A new perspective

I always find that the approach of New Year is a an ideal time to take stock of things.Our regular commitments subside and there is a little thinking time.Personally, I am never happy for my work to 'stand still,' and am always looking to improve things and embrace innovation, particularly in social-media.

A few months ago I was at a conference, where I met a lady who listens to a presentation and creates a story from what is being said. I found this absolutely riveting, and the picture at the end captured the presentation perfectly! It actually made a boring talk very interesting! I felt that this would add a lot to my blog, so Anna very kindly took one of my most popular pieces and did one for me! 

So some of you may recognise a part of this piece, but I hope you are as impressed as I was, at the fantastic picture that sums up the post brilliantly.

When I was diagnosed, on that terrible day back in 2007, I was very determined not to let cancer dictate my life, and to be able to still choose what I do with it. I suppose at that time, I was getting a little ahead of myself, as there was no guarantee that I was going to live for very long at all. However, a few years on, and with treatments improving all the time, I am beginning to find myself with a reasonable quality of life.

It is ironic, that I have chosen to fill up my life with cancer content now. I draw comfort from the fact that it is all work that I can now choose, and involves meeting with lots of wonderful people, either patients or professionals. As I have mentioned frequently, people are my passion, and I am finding that my business background is helping incredibly with the things I do now.

A meeting with someone I had never previously met has prompted this post. They had been observing my work in social media for some time, and pointed out that I always took the trouble to thank people. My reason for this is that I know how busy everyone is, and if they take time to do something for me, I should show my appreciation. This person had come a long distance to meet me, so I thanked them too! It was then that I realised that I now value people, in terms of time, not money.

(If you would like to know more about this work you can contact Anna HERE) 

We all have a value to others, although sometimes we can't see that. We feel that if we do things for no financial reward, that we have no personal worth. Actually, the truth is very different to that! 

In my business life, I got used to everything having a cost, therefore it was easy to place a value on something. The same in our personal lives, we tend to judge people by what they earn, as it is an easy comparison to use. But for me, the most valuable thing I have is time. My time is borrowed so I really do appreciate it's value!

Given the fact that everyone is precious with their time, I can now ascertain my value in peoples lives, by how much time they give me. The same applies in reverse, by how much time I afford others. On this basis things start to look differently. I dare you to look at your social life in the same way!

I now realise, that one of the reason's I struggled psychologically with the fact that I was unable to return to my old life, was the value that I placed on myself. I was earning very well, and was always busy, I felt I was worth something. But very quickly, as I got sicker and sicker, and further away from work, I began to feel worthless. Mostly because I was no longer able to earn money. I can certainly empathise with people who lose their job for any reason. It has taken me a long time to find my true value, which is not in financial terms!

 As I have slowly come to terms with my current life, my value is becoming more obvious. My personal and business experience is now in demand, and people are arranging their schedules around my availability. I know the efforts I have to make, to talk with people, either face to face,or on the phone. My treatment etc takes a lot of time and physical effort, also, as my family is increasing, it becomes more difficult to fit things in but I will if I can, and I want to.

My personal cancer experience, has taught me the value of my own time. It has also made me appreciate, the value of other people's too. We all choose how we use it, so I am very grateful when people decide to give me some of theirs! Whether it is by taking time to read this blog, share it with friends, or follow me on Twitter, thank you, because there is not much higher compliment you can pay someone than sparing time for them.

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Time is the real currency of my life!

I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but life has been very kind to me recently. I have found time, and stayed fit enough, to catch up with lots of people in the last few days. It seems that much as I decided that cancer was not going to dominate my life, it actually is, but in a different way to the one I had imagined!

When I was diagnosed, on that terrible day back in 2007, I was very determined not to let cancer dictate my life, and to be able to still choose what I do with it. I suppose at that time, I was getting a little ahead of myself, as there was no guarantee that I was going to live for very long at all. However, a few years on, and with treatments improving all the time, I am beginning to find myself with a reasonable quality of life.

It is ironic, that I have chosen to fill up my life with cancer content now. I draw comfort from the fact that it is all work that I can now choose, and involves meeting with lots of wonderful people, either patients or professionals. As I have mentioned frequently, people are my passion, and I am finding that my business background is helping incredibly with the things I do now.

 

A meeting with someone I had never previously met has prompted this post. They had been observing my work in social media for some time, and pointed out that I always took the trouble to thank people. My reason for this is that I know how busy everyone is, and if they take time to do something for me, I should show my appreciation. This person had come a long distance to meet me, so I thanked them too! It was then that I realised that I now value people, in terms of time, not money.

We all have a value to others, although sometimes we can't see that. We feel that if we do things for no financial reward, that we have no personal worth. Actually, the truth is very different to that! In my business life, I got used to everything having a cost, therefore it was easy to place a value on something. The same in our personal lives, we tend to judge people by what they earn, as it is an easy comparison to use. But for me, the most valuable thing I have is time. My time is borrowed so I really do appreciate it's value!

Given the fact that everyone is precious with their time, I can now ascertain my value in peoples lives, by how much time they give me. The same applies in reverse, by how much time I afford others. On this basis things start to look differently. I dare you to look at your social life in the same way!

I now realise, that one of the reason's I struggled psychologically with the fact that I was unable to return to my old life, was the value that I placed on myself. I was earning very well, and was always busy, I felt I was worth something. But very quickly, as I got sicker and sicker, and further away from work, I began to feel worthless. Mostly because I was no longer able to earn money. I can certainly empathise with people who lose their job for any reason. It has taken me a long time to find my true value, which is not in financial terms!

 

As I have slowly come to terms with my current life, my value is becoming more obvious. My personal and business experience is now in demand, and people are arranging their schedules around my availability. I know the efforts I have to make, to talk with people, either face to face,or on the phone. My treatment etc takes a lot of time and physical effort, also, as my family is increasing, it becomes more difficult to fit things in but I will if I can, and I want to.

My personal cancer experience, has taught me the value of my own time. It has also made me appreciate, the value of other people's too. We all choose how we use it, so I am very grateful when people decide to give me some of theirs! Whether it is by taking time to read this blog, share it with friends, or follow me on Twitter, thank you, because there is not much higher compliment you can pay someone than sparing time for them.

How do you value yourself? How do other people value you?

What value do you place on your time?

Back in the days when I was a full time business consultant, I was very aware of the value of my time, as I was paid by result. Generally, the harder I worked, the more I earned. For most of us, the more hours we work, the more we get paid. But take us out of the work place, and it becomes more difficult to find the value of our time. Also, we may well value our own time very differently, to how others do.

This post has arisen from a chance conversation, I had with a business expert who I am in contact with via social media. I learned so much from our chat, and I was very shocked to see how much my business brain, has been suffocated, by my constant drive to 'give something back!' Since my diagnosis, back in 2007, things have come at me thick and fast. My early prognosis of "a very short time to live," has totally dominated the way I live my life. 

Like everything else in our lives, things are changing quickly, and the constant need for re-evaluation is there. However I never saw that need in my own life, until recently. This prompted me to think about time away from the work place too. My view is that time, is the most valuable asset we have, and in this very commercial world which we live in, we need some form of return, on our investment of it.

 

If we spend time with people, we should enjoy it. Spending time volunteering will give us enjoyment plus experience etc. We can build relationships with people, which requires a lot of time, but we will reap the reward in the future. Investing time in our children will see a brighter future. It is as if time is something that we are happy to trade, and when we go to work, we exchange it for money.

Unless we are faced with something that is life threatening, we rarely consider our own mortality, and envisage the perfect life plan where we can retire, do what we want, with no money worries. However, if time appears limited, that will change what you do with it. The value of it, increases, as it gets less. Things that seemed important at the time, start to lose their appeal.

My personal reward for my time, has always been the enjoyment, that I can bring to people, particularly, those unfortunate enough to be affected by cancer. When I started out on this road I was given a fabulous piece of advice, which was, "for every giver (me) there are at least 10 takers." I understood what it meant, but I couldn't believe it might be true in this sector. However it is. My conversation with the industry expert, confirmed my suspicions. Apparently I have been the worst judge of the value of my own time! Mrs L is also right, but like anything else, I have to find out the hard way.

So this week, is the start of a more up to date way of looking at what I do. I now ask myself, "what do I get out of it?" before I approach new projects. Not in a selfish way however, but more looking at self preservation. There are many invitations for me to participate in projects run by major organisations, which is great. I can see why they would want me sitting at their table. However, if I ask my new favourite question, I can't see an obvious benefit for me. As I never seek kudos, and am not looking to vastly increase my experience.

 

The last few days have been spent on the coast with my wife and grandchildren. Meeting with friends and enjoying the sun. We haven't done that for a long time. In a few weeks, I will be taking my first holiday abroad for 3 years. Going to a warmer climate with friends, can't wait! In recent months, I have struggled to find time and energy for a social life, which is shocking. Ironically, I could offer advice to others on time management!

Lesson learned in time hopefully. How do you value your time? Do you feel that you would like to change things in your own life? Do you feel you can't, because work is too dominant, and necessary?

On thisThursday, (22nd August) UK time 12-2pm, I will be talking about the important role of social media within cancer support, on Croydon Radio If you click on the link it will show you details of the show. Please feel free to join in via the internet. You can listen live and post any questions for me. I look forward to connecting with you!