Am I already good at it?”

To learn things has to first start with having a beginner’s mind.

The word is “SHOSIN.”

This time this is not an acronym. This is a Japanese word, which means “beginners mind.” Author Shunryu Suzuki explains it this way: “This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything. It is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.” Think like a beginner, not an expert, when reading this book. Suspend what you know and empty—don’t open—your mind to the ideas in each chapter. Think about how you’ll implement these strategies. Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.

I agree but I need to qualify. I never want my mind to be running on empty. All these things about meditation and emptying of the mind are not my cup of tea. I have always believed in the seriousness of critical thinking.

Having the ability to think is not the same as having an open mind all the time. If your mind is too open your brains may fall out.

What I mean is not to let pride seep into the mind and convince me that I am so good or in fact better than the speaker such that what he or she says is far inferior to what I know.

I need to remind myself that when I was in High School, I graduated in the part of the class that made the top half possible.

I need to be a life long learner. And even if the speaker is saying something I have heard before, it should be treated as a reminder for me to put it into practice.

My audiences are kind. Many of them have heard me many times. They may have heard the same thing, the same funny stories, the same jokes and they would tell me, “Francis I have heard you at least 4 times and even though I have heard the same funny lines…I still laugh every time you say it.”

Now that’s their polite way of saying, “Francis why don’t you update and upgrade your stuff?”

This is why I attend seminars, I go back to school, I read books and I listen to Audio CD’s in order to learn and to equip myself with new stuff. And I need to be humble enough to understand that the day I stop learning from a 6 year old boy is the day I am finished.

This is also the reason why I have read the entire Bible for so many times cover to cover yet I feel like I have not known anything. Try it for yourself. This is why we need a lot of humility and courage to admit this. I know I do.