That's because they were building foundation--the foundation to support a grand structure. And that takes time.

The engineers, architect and owner certainly weren't standing around saying, "Where's building? Why can't I see more progress?" They knew that a majority of time to construct building would be spent in laying groundwork.

Once foundation is ready and cured, rest of construction happens at impressive speed. Even mistakes made in superstructure can be corrected without too much difficulty. But faults in foundation CANNOT be easily repaired and will jeopardize entire structure.

And why should what we build be any different? We need to put strong foundations under our dreams, our businesses and our relationships. I believe that this is where many people struggle. They're too focused on payoff and don't give enough attention to hard work and careful planning required in building substructure. They want to start putting up walls and bringing in business too soon.

And in end, most fail because there's not right support.

Every business, every marriage, every cause will be tested. Just being a "good guy" and "doing right thing" will not insulate you from gales, attacks and infestations that will most definitely occur.

But with a strong foundation, built with good materials, with painstaking effort, your structure will be one that withstands all assaults and fully supports your endeavors.

I really believe that most people, intuitively and instinctively, want to be good time managers. It makes sense. The better we manage our time, more results we will enjoy. It's logical choice.

So let's say it's start of your workweek and you have a lot of "things to do", some of which are "Crucial", some "Not Crucial". Intuitively and instinctively you and I want to be good time managers. Therefore, where does our attention gravitate towards? Do we focus on "Crucial" or "Not Crucial" tasks? The "Crucial"? Sure! Logic tells us that. The more "Crucial" things we do, more productivity and success we enjoy.

But, you know what? When given a choice between "Crucial" and "Not Crucial" items, we will almost always do "Not Crucial" items and ignore "Crucial" items in spite of fact that we all want to be productive in our day.

Why?

Because we are driven more by emotion rather than logic.

You see "Crucial" items are typically longer and harder to accomplish. The "Not Crucial" items are typically more quick and fun and emotionally satisfying.

We need to get over to "Crucial" side more often to increase our personal productivity.

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