Last week I had the privilege of spending some quality time with a dear friend. Unfortunately we live on opposite sides of the world, so we do not spend a lot of time together, but when we do get together it is an uplifting experience.

Paul, and his wife Glenys, have just finished moving into a beautiful new dream home that they have built. It was the first time that I had seen it, and after showing me through the house we went outside and looked out over their land. Paul pointed out where the large spa pool would be, and how there would be a lake over there, where the Monet bridge would be, and how the paths would be laid out.

I recalled how when we had last met, almost a year before, Paul told me that they had found a piece of land and bought it, and they were going to build their new dream home, a Quaker barn on it. He had described to me how it would look, what it would be made of, and especially how his new workshop would be laid out, and now he had just shown me through the actual completed building.

It reminded me of something I first heard from Jim Rohn, many years ago. Jim said something to the effect that humans were the only species that could start something after it was finished. What did he mean by that? He meant that we could completely build something in our mind before we started physically building it.

So how does this relate to time management? Imagine if someone had visited Paul when he was just starting to build the house. All the materials are there on his land, and the visitor asked Paul what he was building. Imagine Paul had answered that he didn't really know, but he would just see what it turned into when it was finished. Do you think that Paul would now be living in his dream home? I very much doubt it.

But many of us live our lives by just seeing how it turns out. We would never just collect up some building materials and start putting them together and see how it turns out. But we do get up in the morning, do whatever we are in the habit of doing during the day, and then go back to bed, and repeat the process day after day. We build our lives by taking whatever comes to us each day, and putting it together to see what it turns out to be.

Consider how much more productive it would be if we didn't get up in the morning until we had decided what we would build with our day. We would usually move ourselves a step closer to our goals each day, in spite of what the day threw at us.

When we are born, we all start out exactly the same, with essentially the same potential. From then on we use that potential differently, and achieve different results. By understanding how and why we achieve different results, we can take control of our results from this day on, and change the whole direction of our lives.

The 'Power of the Mind' training gives a deeper understanding of how we can establish worthwhile and meaningful goals, and then move toward achieving them day by day. Go to http://www.mypowerfulmind.com/page/page/1819535.htm to find out more.

Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him and subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.mypowerfulmind.com/page/page/1653324.htm