Time is like money. We can waste it, spend it, or invest it.
What are you doing with the 24 hours you get each day?
Waste them and they’re gone. Spend them and you have something to show for it, but are those things of value? Invest them and you have returns that generate even more returns.
If I finish a bunch of tasks on a check list, but the “why” behind them was to stay busy, that’s just spending time. And if I scroll mindlessly through social media feeds, well, you know what kind of waste that is. But if the “why” behind each task is going to take me further, those tasks become investments.
Focusing your time on tasks that have a future-positive “why” associated with them makes for smart investing—and great returns.
🦋This Week’s Shares: Whys, Hows and Change
- Frank Bruni is an op-ed columnist for the NY Times and a professor at Duke University. In this article, he explores the changes taking place in grading systems in higher ed, what’s driving them, and the bigger impacts they’re having. Here’s a gift link.
- Ann Handley challenges the conclusions of an article in The Atlantic that claims reading is dead. Here’s a gift link to that piece for you. I would like to share her thoughts but cannot connect you to the newsletter. You can subscribe to her newsletter for future insights, but I’ll brief you here: She’s got lots of stats showing that reading is increasing, though many people are opting for shorter content. When they do opt to read longer content, it’s a commitment, so they may read less of it than in the past. So overall, she sees reading is changing, not declining.
- Even how horseback riding is taught has changed. I included it because I rode when younger and so much of what was considered essential has shifted. Can you see more of what’s changing around us by using this article as a lens? Are there changes you want to initiate because they’re needed?
- Mastering your life when you’re mid-career…considerations and insights for when you’re great at what you do, but your life has shifted, and you’ve got 20 years before you can think about retiring.
- How do you move forward when you’re “stuck?” Paula Blankenship offers this, “You don’t think your way into clarity. You move your way into it.” Which aligns perfectly with a service I’m offering for businesspeople who find themselves stymied by a mental logjam when trying to make a key decision. Through a one-time, one-hour, Zoom-based session, we’ll reframe the challenge, so you can identify an action step that will get you back in the flow again. I’m conducting sessions pro bono through August 2026, so if you’re interested, shoot me an email and I’ll send you more info and a link to schedule your free session.
Do Good Spotlight: No Kid Hungry
Summer can be especially challenging for kids in families fighting food scarcity. When schools are closed, many children’s support systems fall away. No Kid Hungry helps provide food to children throughout the year. A donation now would go a long way. Please join me in helping hungry kids—any amount is a good amount.
Until Next Time…
Until Next Time…Here’s my favorite joke about tradition and change:
Three generations were in the kitchen making a holiday meal. The granddaughter cut the ends off the ham and put it into a big pan. Her mother nodded approval. Her grandmother looked at her and said, “Why’d you cut the ends off?”
“That’s what Mom taught me,” she answered.
“Mom, that’s how you always did it, remember?” the Mom asked her mother.
The grandmother laughed and said, “I cut the ends off because I didn’t have a bigger pan.”
You gotta’ revisit your “whys and hows” especially in our world of constant change.…
Have a great rest of the week, and enjoy the weekend too!
Niki