If you live to be 75 years old, that’s 2.37 Gigaseconds.

A relative blink of an eye.

We all choose to invest our unknown allotment of time in different ways. Some strive for financial resources and others for significance. Some focus on creating and building. Others are time sinks—or worse yet, time destroyers.

Repeated exposure to these workplace destroyers carves indelible grooves in our thinking. Share on X

For anyone responsible for guiding others, time is the most valuable gift you have to offer.

You can choose to honor and invest your time by:

  • Teaching
  • Coaching
  • Helping
  • Giving
  • Listening
  • Supporting
  • Engaging
  • Trusting

These people are builders.

Or, you can choose to abuse time by:

  • Over-managing
  • Criticizing
  • Demanding
  • Taking
  • Dominating
  • Ignoring

These people are destroyers.

I recently encountered someone who was victimized a few too many times by people in positions of authority from the destroyer category. This individual is passionate about her profession and an unselfish giver and builder. But in every anecdote and example, there was a destroyer lurking somewhere. Her theme was one of “protect yourself, ” or they will fire/hurt/damage/criticize/dominate you.

Repeated exposure to these workplace destroyers carves indelible grooves in our thinking. Don’t waste your limited time just trying to protect yourself.

Alternatively, imagine using your allotment of time—whatever that may be—to create and build.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

The impact of our actions are ripples in a pond. They continue long after the initial encounter. Use your less than 3 gigaseconds to create. Make your time count in the right way.

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