"Don't manage time, manage focus" | Savinda Ranathunga | TEDxThammasatU
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on the common challenge of setting and achieving New Year's resolutions, revealing that 92% are typically unsuccessful. Drawing from personal experiences, they share a journey of financial management and self-sustainability, emphasizing the importance of understanding one's goals. The talk transitions into a broader life philosophy, advocating for an 'Eightfold Path' approach to personal growth, which includes education, entrepreneurship, and community engagement. The key takeaway is the importance of personal integrity, self-discipline, and daily focus management to progress towards long-term dreams.
Takeaways
- 🎉 Setting New Year resolutions is common, but achieving them is rare with only 8% success rate.
- 📊 Personal financial management can be improved by tracking expenses and identifying spending patterns.
- 💪 Achieving goals requires understanding the underlying challenges and consistently working on them.
- 🎯 Small, consistent actions and adjustments can lead to significant improvements over time.
- 📝 Personal management tools can vary; they should be tailored to individual preferences like tracking expenses, journaling, or using creative outlets.
- 🔍 Financial management is not just about money; it involves aligning finances with personal values, dreams, and aspirations.
- 🤝 Building a supportive community and network is crucial for personal and professional growth.
- 🌱 Holistic growth involves focusing on multiple aspects of life including education, entrepreneurship, and relationships.
- ✨ Everyday actions, even small gestures, can contribute to overall happiness and a sense of purpose.
- 📅 Treating every day like the first of January can motivate continuous improvement and goal achievement.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the video script?
-The main topic discussed in the video script is the challenges of setting and achieving New Year's resolutions and personal goals, with a focus on personal financial management and overall life growth.
What percentage of New Year's resolutions are typically not successful, according to the research mentioned in the script?
-According to the research done by Scranton University in the US mentioned in the script, 92 percent of New Year's resolutions are not successfully achieved.
What was the speaker's goal in 2009 and how did it relate to personal finance?
-The speaker's goal in 2009 was related to personal financial management, aiming to ensure that they were managing their finances in the best and most effective way, as they often found themselves running out of cash at the end of the month.
How did the speaker initially approach the challenge of managing personal finances?
-The speaker initially approached the challenge by taking a piece of paper and starting to record what they were spending every day and what their sources of income were, and then analyzing these records to understand spending patterns.
What was the speaker's realization about the role of finance in achieving life goals?
-The speaker realized that finance is not just a standalone aspect but is interconnected with who you are and what you want to be, including your dreams, visions, missions, and aspirations.
What are the three pillars of success that the speaker set for themselves?
-The three pillars of success the speaker set for themselves are education, entrepreneurship, and networks.
What concept did the speaker discover that helped them think about their future in a more holistic way?
-The speaker discovered the concept of the 'We Love Life' approach, which is a life cycle approach that focuses on overall and all-round growth in life, including relationships, health, and activities that one aspires to achieve.
What is the speaker's daily question before going to sleep, and why is it important?
-The speaker's daily question before going to sleep is whether they made at least one person in the world happier because they exist. This question is important as it reflects their mission of helping other communities and people around them.
What is the significance of the small act of smiling at the person who prepares breakfast packs in the speaker's story?
-The small act of smiling at the person who prepares breakfast packs is significant because it represents the speaker's belief in making a positive impact on others' lives in a small way, contributing to their overall growth and sense of community.
What are the two most fundamental ingredients for success according to the speaker's experience?
-According to the speaker, the two most fundamental ingredients for success are personal integrity and self-discipline.
How does the speaker use a personal management tool to track their progress and what does it include?
-The speaker uses a personal management tool to track their day-to-day expenses and focuses on the Eightfold Path of life. It includes categories for spending, daily focuses, and an analysis of achievements and targets over time.
Outlines
🎉 New Year Resolutions and Personal Finance Management
The speaker starts by wishing a happy new year and discussing the commonality of setting new year resolutions, which often include personal goals such as forgiveness, starting anew, and achieving success. They highlight the difficulty in maintaining these resolutions, citing a statistic from Scranton University that 92 percent of new year resolutions fail. The speaker shares their own experience with setting and achieving a financial management goal in 2009, which involved tracking daily expenses and income to identify spending patterns. This led to personal financial sustainability and the ability to invest in further education and social enterprises. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of understanding the 'why' behind setting goals and the transformative power of small, consistent steps towards achieving them.
🌟 Integrating Life Goals with Financial Management
Building on the previous discussion, the speaker reflects on the broader implications of financial management, recognizing that it's not an isolated aspect of life but intertwined with one's identity, dreams, visions, missions, and aspirations. They set out to empower young people and establish missions around education, entrepreneurship, and networking as pillars of success. The speaker introduces the 'We Love Life' approach, which encompasses a holistic view of life, including relationships, health, and meaningful activities. They share personal anecdotes about making a positive impact in their community, such as supporting a local food vendor, to illustrate the importance of contributing to others' happiness as part of one's own growth and success. The paragraph concludes with the speaker's personal management tool, which they have used for several years to track daily expenses and focus areas, emphasizing the importance of managing focus over time.
📊 The Path to Achieving Lifelong Success and Personal Integrity
The speaker delves into the specifics of their personal management tool, which includes tracking daily expenses and focusing on the Eightfold Path of life. They stress the importance of personal integrity and self-discipline in achieving success, stating that being truthful with oneself and taking daily initiative are key ingredients for progress. The speaker acknowledges their imperfections and the ongoing challenges they face, using their own tracking tool as an example of both successes and areas for improvement. They encourage living each day as if it were the first of January, setting and achieving smaller targets to work towards larger dreams. The speaker concludes by inspiring the audience to take small, consistent steps towards their goals and to embrace the process of continuous improvement, aiming to change the statistics of failed resolutions and to live a life of purpose and growth.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡New Year Resolution
💡Personal Financial Management
💡Self-discipline
💡Life Cycle Approach
💡Overall Growth
💡Personal Integrity
💡Gamification
💡Small Steps
💡Community Engagement
💡Focus Management
Highlights
Speaker starts the discussion on New Year's resolutions and their common failure rate.
92 percent of New Year's resolutions are not successfully achieved according to research by Scranton University.
The speaker shares a personal story of setting and achieving a financial management goal in 2009.
The importance of understanding the challenge and what one truly wants to achieve is emphasized.
The speaker explains the method of tracking daily expenses and income to identify spending patterns.
Realization that financial management is not just about money, but also about personal growth and aspirations.
The speaker's journey from financial sustainability to investing in education and social enterprises.
The concept of a life cycle approach to achieving overall growth in life is introduced.
Eightfold Path of life is described, focusing on relationships, health, and community engagement.
The speaker discusses the importance of making small, daily contributions to community happiness.
The idea of living each day as if it were the first of January, with a focus on achieving bigger dreams.
Personal integrity and self-discipline are identified as key ingredients to achieving success.
The speaker shares his personal management tool for tracking daily expenses and focuses.
The importance of managing focus rather than time to achieve future dreams is highlighted.
The speaker encourages taking initiative and discipline to build upon daily achievements.
The message of making every day count towards achieving larger life goals and changing the statistics of resolution failure.
Closing remarks with a wish for a happy new year and an invitation to start living with purpose from the next day.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Laughter]
wish you all a very happy new year you
may be wondering what I am talking about
am i living for months back yeah what is
first of new year means to you someday
that we really inspired to achieve
something make a true difference where
you think about forgiving your mistakes
starting something new really achieving
some inspirations let me check
how many of you had a new year
resolution before ok many of them keep
holding keep holding how many of you can
confidently tell me that you have
successfully achieved it oh one two
three
thanks good I will talk to you during
the break why is that one the research
done by Scranton University in US have
revealed that 92 percent of the new year
resolutions that we make are not being
successful successful to be achieved
it's not only for new year resolutions
it's normally for many of the goals that
we have in our life to become a better
citizen achieve success achieve better
exam results there are so many goals
that we think and have for the future
that we are not being able to achieve
I'm no difference I has been the same
when I was younger I had the same
challenge of setting bigger ambitions
being wanting to be the super Idol that
always aspired to be but not being able
to reaching over there so in 2009 in a
January 1st I thought okay I need to
make a difference in at least in a small
way I really really want to achieve my
goal for that year and that year my goal
was maybe relate to some of you as well
is on personal financial management to
make sure that I am managing my finances
in the best and effective manner because
always maybe relate to some of you end
of the month you
always run bit less in cash so but the
clear difference that I did from just
setting up a goal was that let me try to
understand what is this challenge is all
about what I really want to achieve I
want to manage my finance but what is it
all about I just take a piece of paper
and at least started like pointing down
what I am spending every day and what
are my source of income and then how I
am really managing them so it took some
time the point was that I was keeping
recording them looking at them then I
started understanding okay there are
some patterns okay I am spending too
much on some time transportation or
sometimes in junk food or in many other
things and because that one I might not
have the capacity to invest on the
things that I wanted to so within few
months maybe couple of years I really
started understanding which I should be
really focusing on my finance my
personal finance and what sort of
sources that can really bring them to me
so with that ability after about two
years I was able to really manage to
make sure that I am self financially
sustainable not from my parents money
from my own finances but in 3 years 3 2
3 4 years I was able to make sure that I
have enough personal money to do further
education and also invested in my own
social enterprises to start up a
businesses so but however when I really
dig down into achieving this goal of
financial management which I had in 2009
but sort of achieved in 2011 tour I was
again went to the same with my
experience of at least trying to achieve
with that happiness of achieving a goal
I went back these finance is the main
composition or is it the main driver
that we have in our life is it is it
finance he standalone
so then on 2013 near to a January first
again I had this aha moment they need
realize me that finance is not just what
is it is it's just not a standalone but
it really in acts on who you are and
what you want to be what are your dreams
your visions your missions your
aspirations that relates to how you earn
money and how you spend money so with
that regard I thought okay that means
that is my stage - that should be my
step - I should be able to set up a
better management for myself in terms of
what I want to achieve in the future so
with my own background being in born in
the village working with communities I
had this strong desire to empower young
people achieve in their development so
with that vision I set up my own
missions smaller targets that I have
pillars of my success on one is on
education having good education capacity
and on entrepreneurship that really
building my successful enterprises
communities through that one last but
not least on networks they're really
making sure that I am part of
communities engaging with networks and
building the career that I have so but
that was only one part of my challenge
then I discovered this concept of that
we love life the life cycle approach
because I wanted to achieve thinking
about my future rather than just having
a degree or a good job or what will
really makes me happier what should be
my real mission in my life then it
realized to me that it's not about just
achieving a career development but more
than is to having an overall and
all-round growth in my life so with this
we love life approach I thought
is one but it's all about relationships
is about the the connections that you
have the religion and the networks that
you have it's more about health it's
more about spending your time on
activities that you really aspire to
achieve so with that development
I started okay I want to achieve an
overall growth in my life and then I
started to manage things on this eight
path that I want to achieve success so
on a day-to-day manner when I was going
to work or studies it was not about just
getting a degree or having a good
business but it's about can I make sure
that I am making at least one person in
this world a happier because I exist was
that my question that I asked every day
before I sleep
because as a human being we have a
bigger mission of helping other
communities and other people around us
because we exist in this planet so it
was not rocket science not starting very
big things and creating the biggest
change in the planet but just as an
example in a day-to-day manner the the
house that I live in in Thailand just
nearby there's a there's a the cooking
person who come there 3:30 every day
morning just to prepare so that he can
make breakfast packs for the working
people around six seven o'clock in the
morning but when the normal normal
people comes in they pay some money get
their goods and then walk away but that
person is putting so much effort to make
sure that and that person has two small
kids I see them in a manner to make sure
that they are happier and they have a
better life and he actually tries a lot
to send them to school I have been
saying them like taking the opportunity
he carries them to the school and take
them from the school so I cannot do much
I don't understand the language much but
I just and I'm a vegetarian or eating
meat the shop sells meat but at least I
go to in the every morning before I
leave to work I go to that person and
have a good smile at him and he actually
spend at
least two three seconds just to turn
back and and read me
so that small difference makes me really
mean that I have a bigger vision not to
just to achieve a success everyday by
working out but also having a community
and making someone else smile in a small
manner so these these small things are
making sure that I am achieving an
overall growth in my life so that also
has a better path because even if I am
achieving not achieving success on my
day to day activity on a working life
for example the exams might not go that
well oh you're working they might not be
the best but when I manage it with my
own tools is only about 30 to 35 percent
of my life so what I am talking about
this tool so I have a personal
management tool which I manage for about
seven eight years after seven eight
years looks like similar to this the top
part explains about how I manage my
day-to-day expenses so it's just
tracking so after years and years I have
categories and seeing how I am spending
my my daily expenses English Lankan
rupees way but also what are my daily
focuses and on this Eightfold Path of
life we love life that how I am really
incorporating my time but the most
important thing is not actually making a
tool for yourself is you can manage your
day-to-day activities in a way that you
like for me it's maybe numbers about
gamification of life for me me for you
maybe writing a journal or writing a
day-to-day diary or having a video or a
painting is up to you so it's more about
having a smaller step-by-step approach
and the fundamental is not managing your
time but managing your focus which will
enable you to progress on the dreams
that you have for the future but what
were the key most ingredients that
helped me to achieve the success the two
most fundamental
such a story that I have one is on
personal integrity none of these tools
none of these challenges none of these
personal resolutions maybe you agree the
people who achieve them are successful
if you are not true to yourself if you
are not telling yourself talking to
yourself selling what are my challenges
and how I can make sure that I am really
making sure that I am progressing
through if you lie to yourself I can put
any number wrong and make myself happy
okay I'm good every day it's being true
to yourself and the other is
self-discipline it's about taking
initiative every day no matter how hard
it is taking small steps not very big
one small steps every day to build upon
to this area that you want to achieve
but am I telling you this is the best
tool or am I the perfect human being who
has achieved so many things though I am
sitting for my PhDs or right now I have
started about five businesses so working
for you and project development it has
never been the perfect story for me even
right now these trackers doesn't look
same so this is like a monthly analysis
of the detector so there's blues and
greens where I have over achieved or
achieved my targets per four month but
there are always orange or red days
where I'm not that successful or have
done very worse even sometimes still
after six seven years on Finance but
it's more important is that you take the
initiative of discipline this month you
do bad but you start doing again from
next day that's why I mean living a life
of being a first of January every day
you wake up from the morning you jump
from your bed because it's a first of
January for you every day because you
are making your bigger dreams counted
down to smaller targets and you are
achieving them every day so V I V what
we can do is as a community as a as as
in a day-to-day manner to see how we can
make sure that we are achieving smaller
things in a daily manner and cell
bread in the success so I believe that
you all can make sure that your lives
are also a 1st of January starting from
tomorrow suggests anyway so hopefully
that we can make sure that we achieve
our bigger missions and change the
statistics as well so wish you all a
very happy new year thank you
you
[Laughter]
[Music]
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