This is a wonderful time of the year, especially when we view it through the eyes of our children. The lights, the presents, the parties and all of the candy. It is an enthralling, engaging and exciting time.
Last week we had our Concentre Christmas Party and for the first time, we invited full families. The children loved it. My girls, Sydney and Lola, were excited in advance for the Concentre Party (they kept telling me) and they were full participants in dinner, the giving of awards and gifts and then in our touring of local Christmas lights.
For us, family engagement is not just a once a year thing. Our Passion – to “Change The World & Be Home For Dinner” – means that our families are at the centre of what we do on a daily basis. As a company, we work hard (“Changing The World” is not something anyone can do in passing) but we are also focused on being there for our children and our families. We are focused on getting the most out of the very precious time we have.
A Change in Perspective of Time
For everyone, “Today” is 24 hours, 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds. It does not matter how old you are, how driven or successful you are, or how many friends you have. We all have the same amount of time.
What does matter, and what is different, is how we approach investing our time. Are we being clear with ourselves on what return we expect from our time investments? Are we proactively thinking through how we can increase the return for those who are investing their time in us?
It happens to be a fairly common turn of phrase, but we often hear friends and family telling us that they “have” to do something. I “have to” go to this meeting; I “have to” go to my children’s piano recital. But there is a massive difference between “have to” and “choose to.” How do you feel when you “choose to” do something rather than when you “have to” do something?
When the clock reaches midnight again that day is gone. We cannot get that time back. But we can be intentional about how we invest our time “Today.”
As I take a breath (and, perhaps, a sip of hot chocolate) at the end of the year I am asking myself again… Am I happy with the time investment decisions I am making or should I be investing differently? Am I making the most of the finite amount of time that I have? I encourage you to ask yourself these same questions and consider how to make the most of every second and minute of every day in 2017.
