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In the last post I discussed the importance of keeping track of our time.  So, yesterday I kept track of how I spent my time.

7  – woke up

7-7:45  – get ready for work, breakfast etc

7:45-8:30 – commute to work; listened to “Ask and it is given” audio book by Esther and Jerry Hicks on the way to work on my ipod

8:30- 4:20 – work

4:20-5 – commute back to work; read a mystery novel

5-6 – dinner and watched a little bit of tv

6-7 – browsing the internet; nothing productive though

7-9:30 – researched about beliefs (my future blog post); read quite a few articles and watched some videos, listened to some podcasts

9:30-10 – shower, ironed clothes for morning etc

10-10:45 – sorted out my receipts, wrote down my expenses for the day in my notebook, read the mystery novel some more, had peppermint tea

10:45 – 11 – lights off went to bed, did my visualization and probably fell asleep by 11:15 pm or so

So, that’s how I spent my time yesterday!

“Time is more valuable than money.  You can get more money but you can not get more time.” – Jim Rohn

One of the smartest things you can do from financing point is to monitor where every single penny is going to.  Monitor your finances, expenses and earnings.  Once you know how much money is coming in and how much is going out and where it’s going out, you are in a better position to design your financial plan.

We all know how much time is coming in.  It’s 24 hours in a day.  All across the world, no matter who you are or how rich or how poor you are, everyone has 24 hours in a day.   At the end of the day we all know that we’ve spent all those 24 hours.  There is no savings here, once the time has gone, it’s gone forever.

Where are you spending your time?

Majority of the people around the world have jobs so let’s say around 10 hours a day are spent on the job.  Now that includes the job itself and commuting.  If you are sleeping around 8 hours a day, you are still left with 6 hours.  Out of those 6 hours let’s take out 2 hours for eating, getting ready for work, showering etc.  Now we’re left with those 4 hours.   What are you doing with those 4 hours?  Are you spending that time watching television?  Are you doing another activity that you enjoy?  Do you have a hobby?  Do you have another job? Do you volunteer?

I am going to start monitoring where my time’s being spent. I still have tomorrow off as a holiday so I will start monitoring my time on tuesday.  This will be a great eye opener.  At the end of the day it always feels like another day has gone by and nothing has been achieved.

This way I can find out exactly what I am doing with my time and make some changes accordingly.

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – Confuscious

It is amazing how different the education systems can be in different countries. Just because you have finished your courses and got a degree, does that mean you know your subject well? How many times have you forgotten everything you studied for as soon as the exam was over?

I studied in Canada which I thought had one of the best education systems. It’s only after I graduated from the University did I realize that I did not learn much. Now how is that possible? How is one able to graduate without learning much?

I actually got quite a few A and A+ on my transcript as well. Honestly, it’s not that hard to pass a course. But to get an A you have to understand the subject unless you’re born a genius. Even after all that, I forgot pretty much everything.

Obviously, if you don’t use it, you lose it!

There’s more to it than that. I learned a lot from talking to my Russian friend. He graduated from Russia and has a lot of knowledge in many different areas. When he learns something he really learns it from the ground up.

According to him, the Russian education system is very different than Canada. In his university people could not pass an exam unless they really knew their subject theoretically and practically.   They don’t just learn how to use something, they learn why that thing works the way it does.  That’s where the distinction is that I have felt.

He did not just study to pass the exam but really to understand the material.  That meant learning it from inside out.  That skill has stayed with him and has become a part of his character.

I have seen many people learn enough to become competent at their jobs.  He actually needs to know why something happens.  There are a lot of people at my job with many years of experience who know exactly how to do certain things but he knows why we have to do those things.  Others might be faster than him initially but if it comes down to a tough task he always excels.

Learning to do something will always get you a job but learning why you are doing that thing will make you indispensable!

For example, you buy a new computer with windows xp pre-installed on it.  Your computer runs really fast.  Then you start installing a few programs and your computer starts to slow down.  Even starting and shutting down your computer is taking longer now.

Most people would be able to tell you that as you install more software on your computer you computer will slow down but he is the kind of a person who would not be satisfied with that answer.  He wants to know why!  Why does the computer slow down?  So he would start exploring until he finds the answer.  Initially if you spoke to others they would give you the answer quickly that this is just the way windows xp is, but more you start asking questions as to why that was the case, fewer people are going to stick around to answer you.

I find that quality simply amazing!  It basically means searching for truth.  You do not take anyone’s word for it but do your own research until you arrive at the truth.  It doesn’t just apply to computers but every single aspect of your life.

It also makes you more self-reliant.  We are truly blessed to be alive at this time.  Due to the rise of internet it is so easy to acquire knowledge about any and every single subject that we wish.  That is not to say it is easy to arrive at the truth but at least it is there.  We can be sitting in one place and researching.  We do not even need to go out to the library to go through tons of books to find out what we’re looking for.  All we have to do is do the search using many search engines and within seconds we get results matching out criteria.  After that it’s just a matter of going through various articles to arrive at the correct explanation or the right answer.

Why?! – it’s what kids always ask because they’re naturally curious but somehow this curiosity dies down in many as they get older.  That’s where the educations system comes in.

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” – Galileo Galilei

“Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.” – Marge Piercy

“Eat right, exercise regularly, die anyway.” – Unknown author

What if you are an ambitious person? What if you have learned to motivate yourself? What if you are a goal oriented person? What if you are getting your life back on track? What if you have started earning a decent income? What if your credit rating is improving? What if your debt is finally being paid off? And what if you do not even gossip anymore?

Then you realize that something somewhere is missing. You set more goals, improve some areas of your life and yet a little voice inside your head keeping nagging you. To make sure you discipline yourself you try to be more efficient, you manage time better, you get more work done.

Then you get sick! You ignore it and hoping that if you just work through it, it’ll just go away. That’s not the case. It gets worse. You finally decide to take one day off of work to rest and get better. Now you’re better and you are back on track.

Instead of taking that as a warning you go at full speed again and the same cycle repeats next month.

That’s been the story of my life for the past six months or so. I started noticing that every single month I was getting sick. I even started doing cardio every single morning but the next month I got sick again. I finally started taking vitamin C but again I got sick. I am eating almost 100% diet consisting of organic foods. So, what is the problem?!!

It is not that I mind getting sick. It’s just that it slows me down quite a bit. Also, I am on a contract so I get paid for the time I am at work. If I have to take a day off at work, either I lose the pay for that month or make up that time.

Finally I started taking one a day multi-vitamin and vitamin C. This month again I felt the fever coming on but I was able to fight it and I did not need to take a day off work. So, I think the combination of multi-vitamins and vitamin C is doing the trick.

Granted that I sometimes skip breakfast but overall I am still eating at least 3 meals a day. I have come to the conclusion that even though diet plays a major role in keeping you healthy, it’s not the only thing. I think your state of mind plays an even bigger role. If you are not unconditionally happy then your health suffer regardless of how good your diet is.

“Preserving the health by too strict a regimen is a wearisome malady.” – François Duc de la Rochefoucauld

I think I have been a little too strict with my diet. I have been eating a diet of the foods that I do not actually enjoy. I never really look forward to any meal. I am just having meals because it’s what I should be doing and I get hungry. I am going to start having more of the things that I actually enjoy. I do not eat unhealthy anyways so I think I do not have to worry about getting fat etc.

It’s not just that I am eating really healthy food that I do not enjoy it’s also the poverty consciousness. When I did not have enough money I would buy foods that were the cheapest regardless of what happened to my health. I would look for the special deals and the cheapest deals were always at McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and so on. If I was at a coffee shop I would just get the tea because it was cheaper than coffee and also drinking tea killed the appetite so I did not need to buy food. All of this ruined my health as well.

That is actually exciting! I seem to have found the cause of my bad health. I am going to have food that I really enjoy regardless of the cost. If I really feel like having something then I am going to have it. I get really excited when I set new goals. So, I am going to set some new and different goals now. Looks like another 30 day challenge is coming up. I will keep you posted.

“Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” – Redd Foxx

Motivation is an essential ingredient of success. Most of the time when we fail to achieve our goals is because our motivation fire burns out. The challenge is always trying to stay motivated until our goals are achieved. I have found one way to stay motivated is to continuously read motivational quotes.

Now how does that apply to gossiping? As you go through your day and meet the people you regularly meet there is a chance you may slip back into your old behavior of gossiping. Everyone knows you by who you were before you started off on this no gossiping pilgrimage. If you were a gossiper, then people expect certain responses and stories from you. When all of a sudden you stop that they are bound to suspect something. You can play it cool and just seem interested in all the gossip without really contributing and I can tell you that this works quite well.

There will be times that you will get very frustrated with someone. Maybe someone’s taken credit for the work you’ve done, or you’ve just found out that someone has been bad mouthing you behind your back, or you just feel like gossiping. At times like these you have to remember your goals! It’s times like these that divide boys from men. This is where you should muster enough will power to get your back on track.

I have collected a list of quotations about gossiping which I found to be very helpful in reminding me of my goals and why I stopped gossiping in the first place. Here they are. Hope you enjoy them and can find them motivating you to stop gossiping as well.

“When of a gossiping circle it was asked, What are they doing? The answer was , Swapping lies.” – Richard Brinsley Sheridan

“What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.” – Jewish Proverb

“Live that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.” – Will Rogers

“What is told in the ear of a man is often heard 100 miles away.” – Chinese Proverb

“Who gossips with you will gossip of you.” – Irish saying

“If it’s very painful for you to criticize your friends – you’re safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that’s the time to hold your tongue.” – Alice Duer Miller

“He gossips habitually; he lacks the common wisdom to keep still the deadly enemy of man, his own tongue.” – Mark Twain

“When you are in trouble, people who call to sympathize are really looking for the particulars.” – Edgar Watson Howe, Country Town Sayings, 1911

“No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.” – Bertrand Russell

“ The easiest way to keep a secret is without help.” – Unknown Author

“Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.” – Frank A. Clark

“The easiest way to keep a secret is without help.” – Unknown Author

“It is just as cowardly to judge an absent person as it is wicked to strike a defenseless one. Only the ignorant and the narrow-minded gossip, for they speak of persons instead of things.” – Lawrence G. Lovasik

“It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people’s business.” – Dolley Madison

“Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a Gossip.” – Richard Steele, Sr.

“To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girlfriends.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Gossip is the opiate of the oppressed.” – Erica Jong

“It isn’t what they say about you, it’s what they whisper.” – Errol Flynn

“Journalism is organized gossip.” – Edward Eggleston

“Who brings a tale takes two away.” – Irish Proverb

“A gossip is one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.” – Lisa Kirk

“ The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.” – Napoleon I, Maxims

“Gossip, n.: Hearing something you like about someone you don’t.” – Earl Wilson

“The biggest liar in the world is They Say.” – Douglas Malloch

“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” – Benjamin Franklin