Watch the Moments

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

My friend’s dad used to say that to him often. It may sound old-fashioned in this day and age. When pennies were worth more in days gone by, most people gleefully snatched them from the ground. Now I wonder if more are left lying there than picked up.

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

My friend didn’t care how old the saying was. He listened and put it into action. He’s not much older than me, but I sense he’ll never worry about money for the rest of his life even if he stops working today.

I don’t want to worry about money either. But what I fear more than not having enough money at the end of my days, is not accomplishing what I want in life. Right now, the biggest hurdle to accomplishing what I want is wasted time.

This isn’t about watching too much TV or idly surfing the internet for long periods of time. I’ve learned to avoid those activities most of my days. Instead, I find myself doing too many meaningless activities, ones that seem productive at the time, but at the end of the day, I don't feel like I accomplished much.

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

Truth is, pennies do matter. If you don’t squander pennies, then you don’t squander dollars. And over a lifetime the pennies add up. So do the moments.

Watch the moments and the lifetime will take care of itself.

I’ve started asking myself, “Will this activity help me accomplish the big things I want out of life?” If the answer is no, I change to an activity worthy of my goals, even if it’s only a small step toward them.

Watch the moments and the lifetime will take care of itself.

What do you want out of your lifetime?