Morning Motivator - How Big of a Fool are YOU?

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool."
- Richard P. Feynman

Everyday we fool someone we love and care for very dearly - our self. We lie to ourselves and say, "Yes, Im happy" or "I was VERY productive today." Be honest with yourself and answer this - Have you given your BEST efforts this week? If you answered YES, you can stop reading.

Ill assume a good majority of us are STILL reading further. Good for you for being HONEST! Now, how do we correct our behavior? First, we must identify what our GOALS are for the week. Do they align with your monthly, quarterly and annual goals? Next, we define the difference between BUSY and PRODUCTIVE. BUSY = lots of activity and effort with little or marginal gain. PRODUCTIVE = minimal amounts of effort REQUIRED to make large gains. Which are you? Finally, we must create a MEASUREMENT system by which we can track our success. As a role model of mine, Andy Bailey, always says - "what gets measured - gets done!" Remember, you must know your location on a map to know where you are relative to your destination.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

Stop fooling yourself into believing you are: IMPORTANT, PRODUCTIVE or TOO BUSY. Make yourself IMPORTANT, PRODUCTIVE and LESS BUSY. Focus on HIGH VALUE ACTIVITIES (HVAs) will allow the ability to do this. Start by effectively managing PRODUCTIVITY KILLERS:

- Answer emails during DEFINED hours (best after lunch and prior to leaving for the day)

- Schedule meetings for early in the day (this limits the opportunity for interruptions)

- ALWAYS request a TIME FRAME from people seeking your help (when do we start? When do we need to deliver?)

- Be DIRECT in your emails (say WHAT you want, WHEN you want it, HOW you need it and WHO is involved - more structure empowers the recipient)

- Write your GOALS down daily (keeping a visual reminder of your HVAs will help you determine if the "loudest thing near you" is really the most important)

I encourage everyone to seek ways to do MORE with LESS time. Find ways to WORK only a few hours a day and USE the remaining time to further develop your goals - personal, professional, spiritual and physical! Have a GREAT weekend!!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

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