“You may delay; but time will not” -Benjamin Franklin

My grandfather and grandmother kept a cuckoo clock in their house. I remember as a child being bothered by the sound of it because it was so loud- every hour, on the hour. It was startling and disruptive to me back then because I didn’t live with the sound every day. I’ve thought about that clock in the years since they passed away because it has become a nostalgic sound for me.  And in thinking about it, I wondered about the nature of a cuckoo clock- the beauty and the curse of it…

That clock was an unmistakable, loud  and noticeable reminder that yet another hour had begun. In that consideration I garnered two potential perspectives: 1) yet another hour of our lives has passed…OR 2) it could serve as a simple and consistent reminder to make our next hour better.

In our business of month ends, we tend to live and focus on months, quarters and seasons.  We tend to think in blocks of time, and our efforts for change tend to follow the same thought process (thus making change seem an overwhelming task).  But I think it is the minutes and hours in-between that matter because we can have small and consistent victories. We can make incremental efforts towards changing behaviors and seeking our own best selves- hour by hour.

I would ask this week that we try to notice the hour as a new one begins (maybe even literally set an alarm…or buy a cuckoo clock?).  Whatever you do, I ask that we take more notice of the time that inevitably and unforgivingly passes through our fingers…and always try to make our next hour better.

Ian Aubourg the Regional Director for Movement Mortgage.