What is your “on-time arrival percentage?” Do you arrive
on time for appointments, meetings, and other functions? Is being on time a habit
with you?
Arriving on time can boost the respect people have for you, and your
future success.
We all know of people who are regularly late. What do you think of
them? Disorganized? Uncaring? Self-important? Self absorbed? Unable to perform?
The thoughts aren’t positive, that’s for sure!
When you think of who you’ll choose to do special projects,
perennial lateness will come into your selection or promotion decision.
I’m not talking about the occasional late arrival—unforeseen
situations happen to all of us. I’m talking about people whose lateness
is a habit.
We can’t get into why these people are always late. There are
thousands of reasons. What we do know is that it is an easy fix. And if you want
to be successful in your career or your community, you’ll make a big change—fast.
Perennial lateness inhibits success. It’s annoying. It slows
progress. And yes, it is disrespectful. Someone once told me: “Being late
is one of the most selfish things you can do.” Many people share that opinion.
And if it happens to be someone you work with, work for, or sell to—you’re
doomed.
It’s not fair to expect them to “expect” you to
be late. It’s not fair to ask others to repeat parts of meetings that you
miss. It’s not fair to make others wait for you when you agreed on a time.
So, avoid habitual lateness.
Make On-Time Arrivals
Shift to an “on-time habit” in six ways:
- Begin with self talk—”I am always early.” When you choose
being early as a personal value, you can kick the late habit.
- Reassess the time you allow for tasks. Double your estimate of how long something
will take to allow for interruptions and delays.
- Live according to Vince Lombardi Time. The great football coach had his team
arrive 10 minutes early. When he said practice started at 10 a.m., if you arrived
at 9:51, you were a minute late.
- Respect the other people involved. Think in terms of their time being more
valuable than yours.
- Set alarms and reminders. Use technology to your advantage.
- Believe that arriving on time is a standard of successful people, and that
habitual lateness will hurt you.
Develop an “on-time” habit, and be early for the rest
of your life. PE
