It was a humid 100-degree day in Houston, Texas. My interview for an investment banking position with JP Morgan started in minutes. I ran through the parking lot in my wool suit, drenched with sweat.
Overheated, stressed, and nervous, I bombed the interview.
No job with JP Morgan.
By not being early, I didn’t give myself a chance to succeed.
In Lesson 8, I said the second easiest way to be miserable is to not pay your bills; the first is to be late.
Punctuality is 100% in your control. Leave earlier for appointments, every time.
Decide how much of a margin of safety you need based on how long it could take to get to your appointment. Greater unpredictability of delays requires planning to arrive earlier, if all goes well.
People who are late always have excuses. Traffic, urgent phone calls, car troubles, flight delays. Those risks are always possible. It’s not inconceivable those could happen.
Plan for it.
Leave early enough so that you’re on time, every time.
The Ultimate Happiness Tool: Punctuality
I want the most fulfilled, happiest life possible. With that goal — and any goal — I start with the easy things. Why jump over seven-foot hurdles when you can step over one-foot hurdles and get the same result?
For happiness, the easiest step is to be on time.
Tardiness makes us stressed, distracted, and angry.
Punctuality makes us calm, present, and pleasant.
Would You Be Late to Meet the President?
Or, the one person you admire most in the world?
Why not?
It’s disrespectful. You may never get another chance to make a positive impression. This is all you ever get to create what could be a cascade of positive life experiences starting with one interaction.
Why is it so different meeting people every day?
You agree that punctuality shows respect and creates a positive impression; by being late to meetings with less prominent people, you must say:
“I don’t care if I disrespect you, and I don’t care what you think of me.”
You don’t really think that. Your actions, however, communicate it.
How to Be On Time, Every Time
Most major projects — including home remodel — projects run late. (Our home six-month home remodel project was three months — +50% — late.) Experience, it seems, doesn’t improve human nature’s overly optimistic assessment of time required to complete projects.
Assume everything will go wrong.
There will be a traffic accident. You will have something pop up on your way to your appointment that you have to deal with immediately. Your flight will be delayed.
Add enough slack to your schedule such that, even if everything goes wrong, you’re early.
You’ll be happier, more calm, a better companion.