Once upon a time, there was a whimsical prince in a country. His name was Arian. Arian spent all day painting, but he never finished any of his pictures. His table was scattered with half-painted canvases, colors, and brushes. He idly passed his time and thought, "One day, I will be a great artist."
One day, an elderly painter came to visit the kingdom. The king took him to Arian's room. Seeing the chaos and the unfinished paintings, the old artist smiled gently.
He gifted Arian a beautiful, blank canvas and a small hourglass. The artist said, "Prince, it takes exactly one hour for the sand in this hourglass to run out. For the next week, you will spend one hour each day forgetting all outside thoughts and focusing solely on one painting. No breaks allowed."Arian agreed. The next morning, he flipped the hourglass. The sand began to fall. Arian painted with full concentration. No chatting, no laziness. In just one hour, he created a magnificent painting of a mountain waterfall.
For seven consecutive days, Arian followed this routine. When the elderly artist returned after seven days, Arian showed him seven complete and extraordinarily beautiful paintings.Looking at his works, Arian was amazed. He exclaimed with joy, "I painted seven beautiful pictures in just one week! I can't believe it!"
The elderly artist then laughed and patted him on the back, saying, "Absolutely right, Prince. You were 'so productive' during these seven days. In other words, instead of being lazy, you utilized your time effectively and achieved great results. The real secret to being productive is not having a lot of time, but making the most of even a little time."
Arian realized that having talent alone is not enough; being "productive" is the true key to success.
