Your time is ticking away. Is effective time management something you would like your life to benefit from?

Let's start with you, the most important person in the world, by first taking the time to define your life, and what you want to be, do or have. That alone will start to help you with instilling effective time management disciplines in your life.

One night I met a lady in a take-out restaurant / bar in Brainerd, MN. While waiting for our orders we started a conversation. Shortly into our conversation she mentioned she was a Great Grand Mother. I could not believe it. She looked younger than me, had a beautiful complexion and a great attitude.

She was 67 years old, still working, but had a purpose to live, and that purpose caused her to manage her time effectively. Naturally, I had to explore what her purpose was, while exploring her time management disciplines, with her limited time.

Clara used to weight 237 pounds and had no real purpose to live. Through her church she had learned about having a positive mental attitude and a purpose in life. Once she decided on that purpose, her life started to change. She took control over the things under her control, one of them being the way she managed her time here on earth.

Unlike money which comes and goes, Clara understood something more valuable than money - time management, as time constantly goes and does not come back. Our time here on earth is limited and goes up in value as we get older. Therefore, we need to be more effective with time management.

Clara's purpose was to take her family, grandchildren and great grandchildren to Africa and tour the historical slave route of their ancestry. To do that she needed to get in shape. She took control of her diet and started to exercise on a regular time management basis.

She now weighs only 170 pounds. She is still working and saving money to make her dream come true. She will continue to work until age 70, at which time she believes she will save enough money to live that purpose and retire healthy. She is doing her best at managing her time - that is the discipline of time management.

Do you know what your purpose is? This alone is the foundation of time management. Without a purpose, or goal, you are wondering around aimlessly and wasting time.

Clara's purpose gets her up in the morning. She maintains a great attitude because she knows where she is going and what she needs to do daily to get there. She will find the time to make things happen, as opposed to never having the time. That is the bottom line to time management.