essay on never waste your opportunity

Don’t Waste Your Opportunities

People are not dealt the same hand in life. They all have different starting points.

We are all born with different talents and abilities. That’s a truism. 

However, we all have the choice to get better at what we do and, despite our starting point in life, we can often do something about it — to either get ahead, stay still, or slide backwards. 

I prefer to view success in life as a choice. But I know many people who see things differently. Some people attribute the success of others to luck, circumstances, connections, and even family ties. 

These people are free to think that successful people are successful because of luck, but if that’s how they want to view the world, then they haven’t really explained why successful people are successful. They’ve only given an excuse for why they are not. 

The bottom line is that successful people have made it because they had an opportunity (and they were prepared for it) and they made the most out of it.

We all get at least one chance to make it big in life. Some people refuse the opportunity, some people don’t recognize the opportunity, and some people waste the opportunity. So let’s discuss what that means and how it relates to where you are in your life and what can you do to make things better.

1. Don’t Be Unprepared

A lot of people waste their opportunities in life by refusing to work hard. They get offered an opportunity and start working at it but they quickly get tired. They start thinking that their opportunity doesn’t have much potential. They believe their opportunity will not lead to the future they desire. And they accordingly let go of that opportunity. 

They waste it.

That usually happens when the opportunity comes and they’re not prepared for it. They slacked off in the past. They didn’t invest in themselves and their abilities. And now they don’t have what it takes to take full advantage of the opportunities coming their way.

Some trivialize the opportunity. They think that working on their writing skills, communication skills and taking classes is not worthy of their time. They make fun of those that go to public speaking classes. They make fun of those that go to writing classes or marketing classes or business classes. They think such skills aren’t necessary for success.

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There are many others ways through which people waste opportunities. They procrastinate. They get lazy. They don’t commit. They would rather watch TV than to spend time getting reading for the next opportunity.

Some people learn from this mistake and they start investing in themselves. And they do so in order to hopefully get another opportunity and prove that they deserve it. Most people, however, will not. 

2. Opportunity Not Luck

A lot of people confuse opportunity with luck.

They think that having an opportunity means that their lives will change immediately. They think that they will become rich or successful very quickly. They think of opportunities in the same way as hitting the lottery; that the opportunity will simply get them to their goals with little to no effort on their part.

For example, you might find that there’s a good opportunity to start a business and to fill a need in the market. But if you don’t go all in and work hard every single day, you really won’t make much of your opportunity. In fact, it won’t pay off. 

There are many examples around us of people who conceived of great ideas and went after them only to quit too soon. A few months later, they see their ideas being implemented, and successfully so, by people who truly understand the hard work that takes to grow their business and reap the benefit of their hard work.

Sometimes, an opportunity to do big things might come in disguise. In fact, most big opportunities appear in your life because you took advantage of other smaller opportunities. For example, artists who took advantage of the opportunity to join a class early on in their careers and took that opportunity seriously will find themselves presented with better and greater opportunities later in life. 

The same goes for education. Did you pursue the opportunity to educate yourself and teach yourself new things or did you say you’ll take care of that later on? Did you take extra classes about things that matter to you and what you’re passionate about? These are small opportunities, but they are also the starting points for bigger ones.

So, think of life (and opportunities) as a “chains of opportunities.”

If you think of each opportunity as a necessary link to a better one, you will begin to take each small opportunity very seriously. So look at your your past actions with maturity, and ask of yourself to do something different. Ask of yourself to do better and to take advantage of the small opportunities even if they don’t pay off right away.

Sometimes you have to have faith that working as hard as you can and doing so as honestly as you can will open the door to better things. You don’t have to know. You just have to be honest with yourself about how hard you’re working. And things will happen. For me, that’s exactly what happened.

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Even at Home, Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." -- Rahm Emmanuel [1]

We are going to be at home for a while, and those not working at home face hours of free time. And let's be real; you can only fill so many hours on social media or newscasts before the incessant words of hope and doom catch up with you. The newly imposed isolation requires some distraction. It's time to flip the script, take back some control of your life, and that begins with your new friend, structure.

By structure, I mean creating a flow for the day, filled not with appointments or small moments, but with longer intervals where you can settle in and focus for say 90 minutes. It takes a few minutes, at least for me, to set up and settle into a project, so that 90 minutes to 2 hours is a sweet spot, enough time to get some depth and not too long to become bored.

Idle hands are the devil's workshop

In this case, the devil's workshop includes anxiety and depression. How do you fill those new intervals I suggested, it is time to change up those bad habits you've meant to tackle. Let's consider three health-related habits. Sleep, however disturbed in may presently be, is essential in restoring your body and brain; you still need 6-8 hours. The usual advice applies wind down your day; enhance or at least do not repress the release of melatonin, your internal sleep messenger, by avoiding the blue end of the light spectrum – that emitted, in the home, primarily from screens.

Exercise continues to be important because anxiety and stress do not consume as many calories as you hope. For the majority of us without a home gym, that means one of two approaches. There is, of course, getting outside and walking (at an appropriate social distance). That, too, can be problematic, especially in areas of high population density. But another alternative is the updated versions of Jack Lalanne [2], the plethora of video content on Youtube. Granted, there is more commercial hay than healthful needles, including exercise videos labeled CoronaVirus, but it is a place to start. Changing routines is difficult, so take little steps first, begin with 15 minutes and build from there. As to the exercise, it need not be jumping jacks and situps. I am a big fan of yoga and tai chi. It is not all about bending yourself into a pretzel, it is far more about getting the kinks out, reestablishing balance (a significant cause of falls), and breathing.

A quick word about breathing, which we take for granted. Controlling our breath is one of the few voluntary ways we have of controlling our nervous system. In stressful times, our sympathetic, fight, or flight systems are in overdrive. You can down-regulate the sympathetic system by slow, deep breathing, yoga's pranayama. And reducing the sympathetic outflow increases the outflow of the parasympathetic, our rest and digest system. The essence is to slow your breathing down and make exhalation longer than inhalation. It is blowing out the candles on your birthday cake - a slow breath in through your nose and breath out as if you are gently blowing out the candles on a cake. [3] 

We have all been to the grocery stores at this point, seen the empty shelves of toilet paper, the empty meat cases, but they are coming back. I would not be so presumptuous as to recommend a diet, but I will recommend you change things up and begin to cook your meals. It is an important survival skill, and many of us now have the time, but not the skills. It is amazing to see what can be made from foods that are not necessarily in short supply, vegetables, grains, the foods you ordinarily ignore. But the important part is not the nutritional value; it is the act of cooking. It's time to learn a new skill.  Gordon Ramsey  may be a place to start. And while you're learning a new skill, it may be time to try different cuisines, cooking the food of the Mediterranean and Asia are both accessible featuring lots of easily found ingredients, even in those stores with empty shelves.

It is a good time to change up your media.

Books do not need to be recharged, are very portable, and easily marked up; they also can be purchased online without them being back-ordered. If reading is too taxing, how about audiobooks or even better the wealth of podcasts. Perfect time to combine two new activities, cooking a meal, and listening to a podcast. For the adventurous, there is a wealth of distance learning to be found. Always wanted to go to  Harvard , now's the time. And the same holds for a number of our universities. Many of the courses are free, and you would be surprised how different a class feels after being away from school for several years.  

One of my daily routines, when I was in clinical practice, was making daily rounds of my patients. We are social animals, and this imposed separation wears upon us differently. But one way to reduce the separation anxiety is to remain connected to your friends and family. I would call it wellness checks. So many ways to reach out, text messages, phone calls, any of the video chat apps, and if you want to impress, write a note or letter. Putting your thoughts down on paper often clarifies your thoughts and feelings, so that short note boosts both the reader and the writer.

Our lives are disrupted, our normal patterns broken. Now is the perfect opportunity to change things up and make a dent in that list of things you were "going to do" when you had time – you have the time. And one last thought, do the best you can to support your local businesses. The corner store and local shops are your neighborhood's infrastructure, and they need to be maintained; otherwise, the impact of the Covid-19 on our daily lives will be significantly magnified.

" Finish every day and be done with it… You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. To-morrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense." Ralph Waldo Emerson

[1] That specific quote is from Mr. Emmanuel, but is attributed to Winston Churchill and evidently used in an essay in Medical Economics written by M.F. Wiener

[2] Jack Lalanne was the original fitness guy, at least of my generation. He was promoting a healthy lifestyle long before it moved mainstream. His television program began in 1951. Here is a sample  episode . 

[3] Thanks to Ally Love of Peloton for that description. 

View the discussion thread.

By Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA

Director of Medicine

Dr. Charles Dinerstein, M.D., MBA, FACS is Director of Medicine at the American Council on Science and Health. He has over 25 years of experience as a vascular surgeon.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Overcoming Obstacles — Turning Obstacles into Opportunities: Managing Life’s Challenges

Turning Obstacles into Opportunities: Managing Life's Challenges

• Categories: Overcoming Obstacles

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Transform Your Life

Don’t Waste Opportunities: Embracing Life’s Open Doors

Don’t waste opportunities. These three words encapsulate a profound truth that many of us tend to overlook. Life is filled with countless opportunities, each one presenting a chance for growth, learning, and progress. However, all too often, people let these opportunities slip through their fingers, only to look back with regret. This blog will delve into the significance of not wasting opportunities and how seizing them can pave the path to personal and professional fulfilment. Don’t waste opportunities; embrace them as your stepping stones to success.

Don’t Waste Opportunities

Life is filled with countless opportunities, each one presenting a chance for growth, learning, and progress. However, all too often, people let these opportunities slip through their fingers, only to look back with regret. Don’t waste opportunities; embrace them as your stepping stones to success.

Recognizing Opportunities

The first step in not wasting opportunities is to recognize them when they come your way. Opportunities can manifest in various forms – from a job opening to a chance encounter with a mentor or a new project proposal at work. The key is to stay open-minded and alert to the possibilities around you. Keep your eyes and ears open, and don’t dismiss something as insignificant too quickly.

Overcoming Fear And Self-Doubt

One common reason people let opportunities slip by is fear of failure and self-doubt . The imposter syndrome often creeps in, making you question whether you’re truly qualified or capable of taking on a new challenge. It’s essential to remember that growth and learning occur when you step out of your comfort zone. Embrace the discomfort, and trust in your ability to adapt and learn as you go along.

Regret Aversion

Regret can be a powerful motivator, but it can also lead to inaction. People sometimes avoid making decisions or seizing opportunities because they fear regretting their choices later. However, it’s crucial to understand that regret isn’t always tied to taking action; it can also stem from missed opportunities. The regret of “What if I had tried?” often lingers longer and feels more profound than the regret of trying and failing.

Learning And Growth

Every opportunity, whether it results in success or failure, offers valuable lessons. When you embrace opportunities, you expand your skill set, gain new experiences, and increase your knowledge . These lessons not only contribute to personal growth but can also enhance your professional capabilities. In a world that constantly evolves, staying stagnant is rarely an option.

Building A Network

Opportunities often come through connections and relationships. Networking plays a pivotal role in creating new openings. By actively engaging with people in your field or community, you increase the likelihood of discovering opportunities that may not have been apparent otherwise. Attend conferences, join professional organizations, and maintain a strong online presence to expand your network.

Achieving Goals

Your long-term goals are often achieved by taking advantage of short-term opportunities. Whether your goal is to start a new business, advance in your career, or lead a healthier lifestyle, opportunities that align with your objectives can provide the stepping stones needed to reach your destination. Don’t let these stepping stones go to waste.

Determined to Succeed: The Only Way To Achieve Your Goals

Living A Fulfilling Life

Ultimately, not wasting opportunities is about living a fulfilling life . It’s about making the most of the time you have, pursuing your passions , and continually pushing your boundaries. When you look back on your life, you’ll find satisfaction in knowing that you didn’t let opportunities slip away but rather embraced them with enthusiasm and courage.

Embracing Opportunities: A Journey to Fulfillment

“If you wait to see the sunrise, you will surely miss the chance to witness the beauty of dawn’s early light. Time is precious, an irreplaceable resource that once lost, can never be regained. Wasting opportunities equates to squandering this invaluable time.

According to the dictionary, an opportunity is defined as ‘a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.’ We all harbour great expectations for our lives. Often, meeting these expectations is straightforward; we know what to anticipate. However, there are instances when we achieve far more than we ever dared to expect.

Yet, some individuals either ignore or overlook opportunities. They are gripped by the fear of failure or wait endlessly for a supposedly better opportunity. It’s important to recognize that failures are an integral part of life. When you delve into the life stories of successful individuals, you’ll discover that they faced numerous hardships but moved forward, unburdened by the fear of failure. They recognized the value of seizing opportunities, never allowing them to slip through their grasp.

However, there are instances when even these successful individuals look back with regret, realizing they had squandered precious opportunities in the past. What does this regret yield? Nothing but mental stress. Subsequently, they embark on a quest to overcome this stress, searching for ways to make amends for opportunities lost.”

Don’t Waste Opportunities – Jamie Foxx

About jamie foxx.

Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer, songwriter, record producer and comedian. For his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film Ray, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. That same year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the crime film Collateral. Since spring 2017, Foxx has served as the host and executive producer of the Fox game show Beat Shazam. Source: Wikipedia

Jamie Foxx: A Multifaceted Talent

Jamie Foxx is a name that resonates with versatility and excellence in the world of entertainment. Born on December 13, 1967, in Terrell, Texas, Jamie Foxx has worn many hats throughout his career, excelling as an American actor, singer, songwriter, record producer, film producer, and comedian. His journey to stardom is as inspiring as it is diverse.

A Humble Beginning

Shortly after his birth, Foxx faced a life-altering change when he was adopted and raised by his mother’s adoptive parents. Growing up in the racially segregated community of Terrell, he navigated the challenges of the time with resilience and determination.

The Influence of Family

Jamie Foxx often attributes his success to the profound influence of his grandmother. Her wisdom and support became a guiding light, propelling him toward his dreams and ambitions.

A Musical Prodigy

Foxx’s journey into the world of music began at the tender age of five when he started playing the piano. This early introduction to music laid the foundation for his future endeavours as a Grammy Award-winning musician.

From Comedy Clubs to Hollywood

In 1989, Jamie Foxx took a significant step on his path to stardom by telling jokes at a comedy club’s open mic night. This marked the beginning of his career as a comedian, and his talent soon became evident to audiences and industry insiders alike.

The Oscar-Winning Performance

One of the pinnacle moments in Jamie Foxx’s career came when he won an Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film “Ray.” His dedication to the role and his ability to capture the essence of the legendary musician left a lasting impact on the film industry.

Musical Achievements

Foxx’s talents extended beyond acting and comedy into the world of music. He produced four albums, all of which charted in the top ten of the US Billboard 200, showcasing his musical prowess and versatility.

In Living Color and Beyond

Jamie Foxx’s comedic brilliance shone on the sketch comedy show “In Living Color,” where he displayed his ability to entertain and make audiences laugh.

Django Unchained and More

In 2012, Foxx took on the title role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” further solidifying his status as a leading actor in Hollywood. His impressive range and ability to inhabit diverse characters have made him a sought-after talent in the industry.

Jamie Foxx’s journey from a small Texan town to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood is a testament to his talent, perseverance, and the profound influence of family. His multifaceted career continues to inspire and entertain audiences worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the world of entertainment.

Significance Of Not Wasting Opportunities

Opportunities are the threads that weave our stories together. They are the keys that unlock our potential, the windows through which we glimpse our dreams, and the stepping stones towards our aspirations. To waste opportunities is to squander the precious currency of time, a currency that, once spent, can never be reclaimed.

Throughout this exploration, we’ve uncovered the profound significance of not wasting opportunities. We’ve seen how recognizing these moments of potential, overcoming fear and doubt, and learning from both success and failure can lead us towards personal and professional fulfilment. We’ve recognized that building strong networks, setting and achieving goals, and embracing discomfort are essential elements in this journey.

But perhaps the most crucial lesson is that life is too short to let opportunities pass by. When we reflect on our experiences, it becomes evident that regrets often stem from the chances we didn’t take, the roads left untraveled, and the dreams left unfulfilled. Regret aversion should not paralyze us; it should motivate us to embrace opportunities with open arms.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the message is clear: Don’t waste opportunities. Embrace them as the catalysts for growth, the doors to new experiences, and the keys to unlocking your full potential. As you journey through life, seize each opportunity with enthusiasm and courage, for it is in these moments that you truly live, learn, and thrive. So, when the next opportunity knocks on your door, remember: Your future self will thank you for not letting it go to waste.

Do you ignore opportunities?

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Mathukutty P. V. is the founder of Simply Life Tips. He is a Blogger, Content Writer, Influencer, and YouTuber. He is passionate about learning new skills. He is the Director of PokketCFO .

He lives with the notion of “SIMPLE LIVING, CREATIVE THINKING”. He Believes – “ Sharing is caring.” and “Learning never ends .”

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• How to write an essay introduction | 4 steps & examples

How to Write an Essay Introduction | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on February 4, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A good introduction paragraph is an essential part of any academic essay . It sets up your argument and tells the reader what to expect.

The main goals of an introduction are to:

• Catch your reader’s attention.
• Give background on your topic.
• Present your thesis statement —the central point of your essay.

This introduction example is taken from our interactive essay example on the history of Braille.

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

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Table of contents

Step 1: hook your reader, step 2: give background information, step 3: present your thesis statement, step 4: map your essay’s structure, step 5: check and revise, more examples of essay introductions, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about the essay introduction.

Your first sentence sets the tone for the whole essay, so spend some time on writing an effective hook.

Avoid long, dense sentences—start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.

The hook should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of the topic you’re writing about and why it’s interesting. Avoid overly broad claims or plain statements of fact.

Examples: Writing a good hook

Take a look at these examples of weak hooks and learn how to improve them.

• Braille was an extremely important invention.
• The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

The first sentence is a dry fact; the second sentence is more interesting, making a bold claim about exactly  why the topic is important.

• The internet is defined as “a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities.”
• The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education.

Avoid using a dictionary definition as your hook, especially if it’s an obvious term that everyone knows. The improved example here is still broad, but it gives us a much clearer sense of what the essay will be about.

• Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein is a famous book from the nineteenth century.
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement.

Instead of just stating a fact that the reader already knows, the improved hook here tells us about the mainstream interpretation of the book, implying that this essay will offer a different interpretation.

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Next, give your reader the context they need to understand your topic and argument. Depending on the subject of your essay, this might include:

• Historical, geographical, or social context
• An outline of the debate you’re addressing
• A summary of relevant theories or research about the topic
• Definitions of key terms

The information here should be broad but clearly focused and relevant to your argument. Don’t give too much detail—you can mention points that you will return to later, but save your evidence and interpretation for the main body of the essay.

How much space you need for background depends on your topic and the scope of your essay. In our Braille example, we take a few sentences to introduce the topic and sketch the social context that the essay will address:

Now it’s time to narrow your focus and show exactly what you want to say about the topic. This is your thesis statement —a sentence or two that sums up your overall argument.

This is the most important part of your introduction. A  good thesis isn’t just a statement of fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation.

The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your central point about a topic.

Particularly in longer essays, it’s helpful to end the introduction by signposting what will be covered in each part. Keep it concise and give your reader a clear sense of the direction your argument will take.

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As you research and write, your argument might change focus or direction as you learn more.

For this reason, it’s often a good idea to wait until later in the writing process before you write the introduction paragraph—it can even be the very last thing you write.

When you’ve finished writing the essay body and conclusion , you should return to the introduction and check that it matches the content of the essay.

It’s especially important to make sure your thesis statement accurately represents what you do in the essay. If your argument has gone in a different direction than planned, tweak your thesis statement to match what you actually say.

To polish your writing, you can use something like a paraphrasing tool .

You can use the checklist below to make sure your introduction does everything it’s supposed to.

Checklist: Essay introduction

My first sentence is engaging and relevant.

I have introduced the topic with necessary background information.

I have defined any important terms.

My thesis statement clearly presents my main point or argument.

Everything in the introduction is relevant to the main body of the essay.

You have a strong introduction - now make sure the rest of your essay is just as good.

• Argumentative
• Literary analysis

This introduction to an argumentative essay sets up the debate about the internet and education, and then clearly states the position the essay will argue for.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

This introduction to a short expository essay leads into the topic (the invention of the printing press) and states the main point the essay will explain (the effect of this invention on European society).

In many ways, the invention of the printing press marked the end of the Middle Ages. The medieval period in Europe is often remembered as a time of intellectual and political stagnation. Prior to the Renaissance, the average person had very limited access to books and was unlikely to be literate. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century allowed for much less restricted circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation.

This introduction to a literary analysis essay , about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , starts by describing a simplistic popular view of the story, and then states how the author will give a more complex analysis of the text’s literary devices.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale. Arguably the first science fiction novel, its plot can be read as a warning about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, and in popular culture representations of the character as a “mad scientist”, Victor Frankenstein represents the callous, arrogant ambition of modern science. However, far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to gradually transform our impression of Frankenstein, portraying him in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

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Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

The “hook” is the first sentence of your essay introduction . It should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of why it’s interesting.

To write a good hook, avoid overly broad statements or long, dense sentences. Try to start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, July 23). How to Write an Essay Introduction | 4 Steps & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 17, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/introduction/

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Essays About Time: Top 5 Examples and 8 Prompts

Essays about time involve looking into human existence and other intangible concepts. Check out our top examples and prompts to write an engaging piece about this subject.

Time entails many concepts that can be hard to explain. In its simplest sense, time is the period between the past, present, and future. It also encompasses every action or progression of events within those measures. Time never stops. It consistently ticks away, making it both a cruel teacher and an apt healer. It inspires many writers to write pieces about it, discussing time as a notion or an element in emotionally-driven compositions that both describe euphoric and heart-rending episodes. 

To aid you in writing a compelling piece, below are our top picks for great essays about time:

1. Time is Precious Essay by Anonymous on AreSearchGuide.com

2. an essay on time by david pincus, 3. time is money by supriya, 4. time waster by anonymous on exampleessays.com, 5. time management: using the less time to do more by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 1. how i spend my time, 2. what is time, 3. time and technology, 4. time management and procrastination, 5. if time doesn’t exist, 6. time as a currency, 7. the value of time, 8. time and productivity.

“Make most of your time and you will be rewarded ten folds of it, waste it and the little you have will be taken away, just like in the parable of talents.”

The essay begins with a convincing statement reminding the readers of the average life expectancy of a person to assert the importance of time. Then, in the later sections, the author answers why time is precious. Some reasons include time is always in motion, is priceless, and can never be borrowed. The piece also mentions why many “wait for the right opportunity,” not realizing they must plan first to get to the “right time.” Finally, at the end of the essay, the writer reminds us that balancing and planning how to spend time in all areas of life are critical to having a meaningful existence.

“I don’t know what time is, beyond a mysterious self-similar backdrop upon which we lead our lives. It is intricately woven across the scales of observation – from the quantum level to the phenomenological time of cultural revolutions.”

Pincus begins the essay with questions about time and then proceeds to answer them. Then, he focuses on time psychologically, relating it to traumas, disorders, and lack of meaning. In the next section, he discusses how psychotherapists use the concept of time to treat patients. 

In the last part of his essay, Pincus admits that he doesn’t know what time is but notes it’s akin to a thread that stitches moments together and anchors us through a complex world.

“Knowing how precious time is, we should never waste time, but make good use of it.”

Supriya’s essay is straightforward. After claiming that someone’s success depends on how they use their time, she gives an example of a student who studied well and passed an exam quickly. She follows it with more examples, referring to office workers and the famous and wealthy.

“Time is something you can’t have back, and should not be used to simply watch a computer screen for hours upon end.”

The writer shares one of his vices that leads him to waste time – technology, specifically, instant messaging. They mention how unproductive it is to just stare at a computer screen to wait for their friends to go online. They know many others have the same problem and hope to overcome the bad habit soon.

“I should strive for good time management skills which are essential to be learned and mastered in order to have a better personal and professional life… it can also help us learn more about self-discipline which is a crucial pillar for stable success… time management is a concept of balance and moderation of the things that are important to us.”

The essay affirms people need to protect time, as it’s a non-renewable resource. A great way to do it is by tracking your time, also known as time management. The writer shared their experience when they were a college student and how challenging it was to allocate their time between deadlines and other life demands. The following parts of the piece explain what time management is in detail, even recommending a tool to help individuals label their activities based on urgency. The following paragraphs focus on what the author learned about time management throughout their life and how they missed opportunities while continuously being stressed. Then, the last part of the essay suggests tips to conquer time management problems. 

Did you know that readability is critical to readers finishing your whole essay? See our article on how to improve your readability score to learn more. 

8 Writing Prompts For Essays About Time

Go through our recommended prompts on essays about time for writing:

In this essay, share how you use your time on a typical day. Then, decide if you want to keep spending your time doing the same things in the future. If not, tell your readers the reason. For instance, if you’re devoting most of your time studying now, you can say that you intend to use your future time doing other invaluable things, such as working hard to help your family.

Because there are many definitions of time, use this essay to define your interpretation of time. You can use creative writing and personify time to make your essay easy to understand. For example, you can think of time as a personal tutor who always reminds you of the things you should be able to finish within the day. For an engaging essay, use descriptive language to emphasize your points.

List technologies that help people save time, such as smartphones, computers, and the internet. Delve into how these devices help individuals complete their tasks faster. On the other hand, you can also talk about how modernization negatively affects people’s time management. Like when they distract students and workers from completing their assignments.

Discuss reasons why people procrastinate. First, ensure to pick common causes so your readers can easily relate to your piece. Then, add tips on how individuals can battle dilly-dallying by recommending influential time management theories and models. You can even try some of these theories or models and tell your readers how they worked for you. 

Open a discussion about what can happen if there is no concept of time. Include what matters you think will be affected if time is abolished. You can also debate that time does not exist, that it’s just created by people to keep track of whatever they need to monitor. Finally, add your thoughts on the notion that “we only exist within an ever-changing now.”

Share your ideas of what can take place if we use “time” to buy food, pay rent, etc. You can also analyze that when we use our time to work, get paid for it, and then purchase our necessities, we’re technically exchanging our time to be able to buy what we need. A movie that used this theory is In Time , starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, and Cillian Murphy. You can write a review of this movie and add your opinions on it.

Everyone’s aware of the importance of time. For this prompt, delve into why time is precious. Write this essay from your perspective and probe how time, such as managing or wasting it, affects your life. You can also interpret this prompt by calculating the non-monetary or opportunity costs of spending time. 

Examine the direct relationship between time and productivity. Then, list productivity strategies schools and businesses use. You can also open a discourse about the number of hours workers are supposed to work in a week. For example, debate if you think a 40-hour full-time work week in America, results in more productive employees. Then, add other schedules from other countries and how it affects productivity, such as Denmark, Germany, and Norway, with less than 30 hours of the work week. 

Do you want to know how to convince your readers effectively? Read our guide on how to write an argumentative essay . Improve your writing skills; check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Don’t Waste Your Time (It’s Precious)

Time is our most valuable resource because it's nonrenewable..

Posted June 2, 2015

Please, don't waste my time! If you do, don't expect me to hang out with you for very long. And don't expect me to spend time with you in the future.

I confess, I discriminate against certain people. I don’t hate these people; most are quite decent and likeable. Though I do avoid them as much as possible. And when I meet these people, I’m not mean to them. But I do plan my exit as soon as I can (without appearing to be a complete jerk).

No, I’m not a racist, sexist, or ageist. Rather, I’m a ‘timeist.’ What, you may wonder, is a timeist? Okay, I made the term up, but it has real meaning to me. A timeist is someone who discriminates against others who waste their time. And I really hate it when people waste my time!

As I have moved well into middle age, I hoard my time like some misers hoard their money and animals hoard their food. Time has become truly precious to me and any second not spent with people or activities I care about feels like time stolen from me with no chance of return.

Many might argue that money is our most valuable resource because it enables us to survive. I would suggest otherwise because most of us can almost always make more money. But time is an entirely non-renewable resource; once time passes, it is gone forever. No matter how much we wish, we simply can’t get more time.

Time also doesn’t discriminate. Whether you are rich or poor, the clock is ticking and more time can’t be bought. However, I admit that affluence may improve how that time is spent or how long one’s time on Earth is (think life expectancies and medical care).

I’m sure this relationship I have with time is a result of my being on the backside of my life with fewer days ahead of me than behind. Like most people, when I was young, I thought I was immortal (not to mention invulnerable). So, I wasted my time with people who didn’t have any real value to me and engaged in activities that didn’t do much for my life in the grand scheme of things.

Admittedly, this wasted time was due partly to the fact that, when you’re young, you don’t necessarily know what you value or what will bring benefit to you long term. But early in your life, much like having a lot of money in the bank, it doesn’t seem to matter because you, at that point, have plenty of time to spend.

Yet, once you reach a certain age and look back on your life, you ponder (and perhaps regret) the immense opportunity costs of your past relationships and things you did. But, as we so painfully learn, not only is time nonrenewable, it is also not reversible. Such, as they say, is life.

I realize that being a timeist doesn’t make me the most popular guy in the room. Timeism can cause me real impatience. For example, if I’m in a meeting going nowhere (or at least in a direction that doesn’t interest me), I can abruptly intervene and attempt to get the meeting back on track. Or, if I meet someone who I don’t find interesting or worthy of my time, I can, rather suddenly, end the conversation and move on.

Don’t get me wrong, I do everything I can to not come across as some sort of snob, but I admit that I might be perceived as a bit curt and, okay, snobbish. But I’m willing to accept the blowback because, well, time is a fleeting and I have better things to do with my time.

I also recognize that, in making judgments about others’ time-worthiness, I might judge unwisely and miss out on an experience that might literally change my life. For example, that really boring guy I just ran away from at a cocktail party might want to hire me or triggers an idea that I want to write about or introduces me to someone who is worth spending time with. Of course, I would never know what I had missed out on, so at least I wouldn’t kick myself for the lost opportunity.

But, in every experience or encounter, we implicitly or explicitly conduct a risk/reward analysis of time-worthiness and then act accordingly. Perhaps it’s just me, but I would rather cut my losses too early and take the chance of a missed opportunity than stay too long and burn through even more time that I will no longer have.

I accept that every moment can’t be lived fully and every second can’t be savored; that’s just not realistic and would probably be exhausting. We waste time waiting in line at the grocery store. We sit in traffic. And, yes, we sometimes endure people and activities that don’t interest us because it is the polite or compassionate thing to do (or your spouse will be really mad at you if you don’t). As with most things in life, time isn’t an either-or proposition, but rather a matter of degree. If I can say that I have spent most of time wisely, I figure I’m winning this game called life.

Given that my time is no more special than yours, I would recommend that you too join the ranks of timeist. Though it’s not something to parade around about, I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed about either.

So here’s what I recommend to you if you choose to release your inner timeist:

Cherish and protect your time as it was the last food on Earth (though, like food, share it with those dearest to you). Know your values and priorities and always consider your time in their light. Make deliberate choices how you spend and use your time. And, yes, discriminate against people and activities who waste your time.

In the end, I want to look back on my life and have few regrets about how I spent my time on this planet. And, so far, it has been time well spent.

Jim Taylor, Ph.D. , teaches at the University of San Francisco.

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Review Essay: Never Let a Serious Crisis go to Waste, Philip Mirowski

How could it be possible that the contemporary global financial system remains basically unaltered from its state before the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression? And more pointedly, how could the Left have failed so miserably while the Right has grown stronger and more boisterous than ever? In Never Let a Serious Crisis go to Waste , Philip Mirowski – perhaps the preeminent historian of modern economic thought – offers an answer that comes with a rebuke: The Left must stop dreaming of flowery meadows and rainbow skies and instead acquire knowledge of – and even borrow a few tactics from –the real winner of the financial crisis, that is to say its ultimate enemy: what Mirowski calls the neo-liberal thought collective (NTC).

By “the Left” Mirowski really has in mind those economists of the “legitimate left” who work within the framework of mainstream economics. This includes the likes of Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, who according to Mirowski, believe that contemporary economists possesses all the necessary means for achieving social-democratic outcomes. But Mirowski wonders why, then, mainstream economics has proven so ineffectual in times of “political rough and tumble”.

Mirowski traces the problem back to the 1950s when economic departments slowly began to rid their curriculums of philosophical and historical approaches to economic inquires in favor of mathematical/analytical methodologies. Mainstream economics thus suffers from a pernicious case of myopia that prevents it from considering alternative sources of knowledge when searching for solutions to crisis situations. Mirowski wants to show why neo-liberalism does not have this problem which, in turn, should force the Left to reconsider its stance against heterodox economic thinking.

Neo-liberalism still triumphs, according to Mirowski, because it not only has a playbook for how to strategically deal with big crises, but also possesses a world view that has sunk deep into roots of everyday life. Mirowski traces the origins of the NTC that promulgates this worldview back to the founding of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1946 – a neo-liberal institution pioneered by Frederick Hayek. What started off as an almost laughable, heterodox economic organization in the heyday of Keynesianism evolved into an exceptionally successful “multilevel, mulisector approach to the building of political capacity to incubate, critique and promulgate ideas.”

The story of neo-liberalism’s rise in the early 1980s under the Reagan and Thatcher regimes is well-charted territory. But it is essential to first understand that you have probably never heard of the actual views of the NTC, so argues Mirowski, because its leadership is made up of a hierarchical elite of intellectuals who typically desire to stay out of the public eye.

One of Mirowski’s goals, then, is to demonstrate to a doubting Left that the NTC actually exists and possess a highly stratified and fine-tuned structure. Mirowski takes as his starting point the Mont Pelerin society, whose ideas were taken up by certain academic departments (the University of Chicago, the LSE, ‘Institutut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes internales at Geneva, and more.) well before neo-liberalism’s breakout in the 1980s. Groups such as the Volker Fund, the Earhart Foundation and the Lilly Endowment provided funding for the teaching and promotion of neo-liberal ideas. Early post-war think tanks – the Institute for Economic Affairs, the Hoover Institution at Stanford – also facilitated the production of neo-liberal thought.

Most importantly, in 1981 The Atlas Economic Research foundation was established, which sought to assist neo-liberal think tanks around the globe. More recently, neo-liberals have bought their way into a number of economics departments such as at George Mason University, Clemson, the University of West Virginia, and most notoriously Florida State University – the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave the economics department at FSU 1.5 million dollars on condition that it would oversee a staffing board that would approve faculty hires and, among other things, offer a course requiring the writings of Ayn Rand.

Mirowski’s aim is to disclose the underlying worldview of this complex network, which he compares to a Russian nesting doll, to the naïve Left. This can only be accomplished by recognizing that the NTC preaches certain ideas to the masses that, in reality, it does not practice. But does this not all sound like a big conspiracy theory? Mirowski firmly disagrees and does so by providing a number of examples documenting the NTC’s double speak. Perhaps the most compelling is neo-liberalism’s well-known concerns over state regulation, despite its attempt to root the stability of the market in an authoritarian vision of the state and not the citizenry at large. Intervention, from this perspective is really not the issue, but rather who gets to intervene.

By this point, a picture starts to emerge as to why the Left has gotten neo-liberals so wrong. Like the Left, neo-liberals are really interventionist, but are so for entirely illiberal, aristocratic, and authoritarian reasons. They have a robust statist philosophy that knows how to never let a serious crisis go to waste. Mirowski actually goes so far as to suggest that it “is striking the extent to which the neoliberals have repeatedly taken ideas from the Left over the last half twentieth century and twisted them to their own purposes.” Yet the Left is accused by Mirowski of not only being ignorant of this, but of failing to recognize its complicity in the neo-liberal project.

Nowhere is this more evident than with the Left’s acceptance of neoliberalism’s underlying anthropology. Mirowski’s argument is heavily reliant on Foucault’s insight that neoliberalism involves new technologies of the self that reduce human beings to “an arbitrary bundle of “investments,” skill sets, temporary alliances, and fungible body parts.” This, so-called entrepreneurial self involves no continuity from one decision to another; humans are in a constant state of recreation. It is a world where you can “virtually switch gender, assume any set of attributes, and reduce your social life to an arbitrary collection of statistics on a social networking site in a neoliberal playground.” The reason the Occupy Movement failed, according to Mirowski, is that it had succumbed to these technologies of the self. Its fascination with Twitter, Facebook, and other social media proved it was to be a misadventure from the beginning since it worked within the neoliberal matrix.

This is a damning indictment, and Mirowski offers no explicit solution for how the Left at large can overcome this impasse. However, Mirowski does provide an answer of sorts. The Left must jettison its tendency to blame everything on class struggle and also give up romanticizing the Trente Glorieuses that is long dead. It must also reject embracing Twitter and Facebook as means to empower the people since these are neo-liberal incubators for the entrepreneurial self. The only hope for the Left is to establish something like its own Mont Pelerin Society that can confront and overcome the NTC. What Mirowski is calling for is a Neo-Left Thought Collective.[1]

Never Let a Serious Crisis go to Waste has an undeniable proclivity towards browbeating, but it is really intended to be an inspirational wakeup call for the Left. The book offers some fantastic insights on the current methodological state of economic departments in the academy, as well as neo-liberalism mischievous environmental policies. Unfortunately, many of its arguments about neo-liberalism are more polemically enforced than historically demonstrated. There is, for instance, a conscious effort to downplay the significant differences that exist between rival schools of neo-liberal thought: Hayekian legal theory, the Chicago School and the German-Ordoliberals. Mirowski purposefully sidesteps the recent work of Angus Burgin and Daniel Stedman Jones, both of whom emphasize the long historical evolution and significant diversity of neo-liberalism. Without much of an argument, he simply asserts that neo-liberalism was able to ward offer internal divisions through a unique structure that allowed for a great deal of unity in diversity. One, though, has the hunch that Mirowski had to downplay such differences in the attempt to establish the coherency of the NTC. It is perhaps for this reason that his book seems to offer its readers less of an intellectual history and more of a manifesto.

But it is not just Mirowski’s historical lumping that raises questions. Some of his claims about the intellectual inspirations behind the NTC are either overstated or misleading. One of his biggest arguments is that Carl Schmitt – the so called Crown Jurist of the Third Reich – lurks behind the neo-liberal conviction that the state can bypass democratic processes in the attempt to protect itself during a state of emergency. Under the influence of Schmitt, the NTC embraces a strong conception of the state that, in time of crisis or moments of political exception, allows it to establish the type of markets it deems success worthy. And then comes the kicker: “For Hayek and the neoliberals, the Führer was replaced by the figure of the entrepreneur, the embodiment of the will-to-power for the community.”

It is hard to take such an argument seriously. Foremost, it relies almost exclusively on a few quotations from Hayek – some of which were critical of Schmitt – and tells us nothing of how Schmitt’s ideas actually came to be embraced by neoliberals (Presumably they would have had to absorb his ideas through Hayek unless they were German Ordoliberals or could read German – the Schmitt reception in the U.S. did not really get going until the late 1980s). The case of British neo-liberals is much clearer cut: there is no need to make recourse to Schmitt since many of them, including Thatcher, became obsessed with Michael Oakeshott’s Hobbesian interpretation of the State. More importantly, with all of his emphasis on knowing the enemy, states of exception and his criticisms of the Left’s idealism, one wonders if Mirowski might be a little too indebted himself to the neo-liberal playbook he has outlined – a charge which Mirowski directs at Foucault’s flirtation with neo-liberalism on a number of occasions. For many, the idea of a neo-liberal playbook filled with pleasantries and doublespeak borders on conspiracy theory. Now there does seem to be something almost “They Live” like about the story Mirowski wishes to tell. The irony, however, is that all of the core ideas of the NTC have been available in print for decades, along with a large and critical literature devoted to the histories and economic philosophies of the foundations Mirowski criticizes so extensively.

Why appeal to the Russian doll metaphor in the attempt to explain the concealed philosophy of the NTC, when you can simply encourage the Left to check out their books at the library?

Let me suggest an alternative reason for why neo-liberal ideas might appear so esoteric. Critiques of neo-liberalism echoing Mirowski’s has been around for quite some time. In fact, many of neo-liberalism’s most compelling critics have been conservatives: in the 1950s, Raymond Aron, Bertrand de Jouvenel and Michael Oakeshott all criticized the inherent ideology of neo-liberalism. They, and other similar critics, belonged to a larger post-War conservative network – that also included neo-liberals – which has yet to be parsed out at a transnational level of historical analysis. Part of the blame for this is perhaps due to the general lack of scholarly interest in conservatism by those academics who vigorously have opposed it. September 11 th , the Iraq War, Evangelicals and the financial crisis ruptured this scholarly apathy. There is now a concentrated effort by the Left to read conservative literature, to offer courses on conservatism, and to devote studies to the conservative movement – one thinks most recently of Corey Robins’ – The Reactionary Mind . Perhaps if the Left had started doing this years ago, the troublesome issues that Never Let a Serious Crisis raises could have been more vigorously confronted before the neo-liberal deluge.

[1] An example of this might be the “post-autistic economics” movement, which has become a rallying point for heterodox economic practitioners, now numbering over 12,000 via the World Economics Association.

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2024: vol. 23, no. 1.

Israel and Gaza Update

By Uri Avnery : Eyeless in Gaza

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By Ron Smith : Does Hamas Hate Peace?

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By Menachem Kein : War of Choice – The Real Story of Israel’s War against Hamas

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Book Reviews

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By Jason Schulman : Peter Hudis, Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism

By Kim Scipes : Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman, by Jeremy Adelman

By Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins : Review Essay: Never Let a Serious Crisis go to Waste, Philip Mirowski

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