The elevator door opened and I started to walk out when I noticed I had only gone from the 7th floor to the 6th floor. I had pushed the button to go to the lobby. This wasn’t one of those times when you are on an elevator and not paying attention. In this case, the building was old, as was the elevator. Enough time had passed that I should have been in the lobby, but the elevator didn’t move for some time after I pressed the button.
Time and Ground Covered
There is a certain amount of ground you can cover in a period. Call that ground a goal, a milestone, a quota, or a chapter. The time passes whether or not you cover the ground.
Some people recognize that time relentlessly ticks away and feel the need to increase their progress toward their goals. Others don’t feel the same urgency, being more passive and complacent about time—even though they have no more time than those who act with purpose. Time is not a variable; it’s universal. It doesn’t treat anyone differently and offers no one a preference. It just relentlessly counts off its beats.
The ground covered is a variable, and it is inside your control. There are two areas you need to consider: values-based decisions and effort. If you want to cover more ground faster, then you need to prioritize those things that move you forward further and more quickly. The decision as to what you do with your time is yours alone. You also have to do the work, putting the effort and energy into the work.
Otherwise, you can look up and think you should have gone somewhere only to find yourself standing very close to where you started.
