Rating: Poor
How to Live on 24-Hours a Day blurb excerpt: You have to live on twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it, you have to spin health, pleasure, money, contentment, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. This timeless classic is one of the first self-help books ever written and was a best-seller in both England and America. It remains as useful today as when it was written and offers fresh and practical advice on how to make the most of the daily miracle of life.
My opinion:
It's an old book that gave me very few new ideas. The one point I did enjoy was the reference to work being just 1/3rd of your day. Our lives are structured to focus on, and progress in, our careers, yet we don't look at the remaining 16 hours with the same mindset.
Lessons from How to Live on 24-Hours a Day:
Time as an asset:
Time is an equally distributed asset. Everyone receives exactly the same amount.
You get to choose what we do with it, that no one can take it from you.
You cannot waste time in advance or doing into "time debt".
Control how you spend it: Everyone should make an examination of their expenditure of time. Each day we must find time for work, pleasure, health, and learning. This is not an easy task but using our time most effectively requires sacrifice and continuous effort.
When determining how to spend your time here are some precautions:
We should not undertake too much all at once. Instead, it’s better to make some progress on smaller tasks, than fail at multiple or larger tasks.
This is because if we fail early on we might not make any progress at all. “A glorious failure leads to nothing; a petty success may lead to a success that is not petty.”
Most people suffer from a general attitude problem when it comes to arranging their days. Usually, the 1/3rd of the day we spent at work is master over the 2/3rds we do not – even though most people are not fully engaged at work and derive little satisfaction from it.
Instead, we should strive to switch this around. Yes, we have to earn a living, but this does not mean that the majority of the day needs to be subservient to the minority – we can utilize this time much better.
“One of the chief things which my typical man has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change not rest, except in sleep.”
Find a purpose: Happiness “does not spring from the procuring of physical or mental pleasure but from the development of reason and the adjustment of conduct to principles.”
Most people sleep as long as they do because they are at a loss as to how to spend their time awake.
How to Live on 24-Hours a day Quotes:
"I shall alter that when I have a little more time"? We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.”
“One of the chief things which my typical man has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change - not rest, except in sleep.”
“Without the power to concentrate that is to say, without the power to dictate to the brain its task and to ensure obedience true life is impossible. Mind control is the first element of a full existence.”
“You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.”
“If a man makes two-thirds of his existence subservient to one-third, for which admittedly he has no absolutely feverish zest, how can he hope to live fully and completely? He cannot.”
“You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you.”
What Next:
My personal recommendation for those who loved this book - Miracle Morning
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