“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
Bill Gates
How quickly do projects, goals and opportunities slip us by? We size up a goal. Affirm that it will make a meaningful contribution to our life. About how much value it will add to our lives, but we never start. All of a sudden a week has passed, a month has passed and before you know it, the goal seems too big to even fathom starting. So we never start. We don’t grow, we don’t challenge ourselves. We wane.
When we see someone succeeding at their goals, we think to ourselves, “I could do that. I just don’t have the time”. And you’re right! About the first sentence. Most people can achieve what other people can.
What we miss when we see goals slip us by, is the ability to just start. A take on Bill Gates quote could be, “We underestimate what one year can contribute to a 10-year goal.” Moving to a smaller ratio, “We underestimate what 10 minutes can contribute to a day, a week, a month and a year”.
No one is perfect. There are definitely days in which individuals do underestimate what they can do in 10 minutes. We can always do with handy reminders to stay on track. Here are a couple of thoughts and concepts to ponder:
- Jordan Peterson‘s lecture, a video on wasted time.
- Robert Greene‘s concept of ‘Alive time and dead time‘.
- Warren Buffett’s quote – “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago”.
What we do with our time is our own decision. We must guard our time as a precious resource. Be deliberate with it and respect it.
Remember, 1 hour wasted a day, is 7 hours a week, which is 365 hours a year. That’s 15 days a year that could be wasted. Never underestimate what that hour can contribute too. What are you doing with your time?