Friday, May 19, 2017

leadership dot #1813: months ahead

Months ago, I put a date on the calendar to visit some dear friends in Texas. It was a trip coordinated with another friend to meet there – something we have been talking about doing for years, but finally did.
Also this month, I took a day to drive three hours to meet other friends for lunch. It, too, was something that we wanted to do for ages, but finally made it a reality with a specific date. This also was planned months ago.
If you asked me now whether I had time for either visit, I would have given you a resounding no. Had I not been in Texas, I wouldn’t have been home either. My trip overlaps with a work assignment where it would be much more helpful if I had been able to be elsewhere. My day-with-friends required several late nights of working to compensate for the lost time.
Yet I am so glad that I made time for both trips. They were of the “important, but not urgent” variety that Stephen Covey describes – things that are most often neglected in favor of the demands of the day.
If you have something really important that you want to do, make a specific date far into the future. Your calendar is likely to be freer, and the length of time you hold the date increases the difficulty in cancelling it. Make “someday” a specific day and enjoy the fruits your planning will bring.

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