This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:8

Do you procrastinate? I know I do. I could never figure out why. I would always wait until the last possible moment to study for a test, to write a paper, to . . . you name it. Recently I heard a law that changed everything. Parkinson’s Law.

Parkinson’s Law states: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

In other words. If I give you a month to write a paper for me, it will take you a month to write the paper. If I give you 24 hours to write a paper, it will take you 24 hours to write the paper. It’s the deadline that motivates you to action on long term projects.

As a result of learning this law, I’m starting to set a lot more deadlines. I’ll set more deadlines for the people I lead. We will accomplish a lot more. I’m excited.

In John 15, God says it pleases Him when we bear much fruit. I believe the more deadlines we set in our lives, the more we will accomplish in life.

I’d encourage you to set some deadlines on big goals you have and share them with someone who will hold you to that deadline. If you’ll do that on a consistent basis, you’ll start accomplishing so much more!

So, what deadlines do you need to set this week? This month? This year?

For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. -James 4:14

I was having dinner with a successful business man a few days ago. It was great! I asked him a lot of questions about finance and investing, he gave me a lot of great insight, but one thing he said really made me think.

He said, “You know what’s your most important investment?” “What?” I responded. “Your time. You get 2,080 work hours a week (if you work 8 hours a day/5 days a week/52 weeks a year) to invest. How you invest that time determines everything.”

He said the best question I can continue to ask myself is, “Am I getting the most value I can out of the 2,080 hours I have this year?” That question will determine my success, the amount of money I earn, and how far I go in life.

As a result that conversation, I am going to laminate a card and carry it around in my pocket that says, “What am I doing with my 2,080 hours?” I want to maximize my time, potential, earnings, and my life. The only way to do that is to use the time we’ve been given with wisdom. More specifically the wisdom of God.

I’m going to be seeking God’s wisdom on the best use of my time. I suggest you do the same! He knows what the best use of our time will be!

What are you going to do with your 2,080 hours?

This is one of those books that can almost seem too good to be true. I mean, come on, a 4 hour work week? Is that realistic? Well, if your goal is to work 4 hours and relax the rest of the week, absolutely not. This book is for driven people. People who are willing to work hard, but work hard on things that make a difference and maximize profits.

This is one of the most practical books I’ve ever read. My favorite parts are the challenges that are at the end of each chapter and the tools and tricks section which provides tons of resources to help make your life easier!

If you don’t want to work a 9-5 for the rest of your life in a cube and are only working to provide an income for a descent retirement, this is a must read book for you. Tim Ferriss is brilliant. This book will help you live the life you dream about while still being productive, making a difference, and making a great living.

Here are some highlights:

• At least three times per day at scheduled times, he had to ask himself the following question: Am I being productive or just active?
• Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion.
• Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.
• Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
• Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether important or not) in the most economical manner possible. Being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.
• What would you do, day to day, if you had $100 million in the bank?
• If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
• What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. As I have heard said, a person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have. Resolve to do one thing every day that you fear.
• Retirement planning is like life insurance. It should be viewed as nothing more than a hedge against the absolute worst-case scenario:
• I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time. —HERBERT BAYARD SWOPE, American editor and journalist; first recipient of the Pulitzer Prize
• Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life. —JOHN F. KENNEDY
• The goal is fun and profit.
• Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. —OSCAR WILDE, Irish dramatist and novelist