If someone looked at how you spent your time

If someone looked at how you spent your time over the last year, would what they see as your priorities match what you see as your priorities?

If there are no great opportunities

If there are no great opportunities, you are supposed to fill your time with average ones. And when your time is filled with average opportunities, there is no room for exceptional ones.

Some people are very fear-driven

We often think of people working for things, but they often work against things. They work against poverty. They work against their upbringing. They work against some of these things just as much as they’re working for them. Some people are very fear-driven. We talk about fear as being very negative, but it also can be very positive.

It’s tempting to imagine we have less power

If you don’t realize that you have power, you might not be able to exercise it. The power to speak up, to participate, to invent, to lead, to encourage, to vote, to connect, to organize, to march, to write, to say ‘no’ or to say ‘yes’. It’s tempting to imagine we have less power than we do. It lets us off the hook. For now.

The ability to decide your attitude

In life, even when faced with the loss of everything, there's a fundamental freedom that endures: the ability to decide your attitude and chart your course in any given situation. No matter the circumstances, the power to choose your perspective and determine your own path remains intact.

How you want to spend your days

We buy back our time not only with the money we spend but also with the opportunities we decline. The more clearly you know how you want to spend your days, the easier it becomes to say no to the requests that steal your hours.

Think in decades and act in days

If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures.