Short motivational talk (YouTube) by Andy Neary advocating a simple time-management strategy: deliberately leave gaps between meetings to be present, have higher-quality conversations, and allow unexpected opportunities (‘miracles’) to arise. Uses personal anecdote about over-scheduling and issues a concrete challenge to the viewer to create breathing room in their calendar.
Chapters
Okay, so I want to give you an awesome strategy that has been an absolute game changer for me. It's one I was taught by a mentor of mine, Chris Harder. And he said, andy, you have got to leave space in your calendar to let the Miracles come in. What did he mean? Well, I don't know about you, but I have been guilty most of my career of trying to schedule and jam as many meetings into one day as I can. I used to think it was a badge of honor to schedule one meeting right after the other to see how much I could get done in one day. But here would be the end result. I would just find myself rushing from one meeting to the next, never giving myself the opportunity to actually be present in the current meeting or actually have a quality conversation with the person in the present meeting, because I was just focused on how I was going to get to the next one. I don't know about you, but when I started backing off and leaving space for the Miracles, creating space between meetings so that I can be present and that I can have quality conversations, that's when the opportunities started popping up. The miracles started to appear. Some of the most successful people, you know, often look like they don't do anything. It's because they give their calendar the space to be present, to have quality conversations, and to pounce on all the opportunities that are out there. And I suggest you do the same. I know I have to. So here's my challenge to you. Next week, when you plan your week, or, heck, the rest of this week, instead of scheduling one meeting right after the other, thinking you're effective, actually take a step in the other direction and give your calendar some breathing room. Give it some space so you can have those quality conversations with the people in the meeting, and so you can be present. Because when you're present and when you have deeper conversations, you never know what quality conversations will come out and what miracles will appear in your business and your life.
