Our new video on the right is a profile done by Airdrie Now on our Winning Edge award and continuous success as a business.

UNTIL NOW

Al Jones

“It’s absolutely impossible to make them change their ways,” said one.

“Nothing is impossible,” replied the other.

“But we’ve always done things that way, every day until now.”

That was what she needed. She needed her sister to voice that determining phrase that dictated a point in time…. “until now”.

They were talking about changes that had to be made within their families. Their children had reached their teens, and it was time to start instilling some life skills in them. The problem they were facing is that many of the things they needed to teach their children, these ladies had always done for them. Despite showing them how to do things, their children were not taking the initiative to take on these tasks. I listened as the one sister started to explain to the other, the importance of that phrase, ‘until now’.

“Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the centre,” her sister commanded. “Make sure the kids do the same thing.  Now at the top of one side, write the words, “until now”.  On the other side, write the words, “from now on”. Have them list things under ‘until now’, all the things that you do for them, like make their school lunches, laundry, making beds, cleaning bedrooms, etc.  Now, on the other side, under the heading of ‘from now on’, have them choose things that they are capable of doing on their own. Once they have written them down, you must tell them that those are now their responsibilities. They must do it, because you will no longer do it for them.”

The first sister seemed sceptical. “What if they don’t? They would go hungry at lunch, and have no clean clothes to wear,” she said with concern in her voice.

“Trust me… our kids only have to go hungry one day… They won’t forget to pack a lunch the next.  And it won’t take them long to run out of clean clothes to wear. They’ll be forced to do laundry out of need.”

I sat and listened as she continued instructing her sister to remain firm. “If they don’t make their bed or clean their room, you have to be able to turn away like you don’t notice.  Trust me… they’ll have to eventually do it if they ever want to have friends over and not have them think they are slobs.  The one thing you can always count on is the importance to our children of what their friends think.”

It was ingenious, yet simple. I sat and began to think of all the other things that this little system could work on. It could be used in a working environment. Up until today, we’ve always emptied the garbage in your office, from now on, you must do it yourself.  It could be used for self-discipline. Up until now, I’ve always watched television after supper, but  from now on, I’m going to go for a walk around the block. It could be used for relationships. Up until now, we’ve always assumed and taken for granted that we love each other, from now on, we will tell each other every night before going to sleep.

Time is one of those things we all take for granted, but its importance can be highlighted when you define points in time.  Until now, most of us have only thought of it as a way to track the progression of a day. From now on… we can use it to motivate, change habits and contribute to our successes. As long as we remember that line that divides the time between ‘until now’ and ‘from now on’.