Participants: Skip MacCarty, Don Mackintosh
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000102
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00:47 Hello and welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:49 I'm your host Don Mackintosh 00:51 We're glad that you've taken time out of your 00:52 busy schedule to be with us, 00:54 and also Dr. MacCarty, we're glad that you're here. 00:57 We're going to talk about time management 00:58 as it relates to stress today, 01:01 and I understand that, really, stress is your specialty... 01:04 As we were talking, you let me know that 01:06 you are a fellow of "The Institute of Stress" 01:09 and you also were the opening speaker for the 01:11 Eleventh Congress on Stress in Hawaii, I think in the year 2000 01:14 And so we're just glad that you are bringing your 01:16 bringing your rich experience to us today. 01:19 Tell me, how is it that we relate to stress? 01:23 What is a model we can use to help us understand it? 01:25 I have a seminar I do, Don, and we talk about the 01:28 "stress tank" - I got this model out of Australia... 01:31 And "stress tank" - basically you think of your life as a tank 01:35 and stresses are being poured 01:37 into this tank every day of our lives, 01:39 and if the tank fills up to the overflow point, 01:41 various kinds of harm can happen... 01:43 It can be physical illness and mental problems, 01:48 accident proneness, etcetera. 01:49 Fortunately, there is a pressure relief valve on the stress tank 01:53 and the pressure relief valve can prevent our 01:55 stress tanks from rising to the overflow point, 01:57 and there are 7 keys keeping that relief valve opened, 02:01 and there are also ways we can close the 02:03 pressure relief valve thinking we are helping things. 02:05 Smoking, alcohol - gives short-term relief 02:08 can actually close the pressure relief tank, 02:10 and then there are things we can 02:12 do to create a larger stress tank. 02:13 In our seminar, we unpack all those things, 02:16 and there are 7 keys to managing stress. 02:20 Those 7 keys... Prayer, relaxation, exercise, 02:26 those are the keys? Those are the keys. 02:27 And time management is one of those keys, 02:30 and to have the pressure relief valve fully opened, 02:33 you keep all those 7 keys active in your life. 02:36 They all look very important but how important 02:38 would you say, if you're looking just at the component 02:40 of time management - how important is that? 02:42 Well, I have a stress pyramid that I have developed, 02:45 and the stress pyramid puts the 7 keys in a hierarchal order... 02:51 And the bottom 4 on that stress pyramid, they go from the least 02:55 important to the most important at the top. 02:58 So exercise, healthy eating, that's foundational. 03:01 Relaxation and then management/organization, 03:03 that's probably where you have time management, is that correct 03:06 Time management and organization 03:07 that's where time management comes in. 03:09 Those are foundational elements, 03:11 and time management is quite important 03:12 for stress management. 03:14 It's at the bottom at that pyramid or pretty near it. 03:17 What is the goal of time management - would you say? 03:20 The goal of time management is to be able to have the 03:24 things in our lives, Don, that we feel are 03:27 the MOST important and to be able to accomplish them. 03:32 We all have things we think are very important in our lives, 03:34 but there are so many areas of our lives that are 03:38 pulling at us that we can get into that time management 03:41 helps us to focus on THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS, 03:43 and be able to accomplish those. 03:45 Okay, talking about that... What then would be 03:47 FIRST STEP in time management? 03:49 That's the Determine Your Goals 03:52 Determine your goals - talk to me about that a little bit. 03:54 How do you do that - how do you determine your goals? 03:56 I mean, I have so many things 03:57 I want to accomplish... that sometimes, you know 03:59 ...this is going to be helpful to me, 04:01 and I'm sure it's going to be helpful to those listening. 04:02 Well, it simply means writing down your goals, 04:06 and GOAL - to define a goal, a goal is something that you 04:11 want to achieve - it's important to you. 04:13 That is desirable for you and it should be desirable; 04:19 it should be reachable - something you can accomplish, 04:22 and it should be measurable, 04:23 so you can know when you've reached it; 04:25 you know when the ball has got in the hoop so-to-speak. 04:28 And the goals can be... 04:30 Some people think of time management 04:33 and they often think - Oh you're talking about 04:36 just the workplace here. 04:37 No... we're talking about personal goals, family goals, 04:41 occupational goals - it's life-enriching dreams 04:47 that you want to accomplish. 04:49 And those change, probably from time-to-time. 04:52 They change from time-to-time. 04:53 Yes they do, you accomplish goals, 04:54 and others come up to the top. 04:56 So looking a little more closely at that and defining that, 05:01 what are some of the practical steps 05:03 we could take in setting those goals - defining them? 05:06 Well, I've been impressed by 3 steps that Alan Lakein 05:11 in an excellent book called... 05:12 "How to Gain Control and Your Life" has suggested, 05:14 and I went through these in 1990. 05:17 The first step is simply - List goals you would like to 05:20 accomplish during your lifetime. 05:21 You just take a piece of paper, and you only allow yourself 05:23 like 5 minutes to do this. 05:25 List ALL the things you'd like to accomplish in your lifetime. 05:27 You just have this long list of things, 05:29 then you put it aside for a while. 05:31 And #2 is - you take another sheet of paper and you list 05:34 all the things you'd like to accomplish in the next 3-5 years 05:37 And then you do only allow yourself just maybe 05:42 5 minutes maximum for that. 05:43 Put it aside and then your last one is 05:45 if you knew you were going to die in the next 6 months, 05:47 what would you for sure NOT want to leave undone? 05:51 That's a powerful question! 05:52 A very powerful question, and you write all the 05:54 things down you don't want to leave undone 05:56 if you're going to die in the next 6 months. 05:58 Then you have these 3 lists now... 06:01 You put them aside for a day or so and then you 06:03 come back to them later, and once you kind of ascertain 06:07 that those are the things really that - 06:09 "yes, that's what I'd like to accomplish in my lifetime; 06:11 that's what I'd like to accomplish in the next 3-5 years 06:14 ...that's what I want to be sure 06:15 to not leave undone in the next 6 months" 06:17 Then you've got at least a set 06:18 of goals you can start working with. 06:21 I don't suggest, Don, that you do this out of your own head, 06:26 you do it prayerfully. 06:28 Spiritual people think... 06:29 Well, time management, it's not spiritual enough, 06:32 but it is - you make it a prayerful experience... 06:35 And once you get those lists, 06:37 you say - "God is this really the list that would honor you?" 06:41 These things being accomplished in my life, 06:42 is this what You want me to do?" 06:45 And you get kind of a sense of satisfaction... Yes that's 06:49 That's where I need to go, that's where I'm headed. Yeah 06:51 So like David said - "I want a temple to be built for the Lord" 06:55 He got it all together, he didn't execute it, per se, 06:59 but Solomon did and he had planned it, 07:01 and came as a result of what God had put in his mind. 07:04 And the thing is, Don, that came out of his experience 07:07 with God. 07:08 All the wonderful things he accomplished in his life, 07:10 but the dream that he had was to build that temple. 07:14 That became his #1 goal; 07:17 toward the end of his life it became his passion - 07:20 was to be able to get all those materials together 07:21 for the building of that temple, 07:23 and that came out of his experience with God. 07:25 Our top priority goals really do grow out of our relationships 07:29 and especially for spiritual people, 07:32 their relationship with God. 07:33 So out of your devotional experience, 07:36 really, this can happen. It can - it can 07:39 After you've set these goals, then what do you do next? 07:42 #2 on the list, Don, is to then prioritize the goals. 07:48 Prioritize them - you have all these goals, 07:50 and what you have to do is, 07:52 first of all, you take the goals on your personal list, 07:56 and you just start writing down if you could ONLY 07:58 accomplish one of them. 07:59 Let's say I have 20 things on my personal list 08:02 of lifetime goals or whatever... 08:04 and I can only accomplish one of those, 08:05 what would I want to be sure and have accomplished... 08:10 And if God will say it - "Okay, I will let you 08:11 accomplish 2 of them" 08:12 What would the second one be? 08:14 And again, you make this a prayerful experience, 08:16 and you work right on down to #20 08:18 And then you do the same thing with family goals, 08:20 with occupational goals and you'd do the same thing 08:23 for your lifetime goals, your 3-5 year goals, 08:28 and your next 6 months. 08:30 And have you done this? Yes I have 08:32 And do you have, like in a book, with you at all times? 08:34 I carry a sheet of priorities around with me, 08:39 my top priorities. 08:40 I've got to tell you... I've known you now 08:41 for quite a few years and I KNOW this is true 08:44 because ever since I've met you, 08:46 I can remember, I think it was a big gray book 08:49 when I first met you... Yes 08:50 You had it there and you made this presentation 08:53 not exactly like this - you've thought about it 08:55 a lot since then, but you made that presentation to me, 08:57 and I got to tell you as well that for ME, 08:59 for the last 10 years now almost 09:02 because of that, I've had a calendar that has 5 years in it, 09:06 and it really has given, really, a great peace to me. 09:11 I think it is a stress-reliever in a sense 09:14 because I know where I'm going to be... 09:15 You know of course, God can preempt anything, 09:18 family situations can preempt anything, 09:20 but it really does - I'll just add my testimony to it. 09:25 You know, in the aftermath of the World Trade Towers incident, 09:28 one of the firemen that lost his life, 09:31 I think it was the chaplain of the fireman that lost his life 09:36 when he was administering last rites to one of the other 09:39 firemen there, he used to make the statement, 09:42 ..."That if you want to make God laugh, 09:45 tell Him what you're going to do tomorrow" 09:47 That's a good statement! 09:49 And I think there's something to that, 09:51 and at the end of this whole goal -setting process, 09:54 then we submit ALL our plans to God to be carried out 09:58 or given up as His providence will indicate. 10:00 It doesn't mean the goal-setting process isn't important. 10:03 It find it VITALLY important. 10:04 It has been so important to me over my life... 10:07 When I was giving a presentation on time management 10:13 to a group from around the country who had come in 10:15 for a family life seminar and I was doing one of the 10:17 workshops there and several years later, 10:20 I was doing my stress management seminar in San Diego, 10:22 and a lady came up to me in that seminar, 10:24 and she said, "You know, I was in that 2 or 3 years ago 10:27 when you did that time management seminar, 10:29 I was in that and ever since then, it's changed my life. 10:32 So I know these are very powerful principles, 10:34 so you determine your priorities. 10:36 Now I remember once, we were at a retreat together... 10:38 You may not remember this but this was many years ago, 10:41 and at that particular retreat, someone shared with me 10:44 the importance of prayer in this whole process, 10:47 and then you have as well. 10:49 You have a special prayer that you say... 10:51 I mean one of the prayers that I say every day is... 10:53 "What is coming between me and you Lord" 10:55 "What is coming between me and someone else" 10:57 "What do you want me to do about that?" 10:58 "What do you want to replace that with?" 11:00 "And what do you want me to do right now?" 11:01 It helps me set those priorities for that day. 11:04 But you have a special prayer as well that you share... 11:06 That's worked very well for me and that prayer is simply this - 11:09 "Lord, crowd the bad out of my life with the good" 11:14 "And then crowd the good out of my life with the best" 11:17 That's a great prayer. 11:19 It has been so powerful in my personal walk with God, 11:23 and in my professional life and in my family life as well... 11:26 Because what happens is, Don, God gives you more and more 11:30 important and top priorities and they become passions to you. 11:39 How do you determine a top priority... 11:40 Well again, it's a matter of saying... 11:41 If you could only accomplish ONE thing on your list, 11:44 what would you want it to be? 11:45 And then if you could accomplish a second one, 11:46 what would you want it to be, and so forth, 11:47 right on down the list - 11:49 that's how you determine your top priorities. 11:52 We want to talk a little bit more about those 11:54 top priorities when we come back. 11:56 We want to talk about how it is that you can accomplish 12:01 or once you prioritize these goals, what do you do? 12:04 And we want to talk more specifically about that. 12:07 I hope that you can join us when we come back. 12:11 Have you found yourself wishing that 12:13 you could shed a few pounds? 12:14 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 12:17 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 12:20 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 12:23 then we have a solution for you that works! 12:25 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 12:28 have written a marvelous booklet called... 12:30 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 12:33 and we'd like to send it to you FREE of charge. 12:35 Here's a medically sound approach successfully used by 12:38 thousands who were able to eat more and lose weight 12:41 permanently without feeling guilty or hungry 12:44 through lifestyle medicine. 12:46 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 12:49 and in this booklet, they present a sensible approach 12:52 to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes 12:55 that can help you prevent heart disease, diabetes, 12:57 and EVEN cancer. 12:59 Call or write today for your free copy of... 13:01 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 13:03 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 13:06 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge, so call or write today. 13:14 Welcome back, we've been talking with Dr. Skip MacCarty 13:17 We've been talking about time management 13:19 as it relates to stress. 13:20 We talked about how we needed to have goals, 13:22 and we needed to set priorities. 13:24 Anything else you'd like to say about that? 13:26 Well Don, sometimes we have - like at my work right now, 13:29 I work with Pastor Dwight Nelson at the Pioneer Memorial Church 13:31 I'm one of the associate pastors there. 13:33 I have 20 different ministries I'm responsible for. 13:36 Well I know I can't give equal time to all those 20 ministries, 13:38 so I sat down and I prioritized them from 1 to 20, 13:42 in terms of what I thought I could contribute 13:44 and in terms of the ministry of the church, 13:46 and give the most value to the 13:48 ministry of the church with my time there... 13:50 And then when I got those done, 13:52 I sat down with Pastor Dwight Nelson, 13:53 and I showed him this list of 20 and I said, 13:57 "Pastor Dwight, these 4 or 5 at the top are about all I can 14:01 REALLY invest my time in to make the biggest difference, 14:04 and I think this is it... What do you think?" 14:06 He looked at it and he tended to agree with me; 14:09 maybe there was a little shuffling around 14:10 of those 4 or 5. 14:11 And then I know when I go out of there, 14:13 because I have not only my own list of priorities, 14:16 but with my employer as well, and then I know 14:19 I have the freedom then to invest my time, 14:21 my major time for the church in those areas. 14:23 So you don't feel like you're "Harry Smatter" a little bit 14:26 for every matter - you're FOCUSED-IN... 14:28 You know exactly what to do. I can't say that I 14:29 never feel that way, but at least I know 14:32 I know what's most important and I've been empowered 14:35 by his choice as well as my own to go for that. 14:38 So once you've prioritized some goals, 14:40 what's the next step, what do you do? 14:42 Okay the next step, Don, and this is very important, 14:44 and we'll go through several steps here quite quickly. 14:47 ...is to then list activities that will enable you 14:51 to accomplish those goals. Okay 14:53 And we're going to go through several slides here 14:55 quite quickly now because I want to put up some goals 14:58 Just some goals I just wrote down quickly. 15:00 Landscape the yard by August. 15:02 Complete a project at work on schedule. 15:04 Vacation next fall in Florida. Let's move that up a little bit! 15:07 And you notice that each one of these goals it's very specific 15:13 and it has a time element to it so you know... 15:15 You can check off when the time comes - have you done that. 15:18 And this is personal, occupational, 15:20 and family all together. Kind of mixed them up here, 15:22 kind of mixed them up, I just wrote down some goals. 15:24 Okay, the next slide then will be prioritizing those goals 15:29 and I do it this way primarily- you notice I have on there - 15:32 "Read Romans this month," and I may say 15:35 read biography on Mother Theresa or something. 15:37 This is for a secular audience, but I don't put them 15:40 as a top goal, but I want to get it up 15:42 there and get it relatively high. 15:44 Let's say I just prioritized my goal here... 15:47 I say... "Oh, I want to complete that work project on schedule" 15:49 And I want to just work right down the goal... 15:53 Then what I do is, I take the top priority, 15:55 completing that work project on schedule, 15:57 I take a clean sheet of paper, write that down at the top, 16:00 and I say - "What are the activities I need 16:03 in order to accomplish that. " 16:04 Well, I just wrote down 3 here... 16:05 ...Get the needed equipment. 16:06 Whenever there is some equipment I need, get that. 16:08 Make sure that I have the support personnel 16:11 that I need to help me with this, 16:13 make sure they're informed, 16:14 and they are committed to helping me with this. 16:16 And then adjust my personal schedule, 16:18 so I can actually make the deadline. All right 16:20 And then I go BACK to that list again of priorities, 16:23 I pick out #2 and it's going to be family reunion at Christmas. 16:27 I take a clean sheet of paper again, 16:29 go back to that clean sheet of paper and I start writing 16:31 down the things I need to do to achieve that. 16:34 Plan details with my wife, gain consensus on meal plans; 16:38 are my wife and I going to serve all the meals 16:41 or are different members of the family going to 16:42 take responsibility for different meals. 16:44 ...The sorbet or the soufflé. Exactly! 16:47 Get the extra bedding I need and so forth. 16:49 And just basically work it through that way. 16:52 Now you not only have goals, you not only have priorities, 16:54 but you have now some activities to accomplish those 16:57 priorities written down. 16:58 Boy, it kind of overwhelms me to hear all that, 17:01 but that's the nitty-gritty isn't it? 17:03 You know, I'll tell you - The time you invest, 17:05 that may take several hours, but the time you invest in that 17:08 is going to save you enormous amounts of time later on, 17:11 and it's going to help you actually accomplish the things 17:13 that you have determined, prayerfully, 17:15 are the most important to you, to your family, 17:18 and to your occupation. 17:20 I want to ask another question, 17:21 but before I do, I'd just like to share something... 17:23 You know, sometimes I've done SOME of this, 17:25 and I have a computer program that will take the things 17:28 I haven't yet accomplished and put them on to the next day... 17:32 That can get pretty discouraging after a couple of days, 17:36 but, you know, it does help me that I know I'm a little behind 17:39 on that and then I'll take a day and I'll have to 17:40 knock out 10 things! Yeah! 17:43 Right - and you know what? 17:45 The next day you have complete freedom because if you 17:46 change your mind, you can do some other things on that day. 17:49 Sometimes I don't even GET to my schedule for that day, 17:52 but let's move on here because we're getting to that. 17:55 Once I got my priorities set and those goals, 17:57 and done what you've said... these are the activities, 17:59 what next - what do I do? 18:01 Okay, the 4th step, Don, is when we're forming our 18:05 "to do list" for the day, we make sure that on that 18:08 "to do list" are some of those activities 18:10 from our high priority items. 18:11 In order to accomplish the high priority items, 18:13 we had certain activities - we want to make sure that 18:15 some of those activities are on our "to do list" 18:18 every single day - so it's at least on the list 18:22 And if possible, to make it as 18:24 high priority on the list as we can so we're 18:26 contributing toward that; 18:27 we're doing something toward accomplishing those. 18:30 Now, I gotta tell you, Don, every step along the way here... 18:33 People that start write down some goals, 18:36 then find it's sometimes difficult to do prioritization 18:39 because it's not hard to put down #1 and 2, 18:42 but when you get down to #8, 9 and 10 on the list, 18:45 and people realize they may not be getting to those 18:47 for some time if they are really working #1 and 2... 18:52 really focused on #1 and 2, it's discouraging because 18:55 they think it's too important not to be working on those... 18:57 And so, some people bail out at that point. 19:01 They bail out because they're just overwhelmed. 19:03 Because they want to treat everything equal... 19:07 which means they're not going to accomplish near as much 19:10 toward their high priority items - what really is deepest 19:13 in their heart by treating everything equal. 19:15 You can't treat everything equal and get it all done... 19:17 And how do you know when people ask you to do things, 19:19 how do you know what to say "yes" to, 19:20 and what to say "no" to? 19:22 When you have top priority goals 19:23 that have been prayerfully established, 19:25 that empowers you - it gives you permission to say "no" 19:28 to things that don't contribute toward those 19:30 if they are really prayerfully set goals. 19:32 Now we're all going to have to make discernment during the day; 19:35 sometimes it will be 5 o'clock in the day, 19:36 and I haven't even got to one 19:37 of those high priority items on my list yet. 19:39 Boy, that sounds almost like every day for me. 19:41 Well.. and you know what, the best time management 19:44 experts in the world acknowledge that much of 19:47 their time, they don't have control over it. 19:50 The difference between those people and the people that 19:52 don't accomplish the same things as much as the experts do 19:57 is the experts keep coming back, they know... 19:59 They have that built-in sense that at 5 o'clock in the day 20:02 if they haven't even got to one of the items on their list yet, 20:05 they still hopefully get to that 20:07 and if they get to the end of the day, they carry it over. 20:10 That's right, they carry it over to the next day. 20:12 No guilt - they just carry it over to the next day 20:14 because it's always on the list and they're going to get to it. 20:17 They're going to get to it and they are going to 20:18 accomplish it and when that gets crossed off, 20:20 another item on accomplishing another one of those activities 20:23 to accomplish their high priority goals 20:24 gets moved over to that list... 20:26 And it's just always there in front of them, 20:28 and they just keep chipping away at it, 20:29 chipping away at it - sometimes only a few minutes, 20:31 sometimes they don't even get to it, 20:32 sometimes they have a block of several hours in a day 20:34 where they can work on those things. 20:36 THAT'S what it takes! 20:38 Just dogged determination, but understanding that 20:41 God is also the God of the interruption as well. 20:43 That's exactly right - that's the Lord... 20:47 I lay all my plans at Your feet to be carried out 20:51 or given up as Your providence will indicate. 20:53 That's a great prayer... Always have to be sensitive to that. 20:57 Now the next thing, I suppose, is just like you said, 21:00 Do it - getting it done - go for it! 21:03 That's exactly right. 21:05 And that's, that's again, it's not easy for people 21:09 because when they get up in the morning, 21:10 there are people calling them, wanting them to do things, 21:13 there are little urgencies that come up, 21:16 but they have to have that; 21:18 when they have those high priority activities 21:21 on their list, what they want to do is to focus 21:25 on those things and some time during the day 21:27 they're going to chip away at those things... 21:29 That's what they're trying to do and look, Don, 21:31 sometimes you get blocks of time. 21:33 You're sitting in an airport and now we're going to have, 21:35 I understand, a little bit more time at the airports; 21:39 getting checked in and sitting there waiting for the plane, 21:42 and all those kinds of things... 21:44 so what we do is - Take advantage of that time! 21:46 Exactly - take advantage of those times. Cell phone! 21:52 There are block times, you can block out times too. 21:55 When you don't answer the phone because you can always make 21:57 call-backs and have the answering machine take calls, 22:00 and work on some of these things... 22:01 There are all kinds of ways to do it, 22:03 but you have to just keep after it. 22:05 Now I know that your answering machine does work, 22:07 and that you do screen calls - I know that 22:08 I've even been screened out occasionally, 22:11 but yeah, I think that's a good principle. 22:14 I've got an answering machine though - that truly picks up 22:17 and I don't know that it picks up, 22:19 because I don't like that feeling that people might get 22:21 that - "Hey, he's listening and he has said, 22:23 I'm not going to talk to that person" 22:25 So I have this - I don't know if that ever came up with you, 22:27 but it's true - the phone when it rings is not always 22:31 a top priority. 22:33 Okay, so the next thing after "doing it" 22:37 in your seminar you talk about a story that I thought was 22:39 really good about a $25,000 system of management 22:43 Tell me a little bit about that... 22:44 Well this is a story of Charles Schwab... Don 22:47 He was the chairman of "Bethlehem Steel" 22:49 He owned Bethlehem Steel and he hit a plateau in his business 22:55 Bethlehem Steel just wasn't going anywhere. 22:57 And this is a picture of him 22:58 He didn't know what to do with it... 22:59 Well it's a picture we use in our seminar... 23:02 a cute little graphic there. All right 23:05 And so he called in a time management expert - Ivy Lee 23:09 And Ivy Lee followed him around for several days, 23:13 and then gave him a list of 3 things to do 23:15 at the end of that period of time. 23:16 And Charles Schwab looked at it, it looked simple enough, 23:19 he said, "Okay, what do I owe you?" 23:20 And Ivy Lee said, "I tell you what you do, 23:30 you try these things for the next few months, 23:36 and then send me what you think it was worth. " 23:39 And at the end of that time, this was many years ago, 23:41 when $25,000 was real money, 23:44 and Ivy Lee got a check for $25,000. 23:46 Is that right? Yeah... I tell you what, 23:49 $25,000 is not really real money... 23:51 Now, I'd take $25,000 from you if you had it! I understand... 23:55 So $25,000- he said that was so helpful... 23:57 For just doing those 3 things every day. 23:59 And so this individual helped him prioritize, 24:02 and get things going and that was just worth all the... 24:05 What that list of 3 things was - Okay, what were they? 24:09 #1- Before you go to bed at night, make a list of the 24:12 6 most important things you have to do the next day. 24:16 So, before you go to bed... is that important? 24:18 No, it's not - it's not, I do mine in the morning. 24:21 Okay... Every morning and I do it during my prayer time. 24:24 I actually formulate my "to do list" 24:26 during my prayer time, and I carry stuff over 24:29 from the day before and make it a matter of prayer... 24:32 But Ivy Lee suggested - you do this before you go to bed 24:35 And then #2- when you get up in the morning, 24:37 you start working on #1 and you work on it until it's done. 24:42 You prioritize that list of 6 things. 24:44 Sounds like something my wife has told me before... 24:46 Then you work on it until it's done... All right 24:48 And then when you're done with #1, 24:50 you start working on #2 and work on it until it's done, 24:52 and work your way through list like that - 24:54 all the way through the list that way, 24:57 and do that every single day, he said, 24:59 and it will change your business. 25:00 Well, Charles Schwab found it did. 25:04 It did what it needed to do for him, 25:06 and it was worth that much money to him, 25:08 a very valuable thing for him. 25:09 Now I find, Don, that life doesn't work that way. 25:13 I don't get started on #1 and work on it until it's done. 25:17 But I try every day to have my list of things to do, 25:20 and I try to prioritize. 25:22 The most important things on that list are at the top, 25:25 and I want to try to get to that as fast as I can 25:29 get to that and start working down that list 25:32 to get the most important things done. 25:34 And you do that every single day, 25:36 and I find that is the absolute key in this. 25:39 All right, so that's worth $25,000 to Charles Schwab 25:43 but to you and I as well because we can get that done. 25:45 You know, one of the things I was reading about 25:48 one of these early religious communities in America that 25:51 spawned so much of our current industry, 25:53 and they did say that if you could make the list at night, 25:57 their whole philosophy - I just read this recently, 25:59 was that your mind could be thinking about it all night, 26:03 even while you're asleep, so when you get up 26:05 you're ready to do #1. 26:07 Well, and I believe Stephen Covey also recommends 26:10 that in his book, "First Things First" 26:11 an excellent book on time management as well. 26:13 Well is there anything else, we are talking about 26:15 time management - we have only 1 minute left, 26:18 so we have to be careful with our time, 26:19 but is there anything else you'd like to add? 26:22 Don, I think if there was one single phrase that a person 26:26 kept in mind constantly, it would be - 26:31 Remember that the main thing is the main thing 26:34 to keep the main thing! 26:35 Okay, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! 26:39 There you go. All right 26:41 Well I think I can remember that - to keep the main thing 26:44 the main thing... 26:45 And bathe the process in prayer, ask God to guide you - 26:51 Remember that text - "This is the way, walk ye in it" 26:54 He can guide and He can let us know. 26:57 We've been talking with Dr. Skip MacCarty 26:59 We've been talking about how to cope with STRESS. 27:02 We've been talking about time management 27:05 as it relates to that and I understand your seminar 27:07 is available - "Stress Beyond Coping" - Yes it is 27:09 and we can get a hold of that. 27:11 Through the Health Connection which is a subsidiary 27:13 at the "Review and Herald" and they can call the 3ABN, 27:15 I believe, and they'll have the phone number where 27:17 they can get that seminar; 27:18 it's on videotape as well now. 27:20 So, yeah, you can get a copy of today's presentation, 27:23 what we've covered here today, 27:24 it can help you in prioritizing time. 27:26 I've got to tell you, myself, personally 27:28 that over the last 10 years, many of these concepts 27:32 have been put in place in my life as a result, really, of 27:36 Dr. MacCarty's material as we worked together before. 27:40 And once you do these things, you'll get a sense that really 27:44 your stress will diminish as you know where you're 27:46 supposed to be and what you are to be doing - 27:48 Of course there are interruptions - we know that, 27:50 but keep the main thing, the main thing, 27:52 that's the MAIN THING. 27:53 We're glad you've joined us today. 27:54 We're glad that you can, as a result, 27:57 have Health that Lasts for a Lifetime! |
Revised 2014-12-17