I’m usually 5 to 15 minutes early for appointments, for lunch, dinner - whatever it is. If I’ve never been there, or my appointment is more than an hour away - I leave early. I factor in parking and walking and traffic and mechanical breakdowns. As a result I spend a lot of time in waiting rooms reading magazines, or twiddling my thumbs, but that’s okay. I respect people’s time. But many people don’t. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to explain this to friends and acquaintences, but finally - I have an expert weighing in with what I’ve always thought - Dr. Phil says those who consistently show up late have an ego problem. On the Oprah show he said:

“There is a simple reason people aren’t on time. It’s all about ego. It says ‘I am too important to have left where I was to come and be with you minions.’ They also believe that they are so important that the physics of time will suspend themselves. The traffic will open up like the Red Sea and their appearance, once they arrive, is so important that they just have to spend another 30 minutes to look great. It’s all about ego. The message they send is, ‘I’m so important that the world can wait on me.’ People may not tell you when you show up late, but that’s exactly how they interpret it. People are offended when you show up late.”

Everyone has something happen ONCE in a while, but if you’re late every time - even by a few minutes - then there’s something going on besides the fact you don’t know how to gauge time. You have an over-sized ego. You think your time is so much more valuable than those you’re meeting - and they don’t like it.

So if you think people don’t mind if you’re 20 minutes late - you’re wrong.