Deploying Your Assets

All of us have three types of resources that we have at our disposal, to manage our life-Money, Time, and our Effort. Unless you have a rich uncle bequeathing cash to you, for most people, Money comes as a consequence of the way we manage our Time and our Effort.

We all have access to a finite amount of Time. Also, the Effort we can put in is also limited, based on our physical and mental fitness. So how do we deploy these two resources in the most optimal way to maximize value for ourselves both in terms of creating material wealth(Money,Assets) and well as spiritual wealth(Fulfillment, relationships, happiness)?

Steven Covey says in his Book the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we all have a Circle of Concern and a Circle of Influence.

Our Circle of concern refers to stuff we have no control over like- Others opinion of us, weather, Politics, Economy, mistakes of others, Pandemics!! Etc. All these can influence what I do, but I do not have any direct influence or control on them.

Our Circle of Influence is everything that is in my direct control- My attitude, my focus, my skills, my habits, my schedule, my hobbies, etc.

Ask yourself- How much Time and Effort am I expending on issues that are in my Circle of influence vis a vis what is in my Circle of concern.

All our Time and Effort goes in pursuit of activities that cut across two dimensions of importance and urgency. There are four types of activities that demand our Time and Effort.

Activities that are Important and Urgent- These have an impact on our well being. Such activities demand our immediate attention and time.

Activities that are important but not urgent- These have an impact on our well-being, but we can proactively work on them today to ensure that they don’t become urgent tomorrow. These are forward-looking activities.

Activities that are Not important but Urgent-Interruptions, Meetings that require you to attend, but you do not have any meaningful contribution to make, other people’s emergencies that require you to commit your time.

Activities that are Not Important, Not Urgent- Aimless phone-calls, being busy on emails, etc.

Ask yourself- How much of my Time and Effort is going into doing the urgent stuff instead of the important stuff ?

We have a raging battle going on inside us between our intelligence and our Instincts; between our commitment and our compulsions.

Your instincts and compulsions are winning if you find yourself spending your two most valuable resources of Time and Effort on matters that are urgent and trivial, and if you find yourself complaining often about matters beyond your control.

Your intelligence and commitment is shining through if you are investing your Time and Effort on matters of importance at your own pace while growing your Circle of influence.

So, are you aware of how you are deploying your Time and Effort? Be aware and make the right choices so that you can make your resources create value for you.