Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

Thus quotes Dr Robert Books on nurse Bronnie Ware. Although, it was only last week when I mentioned Brooks’s discussion on “regrets” and business, I feel that this sentence is extremely powerful and needs further comment.

In mentoring, I frequently come up against people, who seem to have been plodding along quite nicely. Then, almost suddenly, they come to a realisation that they are in a rut. However, on analysis, the truth is often very different. Matters have not been good for ages, but they have been able to deceive themselves until now.

And that is often the fact. We allow ourselves – out of convenience or even from fear – to delude ourselves that all is OK. After all, if we have our health, things cannot be that bad.

How many times have we seen people review their situations, only after suffering by an illness? And it may not be chronic. Some years back, I ripped a muscle in my lower leg following a freak accident. I could no longer charge off to meetings at will. I thought my life was at end end…………until I realised just how many of these appointments were not so important. It proved to be a painful but valuable learning experience.

Similarly, when I sit down with clients and work on their time management skills, I am often surprised by what I hear. I have to encourage and mentor people to utilise basic common sense, when planning a regular day.

For example, so many skip first appointments of the day, because they do not feel so good in the morning. What frequently happens is that they have worked late the previous day and / or not eaten properly. The body is effectively saying “no can do”.

Net result? Having tried to fit in extra work hours, the client loses out on “production time” the following day. Worse, potential revenue may be sacrificed.

So before you have any further regrets, make sure that your schedule is not so heavy that you are mistreating your body. When you understand that limitation, you will realise the scope of your freedom to act.