The Bushy Path

“Render help unto others.” This is one of the most popular statements we listen to every day. It’s worth its weight in gold and it’s a statement that everyone has to take to heart. But is everybody eligible to help others? Yes.

In 2016 Olympic games, Usain Bolt was participating in his third consecutive Olympic games. He had won a gold medal in the 100 meters race in the previous two Olympic games. Will he win for the third time? They got set for the 100 meters final. And the gun sounded. The 8 athletes raced. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds,... Justin Gatlin has got this. It seemed Usain Bolt was going to lose out on gold this time. Oh wait. Like lightning, Bolt rocketed, caught up and got to the finish line. First. Another gold.

What if you can predict the future? Would it make your life easier? Would it make your career more vibrant? Of the closest words to describe the future, one of them is uncertainty. Although many times, people make predictions, they give their forecasts, and are pretty confident about it.

Mike Tyson is a popular man today.  A large portion of his fame is a result of his illustrious career as a boxer. Even today, many years after his retirement as a professional boxer, you would think Mike Tyson is a tiger at first glance.  Until you look closer and discover he’s a man like you, but with a much tougher face. Mike Tyson was a valiant boxer. Tireless and an ever-present thorn in the sides of his opponents.

One dangerous conclusion we always make is substituting correlation to be causation. Many times, when it is convenient for the narrative we're trying to pursue, it is common to blur the lines between correlation and causation. Or even delete it in some cases. Yet, knowing the difference between correlation and causation can make all the difference in your career and life as a whole. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, correlation is the relationship between things that happen or change together while causation is the act or process of causing something to happen or exist. Causation is also called cause and effect.

So, you're one quite busy guy. But you can't really measure what you have achieved through your busyness. Being busy is good, but being productive is great. When your busyness leads to productivity, then you’re managing your time as well as you can. Productivity is a subjective word. Its definition depends on who’s defining it and what frame of reference they’re using. If you achieve all the goals you set for the day, that could be a good way to measure productivity. What is the expectation at your workplace for a day of work? Did you meet them?

If there is one problem common to most people, it is how to get the most out of our time. If there is one habit common to all successful people, it's that they manage their time like a boss. They take charge of their time and get the best out of it. They understand how the usage of time dictates the level of their success.

Time is the most precious resource you have. Often, people lose consciousness of this and waste their time unconsciously. If you're one of those who do this, it's okay. I understand your plight. I fight every day to get the most out of my time. In fact, everybody you think is an epitome of time management goes through the same fight every single day. And you must go through this fight too if you want to get the best out of your time. Do you need time management at all? What are the reasons time management is worth all the effort you put into it?

Time and tide waits for no man.  Too many goals and too little time to execute them.  Man wants success but man gets failure. Perhaps it takes an extraordinary power to achieve success. Or a bit of magic and superhuman abilities. The world is a difficult place and it is very hard to achieve sustainable success. But the world is not an impossible place. If you have paid your dues, then you’ll surely get the results you deserve.

One of the most amazing feats in architecture, Neuschwanstein castle, in Germany, took 24 years to be completed.  Dracula castle in Transylvania took nearly a century to complete.  So, how long do you think it will take to complete a skyscraper? Years. And you’ll be right based on skyscrapers that have been built in the past. But today, Broad Sustainable Building in China will beg to differ. The company built a 57-storey skyscraper , Mini Sky City, that has 800 homes and working space for 4,000 people. In just 19 days. Did I say it is earthquake proof? Yes, it is.

In the summer of 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps had gone through his usual routine before his swimming event. He had done his 25-meter sprint in the pool to raise his heartbeat. After that, he put on his headset for his songs playlist before a race. He was getting ready for the 200-meter butterfly race. Minutes later, the athletes were beside the pool, ready for the event. Moments later, the gun went off and each swimmer plunged into the swimming pool for the chance at winning the ultimate medal: Olympic gold.

You left for your workplace in the morning like a hero. With the hope of getting a lot of things done. But you came home tired and with the niggling thought that you could have done better than that. You’re not alone. Workplace productivity is one of the most important things in any workplace. Except you don’t love your work, you always want to increase the quality and quantity of work you can do daily. Whether you’re a very effective worker, or a mediocre one, there is always room for improvement. No man is perfect and therefore the need for constant improvement. The extent of what man can achieve is limitless.

You have been thinking about it. And it has been giving you migraine. You had high hopes for your career. But now you feel your career has gone stagnant. You have been told to sweat the big things, the important things, and ignore the small things. You have followed that to the letter but your career is still stuck in mediocrity. Are the small things unimportant? This advice seems to imply it. However, it is a really bad idea to follow. Because the small things are more important than you think.

Ego can be a cause of downfall for anybody. When you have succeeded in a task or in your career, it is easy to think that you are the best. It is easy to think that you achieved success because you were flawless. Ego can blind you to things that people around you try to warn you about. It is even easy to think that those people are unqualified to offer advice to you because they have achieved much less than you have.

Sometimes, you think about your disadvantaged background. It becomes a source of discouragement to you. You believe that this could be a problem to the achievement of your lofty goals. You think people who have more privileged backgrounds would have it easier to fulfill their dreams and become successful.