The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Relationships

We can all quote the proverb, "It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and who knows you."

Stephen R Covey in his Seven Habits book teaches how to develop these relationships with Habit 5, "Seek to understand, then to be understood.

In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee uses the character Atticus Finch to share a great truth about relationships, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."

Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People describes some simple yet tools to help build relationships. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Become genuinely interested in other people. Be a good listener. Remember and use their name.

These simple ideas produce powerful results. Its all about personal relationships, at home, at work and in your community.

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Time

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg

We all have the same 525,600 minutes each year. But you choose what you do with those minutes. Do you chose to spend them staring at a screen while someone else decides what you see and can easily dish you up a plate full of garbage? Or do you choose to use your time profitably? For something awesome? Making a change in the world?

Simply ask yourself, "What is the best use of my time, right now?" Then act accordingly.

As Gandolf said in Lord of the Rings, "What you have to do is decide what you are going to do with the time you have been given."