|
|
|
By Michael Angier | ||||
|
||||||
The Top
Ten | ||||||
|
I’m often asked what keeps me
focused and on track toward my objectives. People want to know what works.
They want to know my “secret weapons” for juggling many projects and
priorities. The truth is
there’s no one way that works for everyone. We each have our own style and
our own strengths and weaknesses. What works for one may not work for
another. Nonetheless, here are the top ten
things that work for ME. When I find myself being less productive than I’d
like, I look at which of these things I might not be doing as well or as
consistently as I might. 1. Clear, Written Goals. I
write my goals down and I keep them in front of me. I pay particular
attention to my top three—the three most important things I’m in the
process of accomplishing. Clarity leads to power and having clear, written
goals keeps me better focused. 2. A Projects Book. I keep
a three-ring binder with a numbered tab for each project. Within each
section, I have task lists, notes about resources and ideas on completing
these projects. I then break my projects down into
action plans. Most people have to-do lists, and so do I. But I divide my
list into critical, imperative and important. I use A, B and C and do my
best to put my attention on them in this order. A’s must be done and are
time-sensitive. B’s should be done or must be done but are not so
time-critical. C’s are nice to do. I’d like to do them, but they just
aren’t critical or essential. As best I can, I schedule the time
to work on the A’s. I set them up as an appointment and that way there’s
less chance that they will slip and not get done on time. 3. Time Away. I don’t yet
practice this as well as I would like, but I know it works when I do. And
I’m getting better at it. We need breaks. Extended ones (at least a week
or ten days), intermediate ones (long weekends) and short ones (breaks in
the day). Remember it’s the space between the notes that makes the music.
Be sure to create some spaces in your day, your month, your year and your
life. Most, if not all, of the great
leaders and achievers spent time away—quiet time, contemplative time,
meditation time and renewal time. Without it they would not have been able
to accomplish what they did. Why should we be any different? 4. Master Mind. I meet
almost every week with my Success Team. Two of them live on the west coast
and the other in the midwest. We meet by conference call and talk about
our goals and projects, what’s working, what’s not working and how we can
make better progress. I wouldn’t be without this valuable support.
We meet for an hour and divvy up
the time between the members on the call. In addition, we correspond via
email as the need arises. 5. Service First—Profits
Second. It’s not always easy to do, but it’s imperative to put the
focus on giving the customer or client what they want. If I’m thinking
about what I can do for our members instead of what I can gain, things
work. It just goes to prove that you can get anything you want if you help
enough other people get what they want. By keeping the focus on where it
belongs—creating value—instead of on what I want to get out of it, I make
progress—and it’s progress that lasts. 6. Keep Peak Times Sacred.
We all have times of the day when we are at our best. For me it’s the
morning. For you it might be the afternoon or late night. I schedule my
most important projects for the AM. For my less-productive times, I
schedule tasks that don’t require as much creativity, brainpower or
motivation. 7. Journaling. I keep my
journal on my computer and also in a 3-ring binder so I can punch and add
pages as needed. It’s a scrapbook as well as a place to record my thoughts
and ideas. It’s insightful and inspiring for
me to review my journals from previous years. It’s amazing to see the
difference in perspective from years past as well as observe the progress
that’s been made. 8. Exercise. We all need
exercise. Our bodies need to be active in order for our minds to work
properly. When I skip my workouts my work suffers. When I do what’s good
for me good things happen to me. I now look at the time taken in working
out as an investment in my productivity rather than taking time away from
my productivity. 9. Reading Good Books and
Listening to Good Tapes. My mind, my creativity and my motivation are
stimulated by reading inspiring stories, listening to good ideas and
learning about why and how great men and women have lived and triumphed.
I read with a tape recorder or a
note pad because I want to chronicle the ideas I discover and what I think
about as a result of what I read. 10. Asking Questions. I
believe that questions are the answers. When I ask others questions, I
learn. When I ask myself questions, I have to think and research, I learn
even more. And we can’t learn less. The quality of our lives is
closely related to the quality of our questions. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Of course, nothing can take the place of having objectives about which you feel passionate. With strong reasons, compelling beliefs and deep-seated faith, one can accomplish seemingly impossible things. |
"I have held
many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; "There is no
greatness where there is not simplicity."
"No legitimate
business man ever got started on the road to permanent success by any
other means than that of hard, intelligent work, coupled with an earned
credit, plus character."
"The reason why
so little is done is generally because so little is
attempted."
"Work is not
man's punishment.
| |||||
|
©
Copyright Success Networks International.
|
||||||
Send This Page to a Friend