A wintery night in London. I was staying with my friend, and as the working day ended, we met at the tube stop, bought some food, and approached the home.

I had the keys in my bag. I took it out, inserted it in the keyhole, twisted it, and pushed the door.

The door opened slightly and then a strong jerk. The door got stuck. It was latched from the inside.

I was confused.

My friend was confused.

There was no one supposed to be inside. The latch did not make immediate sense to us.

Until my friend sensed something wrong and asked me to step back.

We tried looking inside from the window panes. But it was dark. The curtains were drawn.

The gut was directing us toward something bad. But the heart was trying to console me.

We took our chance and asked the neighbors to let us inside their homes to view the backyard. Even though the fences were high, we saw what was inevitable — the back gate was open.

Our hearts skipped a few beats. Now, we were sure what had happened.

We called the police.

Two policemen approached us after just a few minutes of waiting. We helped them with the directions to the back lane. As we entered the back garden, it started drizzling, and then we saw the hammer marks on the gate.

The police officers lead us to the home with caution. The sight of the ground floor was not pretty, but not bad either. Just a few kitchen cabinet doors were opened, and the rest of everything was intact.

But as the police asked us to look carefully, I noticed the open door of the bar table. I kept my laptop and camera inside. Both were gone. I lost a lot of memories. Felt horrible.

We all approached the first floor and switched on the lights — it brought a chill down our spine. Ransacked is an easy word for the condition.

Everything was out — clothes, documents, jewelry, toys, books, everything. And the valuables were gone.

Someone robbed us of our belongings. Our hard-earned money. Our memories. And we couldn’t do anything.

The feeling of being robbed was bad.

Very bad.

And, once the police left, we found a clean corner to sleep in. The door was still open!

We all Are Robbers.

Yes, we are.

We rob ourselves of the most important thing in our life. Every day. And this robbery happens in partnership with other robbers.

And you are not alone. We all are together in this menace, in this crime.

What’s that one important thing you rob of your life every day?

Answer — TIME.

• Every moment of useless TV time means YOU are robbing yourself of the most precious time,
• Every meaningless use of fingers on your smartphone to scroll up and down on social media feeds means YOU are acting as a robber of your own time,
• Speaking badly about someone else is robbing yourself of positive TIME,
• Every act of gossiping is an act of robbery,
• A day without learning something new is an act of robbery,
• Consuming without creating anything is robbery,
• Creating unnecessary noise, clutter and trash is robbery,
• Not caring for others’ time is the worst act of robbery.

Create a Powerful Speech for Yourself

May 1961 — John F. Kennedy gave a speech and ended it on a high note.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieve the goal, before this decade is out, of landing on the moon and returning him safely to the earth……if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will not be one man going to the moon, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”

The speech was not for a few people or one nation; it set a benchmark and an unexpected goal for the entire world.

And here we are today.

Do you think we could have managed it without our relentless efforts towards making the speech true?

Or, by simply robbing ourselves of the time and value that time can create for this world?

NO.

NEVER.

Become the JFK of your life. Identify that one goal that can change not just your but others’ lives too.

Write a powerful speech for yourself.

And make TIME an important ingredient of it.

How Not to be a Robber?

If you, too, wish to crack the code of not allowing YOU to rob YOURSELF, let’s get it going.

1. Respect TIME more than anything else.

Yours first and then others. Without this, our lives will flow in the auto-mode forever.

Respecting time is not a habit; it’s a perspective. Watch your clock like a hawk. If someone steals it, catch hold of their throat.

2. Own your TIME.

Our life is a combination of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and Years. It belongs to you. YOU own it.

Don’t let anyone else rob it from you. Say NO. (I know it’s cliche advice, but I believe all-important advice is cliches.)

Listen to cliches. They are the new holy grail of wisdom.

3. Cut the Noise

Use technology to your advantage.

Cut the noise. Increase your focus.

When reading or working on something important, use binaural tones, and others won’t be able to rob you of your focus.

Your focus is your responsibility.

4. Kill tiredness

A tired mind is the biggest robber.

When you are tired, you seek to eat a lot of sugar, caffeine, and carbs. Resulting in more tiredness. Instead, make sure you get a good sleep of 7 to 8 hours every night. Allow your body and mind to function the way it is supposed to.

Why challenge nature?

5. Kill the gossipers (Not literally)

When meetings and coffee breaks turn into movie talks, conversations on politics, and extended sports commentary, kill the session.

What’s the point of this excitement that is not leading you anywhere else but toward the bottom line of your growth?

6. Track your time

Take a look at point 1. If TIME is the most important thing (above money), why not put more effort into tracking it?

Make an excel chart. Build time buckets. Identify the areas where you are spending your time.

After a few days, the chart will automatically display the gaps you need to fill.

7. Use “What to do?” time to learn.

When your mind asks you “What to do?” don’t just pick your smartphone, instead:

• You can pick a book to read.
• Write something. Answer — “What am I grateful for today?” or “What if this day were the last of my life?”
• Meditate. Look at your breath.
• Eat mindfully. Speak to your food. Smell your food. Learn from nature.
• Enroll for an online course. Learn something new. Meaningful is not important; that can come later. First, move to the learning mindset.

Closing Thoughts

If you don’t respect time, be ready for the response from TIME. It will start disrespecting you way too sooner than you will realize.

We can’t manage time; we can only show respect for it.

We all have a limited time and space on this planet. Why rob ourselves of the best it can offer to us?

The online world is doing its best to rob you of your time; your success depends on what tools you implement to stop this daylight robbery.

If you allow them to steal your time, you are a robber too.

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Nishith is an author and creator of a unique self-development platform — “Be Better Bit-By-Bit.”

Grab your copy of his books — Be Better Bit-By-Bit and My Daily 5-Minute Gratitude Journal and listen to his podcasts Be Better Bit-By-Bit and 10 Bullets — 100 Words Book Summary.