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Matthew 25: 1-13 A CEO of a famous Fortune 500 Company decided to have a team meeting at his home. The invitation was sent as a meeting invite, but the location was off-site (at his home). The executives he had charge over had no idea what to expect. While some thought it was team-building, others thought it was a barbecue. The time for the meeting was scheduled from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on the day of the meeting, as employees arrived, they were surprised to see the CEO answering the door in his normal suit and tie. The CEO greeted each employee at the door and escorted them to his conference room. He started the meeting promptly at 9 a.m. The employees noticed that everyone wasn’t present, and they didn’t hear the doorbell ring after the meeting started. Unknown to them the CEO had hung a sign on the door entitled “The Value of Time”, the note proceeded to tell them that they would receive disciplinary action for missing a scheduled meeting and they were to report to the office. During the meeting, the CEO gave merit bonuses to the individuals that showed up on time, dressed appropriately, and were prepared for the meeting. Some employees that made it on time were still sent home because they were not dressed professionally or did not bring laptops to participate in the meeting. They received disciplinary action as well. In the parable of the bridegroom, we see five virgins who were unprepared for their appointment. The interesting thing about the parable is there were five virgins who were prepared, but they did not use them as an example. They went along with the crowd that missed their appointment and the bible refers to them as foolish. The five non-foolish virgins did not know the time of their opportunity, but they used the time to prepare for when that day would come. Obviously, time spent preparing is time well spent. Most times, if we were to look at our life from a bird’s eye view, we would realize we do not use time effectively or prepare properly. We have not valued our own time, so it is only natural to not value the time of others. 1. Can you remember a situation where your lack of preparation caused you to miss an opportunity? Can you remember a time when your tardiness caused you to miss opportunities or benefits? 2. The five virgins were most likely friends or associated with each other. Do you remember a time when you surrounded yourself with a crowd that did not motivate you to do better? How did that affect aspects of your success? 3. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg were afforded the same amount of time as us depending on our age. What could you have done differently with your time to be as successful as they are? 4. Make a list of 3 things that affect your preparation or punctuality and what you can do to improve them 5. What will you do with the time you have now, so you are prepared when the opportunity shows up?

This may sound like an asinine question, but the truth is many of us have and continue to mismanage our time and as a result, have impeded our chances at success. Just stop and think for a moment, how many times you have said "I would love to do that but I just don't have the time." This statement is usually followed by a barrage of excuses that we call explanations. The contradiction is we always find time for recreation or relaxation. This explanation is usually preceded by statements like "I work hard and I deserve some time to just do nothing" I will never discount the need for the appropriate amount of rest or self-care; They are essential to our physical and mental health. However, we have taken it to the extreme. We find time to binge-watch, scroll on social media, meet friends for meals, and simply kick our feet up and watch our favorite shows. Why don't we have time to write our business plans, pursue our degrees, enhance our computer skills, balance our checkbooks, raise our credit scores, or exercise? The answer to that question is one of the biggest factors that separate successful versus non-successful people, sacrifice. The things that ensure success take a sacrifice of our time and our comfort. The things that keep us in a state of mediocrity don't require any sacrifice whatsoever. Everyone who knows me, knows I am a stickler for time. I value my time, so I get extremely annoyed when it isn't valued by others. You show me that you value my time by, being on time, using my time wisely, and not overburdening my time. Success requires a sacrifice of your time. Success requires you to redirect your time. Success requires you to reprioritize your time. I'd be willing to bet my 401K that the richest people in the world have not binged-watched many shows, have not taken many naps, and most certainly, have not stopped learning. Success is a moving target that will not get hit by a sedentary shooter. Also, if the target is moving, only those who are present and prepared to fire have a chance of hitting it (there goes that time thing again). We must always be in a state of learning, planning, and preparing. So how can we start having time for success? THE EIGHT Rs OF SUCCESS Review: Take a time diary for one week showing everything you were doing in one-hour intervals. Record: At the end of the week categorize how much time was spent on vocation, family/household responsibilities, self-enhancement, and recreation (even after eight hours of work, many will realize they have spent an excessive amount of time on recreation and a minimal amount of time on self-enhancing activities). Reprioritize: List what is most important to you in descending order (if Netflix is high on your priority list then you may as well stop reading now). Reappropriate: Spend the abundance of your time on your most important tasks. Reduce: Decrease time spent on tasks that are not fruitful e.g, social media, binge-watching, excessive television viewing, napping. Rebuild: Create an hourly task list and stick to it (the list should schedule everything, even recreation). Re-establish: Set boundaries to ensure those around you respect the times you have set aside for your tasks (kids can learn a lot from parents who are task-oriented). Reward: Be kind to yourself after completing your daily list (hard work pays off and you should provide your mind with the muscle memory to avoid shutting down before you have completed what you set out to do).