A couple of days ago, someone called me, asking for references about a former employee of mine. The call was short and sweet and lasted about 10 minutes. I was asked about how I met the person, how I would describe the collaboration with her, which are the strengths (but not the weaknesses) of the person, which kind of tasks the person completed and so on.
Easy peasy, all by the book.
And yet, as the phone call was approaching its end, I got asked a last HR question, and somehow this question rang a bell in my head:
[Phone calls can be so fascinating and intriguing
as the famous Alice's rabbit hole, sometimes...
Even when they start in a very predictable way]
"If you would have the chance to work with this person once again, would you do it?".
"Yes, for sure".
What did impress me so much? Certainly, it was not the answer, because I would actually be happy to work with the person again.
It was the HR question itself.
If you would have the chance to learn XY once again, would you do it?
If you would have the chance to work for XY once again, would you do it?
If you would have the chance to spend time with XY once again, would you do it?
If the answer is yes, congratulations: you are happy with your past, with what you did, with your previous choices and you still find them useful. This is called "peace of mind" and it's a great thing.
If the answer is no, congratulations as well: you have learned from your past, you are able to question what you did, you have examined your previous choices and now you would love to do something different. You have changed, you have experienced growth.
One day, one lifetime.
[Either you made the right choices, or you learned something.
In both cases, you can consider yourself lucky]
One day, one lifetime.
Joe Dispenza
The point is not blaming yourself for your past. Neither is it to congratulate yourself on how smart you are for the "perfect" choices you made.
The point to me is accepting your past, accepting your present and going a step further through the use of that HR question. How can you achieve this?
By asking yourself that question more often. Not only after doing something, but before doing it.
By asking yourself:
- Am I going to care about XY in XY months?
- Am I going to still find it useful or interesting?
- Is it still going to be relevant for me, one year from now?
- Is this the best use of my time I can do right now?
- Am I going to care about XY in XY months?
- Am I going to still find it useful or interesting?
- Is it still going to be relevant for me, one year from now?
- Is this the best use of my time I can do right now?
What is time? Time is emotion.
Anthony J. Mahavorick
better known as Anthony "Tony" Robbins
If the answer is yes, go ahead.
If the answer is no, go ahead if you want, but do it while being aware that you could come to question the decision at some point in the near or not so near future.
It sounds somehow silly, but it is not.
In the past, I was used to talking about "expiration date situations" or "expiration date relationships". It was a bittersweet way to describe something without future, some kind of interests or activities that were, for some reasons, born to be delimited and to last only for XY days or months. A time-limited edition, if you want to use another definition.
Sometimes that was a good choice, sometimes it wasn't. I don't regret it, because every choice I made helped me to become what I am today and I am happy with it. But...
I am not a big fan of planning everything in advance, at least in my private life. But neither am I a big fan of wasting time.
Time is more than precious: it is priceless. Once time passes by, it is gone for good. No matter how rich, powerful, well-connected, famous, beautiful or intelligent you are. If your time is up, it is up.
Time is more than precious: it is priceless. Once time passes by, it is gone for good. No matter how rich, powerful, well-connected, famous, beautiful or intelligent you are. If your time is up, it is up.
[What would you do,
if you could turn back time, just like magic?
Image credit: Infinity Clock, Videoblocks]
No matter what you do, you are not going to be able to turn back time. Or to live ten years longer, if you just decide that it would be nice. You can't buy time. Not yet, at least. (Let's ask this Elon Musk in a couple of years, maybe)
You only get today once. Your team does too. How will you spend it?
You only get today once. Your team does too. How will you spend it?
Seth Godin, Business/busyness
Sometimes, people get surprised when I reply that "I don't have time for XY".
Lately, someone even told me: "Well, you are definitely becoming a German!". But I don't think that this attitude has something to do with a culture, a place, or a way of life. I think that it has to do more with how you consider your time and your life.
My time is priceless and valuable.
What about yours?
Tags: HR questions, Time, Time perception, Time-management, Quotes, Future self
What to read next:
How to spend your next 16,000 days on Earth in the best way, and why that matters a lot
Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!
Where to start, if you are new
What to read next:
How to spend your next 16,000 days on Earth in the best way, and why that matters a lot
Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!
Where to start, if you are new
