"Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense" - Proverbs 12:11
We live in a world full of distractions. No matter where you are or who you are with, it is very easy to not be fully focused. Social media grabs our attention; cell phones grab our attention; emails grab our attention; video games grab our attention. With that many things grabbing our attention, it's no wonder we feel super busy and yet unproductive. Those distractions that provide that little bit of escapism from the chaos of life, are oftentimes the very things that hinder us from being the best we can be in our life. Americans spend anywhere from three to seven hours everyday on their phone and roughly three hours everyday watching tv. For the sake of this blog, let's say the vast majority of people are on their phones about four hours everyday. That would mean that we are spending about seven hours daily on some sort of screen. That's nearly an entire work shift! Let that sink in for just a moment. We spend the equivalent of a day's shift on our devices. How much different would your life be if you redirected half of that time towards your work, or investing, or writing, or family time, or learning something new, or fixing up the house? How much more fulfilled would your life be if it wasn't spent following worthless pursuits? Most of us love to keep ourselves busy, but the problem is that we keep ourselves busy on the wrong things. We busy ourselves with things that are completely unproductive. As a result, we feel stuck in the same rut and never seem to pull ahead. Financially, we feel as though we are moving backwards even though we feel as though we are working "hard" and should have more to show for it.
The good news is that this proverb from King Solomon is a reminder that your life does not have to be that way. Don't be busy, be productive. Solomon teaches us that if you work your land, you will have plenty of bread. In other words, if you are productive and make the most out of your time and resources, you'll have more than you need. There is a difference between being busy and being productive. A busy person is someone who does a lot of things. A productive person is someone who does a lot of MEANINGFUL things. If you are being a busibody, chances are you are not doing the meaningful things to get ahead. Chances are, a lot of the things you are doing are the "worthless pursuits" Solomon warns us to avoid.
In another passage (Proverbs 13:4), Solomon writes, "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligentis richly supplied". The sluggard desires for things but never receives what he desires. Why is that? Because his laziness keeps him from being productive. He craves, but he ultimately does nothing of significance to satisfy the craving outside of craving itself. Whereas the diligent, or productive, person has an abundance. The diligent person craves as well; but rather than merely crave, he gets to work. He does something of significance to satisfy the craving. The result being is that he ends up with an abundance. Rarely will you find a person who has become successful in business that became successful through laziness. More times than not, the successful person got that way through limiting the distractions and maximizing the productivity. In almost every area of life, the most productive people tend to be the most successful. So as you continue on with your day today, do your best to be productive. Make the most of your proverbial "land". Don't get distracted by worthless things. Stay focused. Stop being busy. Become productive. Be diligent. Remain persistent.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge