Successful? Be Punctual!
“On the great clock of time, there is but one word, NOW.” - Unknown
Punctuality and accuracy, these are considered the parents of success!
Promptness and punctuality, as habits can and does remove the monotony and drudgery out of any occupation. Putting things off usually implies never doing them at all. Too many people have the bad habit of making an effort when it becomes an imperative - and often times it is too late. There is no time better to respond to and email or a letter as when it is first received. Replying right away will earn you the reputation as a caring and efficient user of time.
Doing any deed in a timely manner is like planting a seed, if not done at the right time it may just be “out of season” and any effort after the fact would be a waste of time.
When Sir Walter Raleigh was asked “How do you accomplish so much?” “When I have anything to do, I go and do It.” came the reply. Inevitably the person who acts in a timely manner even if there are a few mistakes made will on the whole succeed. The person who procrastinates even when using good judgment will surely fail.
“By the street of by and by one arrives at the house of never.”
- Cervantes
There really is no moment like the present moment. If a person does not execute his duties while they are fresh upon him: will have absolutely no hopes of doing well with them later. Tomorrow is a period of time that is found nowhere except with those who fail. NOW is the time for success, NOW is the time to go forth, and NOW is the time for change and growth! Anyone who says I’ll do it tomorrow is making a false promise! By making full use of the NOW you will catapult yourself past your competitors and into the fields of success. Someone once told me “the richest place on earth is the graveyard, because it is full of songs that were never sung, books that were never written, music that was never played and love that was never given!” Tomorrow is the refuge of the lazy, the slothful and the incompetent. We are reminded of the phrases of the wealthy; “Make hay while the sun shines.” “Strike while the iron is hot.” And the all time favourite, “Early bird catches the worm.”
“Many a wasted life dates its ruin from a lost five minutes. ‘Too Late’ can be read between the lines on the tombstone of many a man who has failed.” - Marden
A noted writer states that a bed is a bundle of contradictions. We go to bed with reluctance, yet we rise with regret. We make up our minds every night to rise early, but each morning our bodies beg to stay late.
Yet most of those who have become successful have been early risers. Peter the Great always rose before daylight. He believed strongly that “I am for making my life as long as possible, and therefore sleep as little as possible.”
Daniel Webster often answered twenty to thirty letters before breakfast.
George Washington always dined at four pm, but many times new members of Congress whom he invited to dine at the White House would be late and then mortified to find the President already eating. My cook,” Washington would say, “never asks if the visitors have arrived, but if the hour has arrived.” Once when Washington’s Secretary was late for an appointment, he begged the President’s pardon stating his watch was slow. Washington sharply replied, “Then you must get a new watch, or I another Secretary.”
Executive leadership training teaches us that promptness is the mother of confidence. It is the best possible proof that our affairs are in order, and our timeliness gives others confidence in our abilities to represent them well.
“Strict punctuality is perhaps the cheapest virtue which can give force to an otherwise utterly insignificant character.” - John F. Boyes
“I could never think well of a man’s intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.” - Nathaniel Emmons
Thank you Mark, it is a great article, very inspiring. Success and punctuality definitely go hand in hand.