Taking Control of Your Time and Life

SOMERS H. WHITE, CPAE, FIMC

Taking Control of Your Time & Life

1) Do you start early and get the jump on today’s activities?Pocket watch and blue calendar

2) Do you practice the quiet hour?

3) Do you make use of priorities in scheduling appointments and activities?

4) Do you have the self dicipline and dedication to do the hard things first, or do you figure, “I’ll do the easy ones, and get them out of the way?”

5) Do you make a point of reducing frills and non-essentials whenever possible?

6) Do you make a habit of simplifying and reducing red tape, paper work, and time wasters whenever possible?

7) Do you lead by example and practice the time management techniques you preach?

8) Are you an activist (do you make things happen?)
9) Have you set a time for your family, and developed a healthy balance between your work and family time?

10) Do you invest time in long-range, high payout projects, or spend all your time on short term tasks?

11) Do you believe you can master time?

ANTICIPATION AND TIMING

Recently, I conducted a seminar in the afternoon for the officers of a $5 billion bank. At dinner, I was seated next to a blonde lady in a long black dress, whose first name was Olga. She stood out among the various people around her. As we chatted, I found that her husband was the Vice President of a company that provided services for the bank and she acted as an interpreter and translator. She did translations in Russian, Spanish, English, German, French, Italian and Yugoslavian. Naturally, I was interested to know how she came to be familiar with all of these languages. She told me her father had been a Colonel in the Russian Army and after the Revolution he went to Yugoslavia where he taught Art. She was born in Yugoslavia, but the household was conducted in the pre-revolutionary Russian manner. As World War II started, they went to Germany so her father could “fight to free Russia.” They moved to Germany and after the war moved to Austria and then eventually migrated to Caracas, Venezuela.

Olga opened a Stamp and Coin store. We talked about the importance of timing in selling stamps. The timing is probably a little different than the timing of which you are thinking. She related to me how a customer might come in and ask for a particular stamp. She might already have it in stock. She would indicate to the customer that she was pretty sure that she could get the stamp for the customer. If he would drop back in a week or two, she would be able to let him know. The idea was to let the excitement build. As the person waited, there was the anticipation. There are many old sayings about anticipation such as, ‘The anticipation of the trip is usually better than the trip itself.” When the customer came back, she would tell the customer, yes, she had located the stamp, and she was going about securing it. Of course, the customer checked again and wanted to know how it was coming. He received additional encouragement and he

Mr. Somers H. White, President of Somers H. White Company, a management consulting firm of Phoenix, AZ, holds a BA from Amherst College and a Masters Degree from the Harvard Business School, a former Arizona State Senator and at one time was the youngest bank president in America. Mr. White has spoken professionally in all fifty states and on six continents. He is known throughout the country for his lectures, seminars and articles on negotiating.

Somers began to ask questions such as: “When would the stamp be coming? Was it coming through direct purchase? Was she going to get it through an auction?” The value of the stamp was increased by the anticipation. It was the use of timing. It is a sense of play. Even an animal has this sense of timing/play. Think of a dog with a rag in his mouth deciding when to pull as you hold on to the other end of the rag. Think of the cat with the mouse. There are various songs about anticipation or mentioning anticipation. Anticipation is an emotion that grows and grows, becoming stronger and stronger. Think of a small child as Christmas approaches. I was once with an excellent chess player who said, “Even though I know the move I am going to make, if my opponent makes a certain move, I may still wait. It is that sense of timing. On the other hand, you might make the move immediately so that the pressure is right back on your opponent.”

By SOMERS H. WHITE

I once had an attractive young woman come up and stand a little too close to me. I looked down at her and she looked up at me. I moved back a foot and she followed me a foot so that she was again in my comfort zone. I looked down at her and she looked up at me and the same procedure was repeated with my stepping back a foot. As she looked up at me this time, she asked, “Do you know what the difference is between an amateur and pro?” I replied, “No.” She said, “Timing.” I am not sure what she had in mind but I did not stay around to find out. It is the same way in selling or negotiating business; sensing the other person, sensing what the client really wants. Perhaps, you ask if they are interested in a certain thing and you know of an option available on such a property. You say you think you can locate something like this. They will want to check back with you, etc. However, the build-up can be lost. As the charismatic Olga said to me, “Office hours are not so important, but if they come to see you two times and you are not there, or there is not someone to take care of them properly, you can bet the third time you will have struck out.” If you think about a WINNER, you will soon realize that the winner knows there is:

A time to love and a time to fight

A time to hurry and a time to be slow

A time to touch and a time to hold back

A time to be happy and a time to be sad

A time to be open and a time to be closed

A time to be close and a time to be distant.

It is really biblical in nature when we think back on “A time to sow and a time to reap.” A key in today’s selling and managing is to have that sense of timing. Anticipation and timing can be important whether in a real estate trans-action, selling stamps, a child at Christmas, or in the man/woman relationship. In your next deal, remember what Teddy Roosevelt said, “Nine/ tenths of Wisdom is being wise in time.”