“I just don't have the time…”
What would you create if you were given 250, 14-hour days to do it? Would you write a book or screenplay? Study a complex concept? Become fluent in a foreign language? Build a ship in a bottle? It's been estimated that the average man will spend, in his lifetime, about 3,500 hours shaving. That's 250, 14-hour days.
Did you ever notice that the only one of the Seven Dwarfs who shaved was Dopey? This ought to tell us something.
Each of us has ambitions, dreams and goals we would pursue “if only we had the time.” But we do have the time. We're just doing something else with it. Like shaving.
When I'm on the road, the two questions I'm most often asked are,
1. “Where do you find the time to write all those books?” and
2. “Why do you wear pullover shirts and slip-on shoes and always look like you need a haircut?” No one has yet figured out that the second question answers the first.
No, I'm not trying to convince you to quit shaving and to start wearing slip-on shoes. I would like to convince you however, of the extraordinary importance of “getting started now,” even if all you can do right now is just a tiny little bit. Teddy Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” But most of us won't do anything at all unless we're assured that every possible difficulty can be overcome.
I once met a young man in difficult financial circumstances who told me of his dream to become an architect. Thinking I might give him the money for school, I asked, “How much would it cost to get your degree?” I was truly saddened when he answered, “I don't know.” He'll never know how much that answer cost him.
Just before Pennie and I left for a speaking engagement in Stockholm, we gathered the wizards from our 10 branch offices and gave them each just 120 days to write a book about any subject they found interesting. Shortly after our return from Sweden, Michele Miller gave us an update about her upcoming book, The Natural Advantages of Women. It seems that when Michele finally began her research and uncovered some astounding statistics, the project exploded into a glittering obsession. Her enthusiasm for it was so contagious that by the time she finished the update, Pennie and I could barely wait for the book to be complete. I have every confidence that Michele's book will change the lives of women around the world. But the information Michele found had been there all along, and she admits to having been interested in the subject for years. The only thing that really changed was that she had finally gotten started.
You, too, have a magical journey ahead if there's a thing you've always wanted to do. Are you ready to finally get started?
Roy H. Williams
PS – WIZARD ACADEMY UPDATE – It has recently come to our attention that, due to an online server malfunction, the registration process at wizardacademy.org was for several weeks inoperable. If you recently registered for an Academy event and have not yet received confirmation from us by telephone or email, please contact Adam Hollins at (800) 425-4769 or email Adam@wizardacademy.org to let us know of your plans. Or, if you choose, you can simply re-register at the now-functioning website. We're sorry for any inconvenience. – J.G. Tornoe