Daily structure keeps you moving forward. There are many ways to add structure: keep a daily log, join a self-help group, find a mentor or role model, or read motivational books. Structure is what life-coaching is all about, helping to pull you forward when you are not strong or disciplined enough on your own. Invest in yourself and in your raw talent; I use rule of spending up to 10% of my income to invest in my career and personal self-development.

Weekly goals make you show up. Weekly goals bring instant results that add up quickly over a period of months. Yes, many times I wait until end of week to dig in, and sometimes I don't fully meet my weekly goals, but even that is more than I would have done had I not made commitment.

Develop your insights. Insights can open up all areas of your life, from what you wear to whom you love. Learning to act on these insights produces self-awareness, a major part of designing lives we want to live. Combining our insights and our raw talents with actions can bring experiences that we have only observed or read about. Clear out tolerations and distractions. Two basic problems can interfere with our progress. Tolerations are those things we no longer enjoy, but which we put up with out of habit, fear, or not wanting to make waves. As a coach, I help clients clear out these bottlenecks in three areas: living space, personal life, and career.

Once you are no longer dragged down by what you have been tolerating, you have time and energy to develop raw talent. Distractions are usually genuinely enjoyable, but still interfere with what is even more important to us. Not everyone needs to throw out their TV, as I did, but you do need to honestly face what is distracting you from living life you want to live.

Which makes more sense: wasting time and money to distract yourself from your dissatisfaction, or investing in your own raw talent, building a life you are satisfied with?

SOME COMMON TIME WASTERS

1. Telephone Interruptions 2. Drop-in Visitors 3. Meetings 4. Crisis Management 5. Lack of Objectives, Priorities a Daily plan 6. Cluttered Desk, Personal Disorganisation. 7. Ineffective Delegation 8. Attempting too Much at Once 9. Lack of Clear Communication 10. Inadequate, Inaccurate Delayed Information 11. Indecision and Procrastination 12. Confused Responsibility and Authority. 13. Inability to Say "No". 14. Leaving Tasks Unfinished 15. Lack of Self-Discipline

MORE COMMON TIME WASTERS (IN RANK)

1. Planning (lack of).

2. Priorities (lack of)

3. Telephone interruptions

4. Disorganisation/cluttered desk

5. Procrastination

6. Visitors

7. Lack of Self Discipline

8. Ineffective delegation

9. Attempting too much

10. Inability to say 'No'

TIME TIPS FOR THE BUSY

Get news only once a day - in only one form - read paper or watch television or listen to radio, but vary form so you don't get news through one bias. Don't worry about or spend time on things irrelevant to you, eg.. reading every bit of newspaper.

Unless it is crucial for your business, news is not only depressing (don't worry about it, unless you can do something about it), but it gives a distorted picture of life.

If you can't sleep, don't waste time lying in bed. Get up and do something.

Use an answer phone.

Walk out of a poor movie or show. You've already wasted money - so don't waste time as well.

Plan your leisure. Don't expect your free time to fall into place by itself. Plan your weekends as carefully as you plan your weeks...and it's OK to do nothing.

PLANNING is key. Make a conscious decision to plan more. Most people's lives are too busy to think clearly about what they really want out of life, yet I believe we can do our "best" thinking whilst relaxing (like when walking or jogging)

Trust your instincts and BELIEVE in YOURSELF

If you have will, you Do have Power to change any aspect of your life...so,

WHEN YOU TAKE CONTROL OF TIME, YOU TAKE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE.