In today’s fast paced electronic world, the need for quiet time has never been more crucial. 在今天的快节奏的电子世界，对安静时间的需要从未如此重要过。

The number of interruptions and resulting stress coming from texts, calls, emails, and social sites has increased. 中断的数量和压力的产生主要是短信，电话，电子邮件和社交网站的增加。

And, of course, as if we don’t all have enough already going on, we have an endless supply of addictive options at our fingertip to fill our heads with chatter. 当然，如果我们没有做好充足的向前的准备，我们会有无休止的上瘾的选择在我们的指尖和唠叨充满我们的大脑。

If you want to advance your life forward, it’s absolutely critical that you block out time when you turn off the noise so you can think and process information in silence. 如果你想提高你的生活质量，关掉时间的噪音，在沉默中思考和处理信息，这绝对是至关重要的。

You’ve heard it before, but it’s a quote worth memorizing. 你或许之前听说过，但是这是一个值得回忆的概述。

Jim Rohn said, “Success comes from a series of good decisions made over time while failure comes from a series of poor decisions made over time.” 吉姆·罗恩说“成功来自于一系列的随着时间推移的好决策，而失败来自于一系列糟糕的决策。”

After more than 15 years of thinking about this statement and watching it play out in the lives of people I know, I am convinced that our lives are a mirror image of our decisions. 经过十五年思考这句话，看着我认识的人的生活，我相信我们的生活是我们决定的镜像。

If you want to make sensible life-planning decisions, the kind of decisions that allow you to move ahead in life, you need quiet time to think and process the things going on in your life. 如果你想过明智的生活——规划决策，这种决策让你的生活前进。你需要安静的时间去思考并处理出现在你生活中的事情。

I assume that you want to build a stronger relationship with your spouse or significant other, that you want to be an understanding parent, 我假设你想和你的伴侣或者其他重要的人建立一个稳固的关系，或者是你想去理解你的父母，

that you want to enjoy a successful career, and that you want to make enough money to stay out of debt and enjoy the good things life has to offer. Am I right? 或者你想有一份令人满意的成功的事业，或者是你想挣足够的钱来还清债务并且去享受你生活中美好的事情。我说的对吗?

If these things really are important, then ask yourself: How much time have I spent in the last month quietly thinking about these issues? 如果这些事情真的这么重要，然后告诉你自己：我上个月花费了多少时间来安静的思考这些问题?

How can I manage my money more efficiently 我如何能有效的管理我的钱;

How can I increase my market value 我怎样才能提高我的市场价值;

What would I like to accomplish over the next year 我想在明年完成什么;

How can I fulfill the needs and desires of my spouse or significant other 我怎样才能完成我的需求，我的伴侣或者其他重要的人的欲望;

How can I improve the connection with my children or friends 如何才能增进我和我的孩子，我和朋友的关系;

Was the time you spent thinking about each of these congruent with their level of importance in your life? Yes or No? 你是否花费时间去思考它们在你生活中的地位和重要性?是还是不是?

If your answer is no, then think about how much time you have spent in the last month with each of these activities: 如果你的回答是否定的，那么思考一下上个月你有多少时间花费在这些活动中：

Listening to music or the radio 听音乐或者是收音机;

Watching TV 看电视;

Checking out the social sites 上社交网站;

Reading books unrelated to your goals 读一些与你目标无关的书;

Surfing the Web 网上冲浪。

How can you say something is important, but yet not allocate time to think about it and make thoughtful decisions as to how you can improve that area of your life? 你怎么能说它们是重要的，你没有拿出时间来思考并深思熟虑的做决定，怎么能提高你的生活在这些方面的质量呢?

If achieving your goals is really important, 如果实现你的目标是非常重要的，

then you must make it a priority to block out time to sit in silence and process what’s going on in your life and make good course-correcting decisions. 那么你必须拿出时间优先的去安静的思考你生命中的过程在这些过程中的决策。