Starting today, we enter the fastest part of the year in terms of perception. Somehow, most of us believe the so-called "ember" months i.e. September, October (which has no "ember" to begin with) November and December run way faster than the earlier parts of the year. The reason is not far fetched.Most people start the year thinking "it's a new year" and look to take things a bit easy. It still feels like a "new year" for many even when Easter comes in early April. For many, the year never really gets started until July. From July, an understanding that time may be running out on the year sort of begins to dawn.
By the time September comes, many projects are packed into a four-month period that should have been done the previous eight months. Most people "work harder" and "faster" and seek to do a lot more than they did in the previous eight months. Before anything gets done, the pressure that goes with the end of the year comes piling and you often end up feeling "the year has gone by so fast!" But that is not true.
Those who make the best of the year are those who make the best of each day! Those who pay critical attention to the parts certainly have the whole under control. Too many times, we are focused on having a great year but we forget that if we don't take care of what is within our immediate control - a day - we cannot do much with a year.
It is never too late to make the year count. If you are given one orange and you divide it into three equal parts and you eat two of the parts, the last part left becomes your new 100 per cent. Try it, it suddenly looks a lot more important than the other two you want to be careful not to expend it too quickly. The reason is because it suddenly dawns on you that your orange could soon be finished!
You are likely to eat it a lot more slowly than you did the first two. We are naturally inclined to wanting to eat our orange and having it at the same time. The final third is often crucial and it could be the difference between a great year and a disastrous one. It is the part that calls for one to finish strong!
The best football teams in the world are often teams that play so well in the final third that they put their goals away. The final third is the point of delivery of goals. A team that is poor in the final third is likely to suffer more defeats than a team that is very sharp and effective in the final third. A team that has a sharp and effective final third scores many goals: think Barcelona, think Real Madrid, think Manchester City. These teams are threats to their opponents because of the firepower of their final third.
Today is the beginning of your own final third for this year. No matter what you have accomplished or could not accomplish in the first eight months of the year, these last four months are likely to be what your year would be defined by. It is the closing of either a great year or a not-so-great one. It is often the indicator of what the new year would be like because it often informs the plans and agenda for that new year. The beauty of it is that it is in your hands.
Despite the distractions around us, there is a lot more about our lives that are in our hands than our minds are ready to admit. We have been conditioned to believe things would be better if we had something we do not presently have access to. We are hardly conscious of the fact that we have enough with and within us to get something started. We want a great end to the year so we are looking at having a great September to December, but how can you have a great month if you don't pay attention to the essence and value of each day?
Make this final third about each day within each week. A lot can still get done within these 121 or so days left in the year. If we choose to be focused on what counts and what matters. If we choose not to play to the gallery. If we ask exactly what we want out of this final third of the year, the year stays pregnant with possibilities for those who are ready to birth them. Have my best wishes.
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