The Third Eight

In September I started a professional and personal development class called Advancing Leadership. Myself and 26 other adults who work or live in Federal Way meet every month to learn about leadership and also participate in a group project that will give back to the community. I was excited to start his class so that I could learn more about the city I work in, but after the opening retreat I've found I'm even more excited for the personal and professional growth I will have throughout the coming months.

During opening retreat we learned about the "Third Eight". Coined by Phil Smart, a wealthy Seattle area businessman and philanthropist who volunteered much of his time at Seattle Children's. In fact Phil was the first male to ever volunteer! The Third Eight is explained as follows...

You get 8 hours for sleep, you have another 8 hours for work and then you have another 8 hours to use however you would like. Now I realize that we all have different commitments, work schedules and responsibilities but no matter what we're all given 24 hours. Each of us were asked how we spend our three eights and it was fun to learn about the commitments and priorities each class member had.

As you can see, I am not artistically inclined at all, but I would say this is my best work yet. 

The point of the exercise was to encourage us to use some of our Third Eight to invest in others and our community. I encourage you to sit down and think about your Third Eight, do you make the most of it? Are you constantly feeling like you don't have enough time in the day? Perhaps this will help you see how to better prioritize your daily activities.

This doesn't mean you have to run out and start volunteering at the local hospital, in fact maybe you're already coaching a youth basketball team, volunteering at your church, helping an elderly neighbor with yard work. These sorts of activities are more life changing and have more impact than many of us think.

Describing my Third Eight has motivated me to get back to some of the volunteering I did before with the American Cancer Society, and finding other ways to give back to my community.

“If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up not doing nothing for nobody.” ~ Malcom Bane