“Punctuality is the art of guessing how late the other fellow is going to be”
Being punctual means being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, as promised, without exception, without excuse, every time, all the time!
Punctuality is so powerful that this discipline alone might determine your success or failure.
Being punctual is utterly important for several reasons:
- It gives you the right and the position to demand from others to treat your time with respect. Being late means that you have no respect for the time of other’s. Therefore you can’t possibly demand for your time to be treated with respect unless you show some first. Being punctual gives you the position, leverage, ability, moral authority and advantage over staff, vendors, associates, client, everybody.
- A person who cannot keep appointments on time can’t be trusted. Fundamental dishonesty expresses itself in many different ways and being late is definitely one of them. There is a link between respect of other’s time and respect of other’s opinions, agreements, right and contracts. A person who is late is usually someone who you will regret doing business with. I have already made the mistake of violating this basic rule of thumb and got burned couple of times. My advice is to take this to heart: If someone is late for an appointment or misses a deadline – it is time to find another associate, because it will probably happen again, and when it does – it will cost you money.
- Punctuality is an easy yet very effective way to impress others. Being punctual will increase your chances to a successful business relationship by more than 50%. People are no longer judged by what they wear – they are judged by how they behave. Being late shows an unbelievable lack of respect and unprofessionalism.
Dale Carnegie referred to punctuality as one of the best ways to win friends and influence people. Let us not forget that he is an author of an all time best seller, the world’s first billionaire and arguably one of the most successful people ever lived.
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