I have a question to propose.

Why is someone who is twenty-four more successful, making more money, and having a better life, than someone who is fifty-four?

Putting aside factors like race, opportunities, socioeconomic status, what else?

Why are you not Oprah or Shonda Rhimes? Why are you not Tyler Perry or Denzel Washington?

We have the same 24 hours in a single day.

Well I think what determines who’s successful and who’s not, can boil down to two simple things: working hard and time management.

I’m saying this to me too. I still have days when I barely write one hundred words.

There are people out there who are younger than me, or are my age and are way, way more successful than I am.

So for me, I’ll give you the main person I use when I think this way.

That person is Kenshō Ono, a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer.

He was born October 5, 1989 and is age 30 at the time of this post. I was born in October of 1990, so we’re very close in age, and honestly a single year up doesn’t give him that much time to get ahead in terms of successfulness.

I think its simply spending the same amount of hours in different ways and in different pursuits.

Maybe while I was playing video games and eating too many cupcakes, Kenshō Ono was practicing his voice acting skills and sending out audtion tapes, I don’t know. Maybe while I was taking long naps during the day rather than do anything, Kenshō Ono was already starting his career and working on his goals.

Either way, Kenshō Ono has been working as a voice actor since 2002 (including roles in my favorite anime such as Kuroko’s Basketball), has released music albums and is the Japanese dub of Harry Potter films (as well as most of Daniel Radcliff’s roles), all during the same amount of time I have been alive.

However! I of course understand our lives were also completely different. Kenshō Ono could have very well had contacts and step ups and knew people that helped him get to success faster. Sure.

But I also know I’ve made decisions that hinder my success rather than help it. This doesn’t mean I should be comparing myself to him and feeling down and out. In fact, I use Kenshō Ono as a reminder to myself that I could be in the same place if I had worked harder.

So…work harder, A. E.

And the past is the past. Reader, whatever you did in the past that led to where you are now, the past is the past. All you can manage is what to do with the next 24 hours you have and the hours you have right now. Are you going to the manage the time wisely, work hard and be productive?

Remember, 24 hours. That’s all it is. No more, no less.

Look at what you allot those hours to.

How many hours do you spend asleep? How long does it take you to get ready for the day? How much time do you spend messing around with Facebook or Twitter or whatever other social media before you get started? How many times do you take a break?

I’m not saying make a schedule that plans out each and every hour of your day all day every day. But honestly, see what you spend your time on. Take a day and notice what you’re doing. Is there anywhere you can be working a little harder?

Where can you put those hours towards something more productive?

For me personally, my main social media rabbit-hole is YouTube. I can easily spend four hours watching YouTube video after video.

Stop.

And think.

Where exactly do I want to be in ten years? And is watching YouTube for hours every day going to get me there?

That’s a big no. There’s only ever two choices to make. Do the thing you want now or do the thing that will get what you want in your future.

It’s really up to you to decide which one to focus on.

Right now, I’d really love to be playing Kingdom Hearts III. But what I want to be in ten years is financially independent, living in my own home, and making a successful living off my novels. Kingdom Hearts III will not get me that.

In the end, you decide what you do with the time you’ve been given. Tomorrow is not promised, after all. You can live for today, and do whatever you feel like doing today. Or you can live as if you intend for tomorrow to still be there, and work so that your future is what you want it to be.

And as always, while I write my cat Aomine keeps me company by my side.