I received an email today, and although I never read the email because I knew it was an advertisement for a product that I was not interested in, the catch line kept coming back to me. It read, “Three Things in Life That, Once Gone, Never Come Back: Time, Words, and Opportunity.” I started meditating and preaching to myself on those words. As I write this article, I think of Bryan Dodge’s teaching that we are all leaders at one level or another. And as a leader, we all must manage these three things well.

I still believe that time management is more of a mindset than a set of rules. If you are not using your time wisely, check your attitude and skills more often than your watch. Time- wasters creep into your life in the form of bad habits as a result of lackadaisical attitudes more often than poor planning. What are the time-wasters that you need to replace with more productive habits? Do you spend too much time on mindless activities because your skills are not up to speed? Once a minute is spent, it is gone forever. You cannot recover time especially the seconds, minutes, and hours that you waste. Manage your time as if it were your most precious asset because it is.

When was the last time you regretted saying something? The general advice here is to choose your words carefully. Try to be enthusiastic and edifying by focusing on the positive aspects of every situation. Once you say the wrong words, they are hard to take back. The other regret is when you should have spoken but you chose to remain silent. I insulted one of my business associates by failing to show my appreciation to him for giving me a referral some time back that generated some valuable business. He recently found out about it and was offended because I never so much as picked up the phone and thanked him for it. Remembering to say thank you and expressing appreciation are a very important part of using words.

One definition of opportunity is “a possibility created due to a favorable combination of circumstances.” Opportunity, whether it is for building a relationship, creating a fortune, or doing something special, is based on a person’s ability to recognize the situation when it is at hand. The word opportunity is not an “action word,” but for it to be of value to you, you must take action. The only synonym I could find for opportunity was “chance.” I found that interesting. Learn to recognize an opportunity when it presents itself so you don’t miss your chance. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. It is unlikely that those combinations of circumstances will appear again.

Frank Massine
Vice President, Dodge Development, Inc.