Time is an illusion. How many of you felt that you are already live to your age? What I meant is if you are 47 years of age, do you feel that you have already live for 47 years?

Sometimes it is very easy to get wrapped up by how busy we are – or worse, getting distracted with things that are not essentials – but we are all given exactly the same amount of time, so why is it that some people seem to get so much more done than others?

This is Peter Ng. Welcome to my motivational series – Awakening the Power within You – Time is an Illusion.

When you use your time effectively, you can achieve everything of which you are capable – good time management allows you to ‘be the best you can be’.

How often do we take time out to reflect on our lives: what we are contributing, how we benefit those around us, who we have become?

When I was at a young age, my mum sent me abroad, though I understand the reason she needed to sent me away, when I returned to Singapore, I refused to forgive her, and to make matter worst, I got totally distracted, wanting to do whatever is fun, pleasurable, and defying every rules that my mum tried to educate me to be a better person.

Time flies in a blink of an eye, and I was already in my college years. I realize that I am not doing well in my studies, but instead of studying harder, I give up totally. Then, I started to give in to peers-pressure, doing what pleases my friends. My dad was on a long-term illness, and just before he passes on, this is what he told me “We’re only here once, so make sure you make the most of it. Having fun is important, but too much of anything isn’t healthy either. You need to grow up now, cos you are responsible for your own life. Life is not a spectator-sport; you need to participate in it to make it really pleasurable.”

From time management perspective, this translates into maximizing the value you get from every moment that you are alive. Activity is the key and is also the reason why successful people benefit from momentum in their lives.

What exactly is ‘time’? To many people, time is money. And if time is money, it’s cheap. Whatever cosmetics you use, you can only improve the texture of your skin and overall complexion, but we still age. So, to me, time is Life! We are growing older as the second’s ticks away.

The four key areas to life are Live; Love; Learn; and Legacy. The question to consider for each key area is:

• What kind of life do you want to live? And what future have you vision for yourself?
• The key area is built on a foundation of relationships. Who are the people that mean the most to you in life? My mum may be tough on me, but I realize what she does was for my good, though her methodology may not be right. I love her dearly.
• The secret to life is to constantly learn and adapt. How would you choose to develop your ‘mental muscles’? What would you like to do to focus on your personal development?
• This is what we termed as a Tombstone test. What would you wish people to write on your tombstone? Your legacy will be there for everyone to see – what will it say?

The main factor that derails people from being successful is ‘distractions’. There will always be temptations and distractions in our lives. We need to discipline ourselves to say ‘no’ when you want to say ‘yes’. This behavior will strengthens you, produces endurance, and builds character. Life is all about managing your distractions and disciplines. Negativism is the main cause of distractions. Once we get caught into the twister of distractions, we are putting all our time into pleasurable deeds, and only to realize that we have actually wasted a large amount of time. The problem in life comes when we’re sowing one thing and expecting to reap something entirely different.

Life success formula is when things don’t turn out the way you want, instead of blaming everyone and everything or being too self-critical is to ask what have I learnt, and how I should improve. The greatest pain in life is not hard work; the greatest pain in life is regret. Time is an illusion, stop wasting time on chasing fantasy. Live the life you love!