Change in Perception

“Success is being at peace with yourself.”
– Anonymous

“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”
– Gerald Jampolsky

The earth was once thought to be the center of the universe.

As we all know today, this is not true. But for millions of years, only a trifle few would suspect any different. However, when Galileo proved Copernicus’ theory that the earth was indeed not at the center of the universe, the door that forever changed the world opened. In the same way, our perception of time has changed.

Time management used to focus on what has been done or what needs to be done — on how one can become more productive. And goals were long considered to be essential tools for doing so. Goals were at the center of one’s universe so to speak, while values were considered as peripheral or secondary.

Today, a shift is slowly taking place where values (and not goals) are considered to be at the core of life. In other words, time management is — or has shifted to — life management. It has gone from quantity of time to quality of life; from stress management to self management.

Those who have not yet shifted their thinking are people who have a tendency to think that getting as much done as possible is the way to free up time. The more people do, however, the more they will attempt to fill up this “free” time by constantly doing more.

In essence, who you are and how you feel is much more important than what you are doing or what you want. Since time is perishable and if you want more of it, you should therefore increase the quality of your life right now instead of just trying to manage your time.

Conversely, if you feel you are not getting enough time, it is not because you are managing it poorly but because you’re living a life of poor quality. You may be productive and achieve many great things. But if you’re unhappy or feel unfulfilled, then you are productively wasting time.

And unfortunately, it’s how most people conduct their lives today.

Attachment to goals often leads to stress, unhappiness, disease, procrastination, workoholism, and, of course, failure. I know that intimately since I’ve been there. These things happen more so in our modern world not because people are poor time managers but because the conventional ways they were taught to manage their time are wrong. They think that time freedom boils down to getting as much done as possible.

For example, you may be incredibly efficient, be motivated by your goals, and attempt to do as much as possible. You may even feel a certain degree of satisfaction out of the results you are currently producing. However, it doesn’t matter how skilled or efficient you are, time management can not ensure your happiness and its conventional approach can also lead you to failure in the long run.

Failure? Yes.

You may become successful but still live an unhappy or stressful life. Unhappiness or anxiety may be the failure to grow or to enjoy life, but it is failure nonetheless. What’s the point of being successful when at the same time you are stressed out and can’t enjoy that which you’ve achieved? What’s the point of working hard to achieve a goal when, once you’ve reached it, you die as a result of over-exhaustion?

Therefore, true success has nothing to do with the quantity of your time. True success has everything to do with the quality of your life.