Do you show respect to those that you are meeting with?

Are you the last one to arrive? Always showing up “fashionably late”?

Or are you there before everyone else, preparing for the meeting, or getting work done while everyone slowly comes in?

If you are not early, you are late.

Simple as that.

In this short article, I will talk about why I am always 15 minutes early.

Showing up Early is one of the Greatest Signs of Respect you can show to others

I treat the time that people roll in to a meeting as their level of respect for me. My time is tremendously valuable - and those that respect my time get ahead in my personal relationships, those that do not begin to slide out of the rolodex.

I do not associate with people that are late for very long.

For everyone that knows me, I am nearly always the first person at a meeting - I am not the person that comes in to meet you. I am the one that is sitting there, waiting for you to arrive. The last person that I remember walking in on was my girlfriend on our first date - maybe she is my girlfriend because she also showed up early.

It is a simple gesture that shows you are respectful of the other person’s time and energy. When I say I will be there for 10am, what I really mean is that I will see you as I am settled in at 9:45. I will be doing work or reading when you arrive.

Without question, you will not be there before me.

Showing up early is the easiest ROI on your time

If you give yourself more time before a meeting, you can get other things done.

There is seldom a time when I am not an hour early for a meeting, bring my laptop, and do some writing, or catch up on emails. It is an easy way to set myself up to do some work when I know I have to be somewhere.

I also never care if I get stood up - because I was always going to go to that place and do work anyway. The times that I didn’t bring work, I felt naked.

Dating Hack

When going on dates simply tell the person that you will be at X place at X time and to join you:

“I’ll be at Square One, come join me.”

What this does is set a time and place that you’ll be doing work or whatever, and that person just comes to join you.

You can use this as a win-win scenario:

If they show up, you get a date; If they don’t show up, you get to get work done, or read a book, or whatever.

It’s an easy return on your time invested. You win either way.

Showing up early will get you further

You show respect and you get rewarded.

If you are meant to be sitting in with your boss, you’re going to be first up for promotion because your boss knows you respect his time, and by extension, you respect your own time.

I know that I would look to promote someone that respects my time far before I would promote someone else.

Simple Practice

For the next month, for all of your meetings and dates, be the first one there. Be the one who people walk in on. Show respect for that person’s time. See what opportunities come your way because of this.