hi this is Brian welcome back to another heroic plus one in our last plus one we started talking about how to live on 24 hours a day today in over the next few days we'll continue our exploration of some of Arnold Bennett's wisdom from his witty and quick reading little old school Masterpiece how to live on 24 hours a day let's get straight to work Bennett tells us and I quote philosophers have explained space they have not explained time it is the inexplicable Ro material of everything with it all is possible without it nothing the
supply of time is truly a daily Miracle an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it you wake up in the morning and lo your purse is magically filled with 24 hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life a highly singular commodity showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself he can continues by saying for remark no one can take it from you it is unstealable and no one receives either more or less than you receive and he says talk about an ideal democracy in the realm of time there
is no aristocracy of wealth and no aristocracy of intellect genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day and there is no punishment waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will and the supply will will never be withheld from you no mysterious power will say this man is a fool if not a Nave he does not deserve time he shall be cut off from the meter it is more certain than consoles and payment of income is not affected by Sundays moreover you cannot draw on the future impossible to get into debt
you can only waste the passing moment you cannot waste tomorrow it is kept for you you cannot waste the next hour it is also kept for you and he concludes by saying I said the affair was a miracle is it not time it's really easy to take for granted but when we stop to think about it for a moment we see that it really is a daily miracle and time is the ultimate democracy everyone gets 24 hours can't buy a minute more the only question is what will you do with your precious replenishing 24 hours
today note this exercise from Todd Henry's die empty remains one of the best I've ever read and always worth the reflection Todd Henry tells us imagine for a moment that you will have a guest accompanying you throughout your day tomorrow this person's task will be to follow you around from the moment you wake up until the moment you fall asleep they will take copious notes about your schedule how you interact with your family and friends how you engage in your tasks and projects and your mindset through it all once the day is over this person
will spend the next few days processing their observations draw conclusions about your motivations and compile their notes into a book about you that will stand as the definitive record of your life and work how would you act differently tomorrow if you knew that your actions and attitude on that one day were going to be a permanent Testament to your life if you're like many people to whom I've posed this question you would probably get up a little earlier pay extra attention to your family and the Bist dead Starbucks be fully vested in every meeting be
meticulous in every task call up an old friend for lunch reconcile with an alienated colleague and generally wrap up those loose ends next Todd Henry says I ask how does your imagined Behavior compare with how you are actually living your life today and that's today's plus one if you feel so inspired pause for a moment and do that thought exercise then go out and give us all you've got today
