One of the best things in my life being a business representative working in hospitality is that I enjoy talking to a lot of people. People from various educational and cultural backgrounds, people of different ages and experiences, people with different needs exchange ideas and speak freely without the fear of being judged as we feel at times when we talk to people we normally know. One thing that comes a lot in everyone’s mind is time: the time that is left in the past and the time left to live, to climb the social ladder and fulfill our dreams. But there’s no news when we hear that no one knows for sure how much time we have left. So many people have regrets about how they lived their past without paying attention to what was really important for them: the present and own necessities.   Time is priceless and irreversible, is unknown. Take a moment to think from an individual perspective at how to reduce stress, find the right balance to live a healthy life while accomplishing personal success I made up a quick guideline of personal investment and time management:  

 Invest in your own education: 
There’s no single doubt that someone’s education is the beginning of a successful path in life. Education doesn’t only mean studying to be career driven or indoctrinated but staying open minded, seeking more knowledge. The more access to information we have, the better we process and retain parts of the big unknown to formulate our own thoughts, build our own character and build our own dreams. Our attitude supersedes our knowledge. Our success does not depend of how much do we necessarily know about something but of what we do with what we know and how flexible we are to embrace new discoveries and a fast-paced future.   

Invest in family:
I hear many times people’s regrets for not being with their own families or not being their own selves. Missing years of their past, seeing their children grow without remembering how or when (I can tell that is hard to remember even when you are right next to them) and in many cases relationships end up broken. Others regret not even having a family because they had other dreams to chase. Why should anyone regret not looking after their loved ones when that chance most probably will never come back again? I strongly believe that focusing on the next person in our lives, our life partners and children if any, we set the role models for others and we shape new individuals into responsible, trustworthy, healthy and happy adults. Investing in your family you invest in you as they are your true support through your life.   

Invest in good practices:
We spend most of our lives running to achieve goals, crucial to our success, I agree, yet they are at times becoming our only priority set by either ourselves or by others. We run to accomplish someone else's dreams and needs without prioritizing what makes us happy and we get lost in the process. In my experience, the secret to success and a balanced life is to maintain focus and learn how to achieve more in less time. Work as hard as you can but work also as smart as possible. Discipline, routine, mindfulness and healthy habits is what keeps our mind focused and prepared to fight or, on the contrary, to flight. Clearing our minds even if through just a simple forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku) will charge us and keep us even more focused on our goals without forgetting the beginning of our road and the direction in which we are heading.    

Invest in the right partners:
 The more we have, the more we want. But access to the right information at the right moment can save a lot of your own time and team work is after all a dream work. Micromanaging has its downfalls and we need to learn when to let go and empower others. Guilty as charged! The best advice I give myself is to shout for help and be willing and grateful to accept it. Look for the right partners, the ones that understand your vision and are setting you on the path to achieve your goal. They may be the company you work for or that you contracted to help you achieve more or they can be the employees you hire to represent you, or the team mates you take onboard to push forward and break through “closed doors”. Listen to others' voices, different people have different visions, but make your own decisions. In hospitality we say listen to complaints to come up with the solution and that’s how you adapt and innovate.   

Invest in dreams: 
No one will ignore the importance of a financial stability brought by a successful career, an important discovery or a clever business. Analyzing trends and thinking out of the box when needed is crucial for a business development. The most successful businesses and business people were born out of passion and determination, because of the many times people have risen up driven by that passion and desire to be bold, to carry on when others saw a dead end. See Jack Ma’s Alibaba success story. Best advice is not to be desperate but to be creative! To do what others are not doing and not to find excuses. To look for the opportunities and to know your potential, to find what motivates you and follow that unique path that will find you climb the ladder to your own success, fulfilling your own dreams. 
  
Invest in own self: 
Most of us believe that wealth is what will make us happy running to tick more boxes in our professional development, accepting new projects or running after new investments, but what we need to understand is first that looking after ourselves is the only way we can look after all other important things in our life. We ought to arm ourselves with standards, values and goals. Why should we ignore our mind that tells us to disconnect and enjoy some fun time away from busy work schedules? After all, good ideas and strength comes from the way we look after our own body and soul. We must chaise dreams and follow the path towards accomplishment but why should we neglect our body skipping breakfast or lunch and having dinners alone when we know that sickness won’t help us achieve our goals? We should never stop learning but we need to give ourselves recognition, acknowledgment and a well-deserved break. Stephen Covey said “The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Priceless!  

 Investing in our education and in ourselves, in our passions and our relationships we can achieve a lot more, in a lot less time. Take the right time for decisions but do not dwell too much on them. When you keep healthy, maintain strong focus, you have the right team behind you and the ambition to drive you through to achieve your goals your are not going to look back wondering what did you do with your time. Let’s chase dreams, build our own empires and live our own lives from now on.