Morning Motivator – I Do Not Have Time

"I would love to do more on FaceBook, Twitter and Yelp, but I do not have time."
- Anonymous

Oh boy, am I FIRED UP today.  Every so often, I call someone out in PUBLIC.  Personally, I hate it when people do it to me, as I believe it to be a very RUDE practice.  Today was an EXCEPTION!  A worthwhile "call out" at that.

An anonymous person, disguised as being interested in learning social media practices, joined a meeting I attended today.  The person listened, analyzed and engaged.  Towards the end, in the organic discussion that arose from the tutorial, the above comment came forth.  GRRRR… I GRITTED my teeth in frustration!

Nothing FRUSTRATES me more than someone making excuses for INEFFICIENCY.  If you are too PRODUCTIVE to manage something beneficial for your business, then OUTSOURCE it.  If you are too INEFFICIENT to manage it, eliminate or delegate it.  If you do not APPRECIATE the value of the technology, then ABANDON it.  But for God's sake… DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES!!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
You ALWAYS have time for the things that are meaningful and important!  No questions asked.

I do not go to the gym, not because I am too busy, rather because I am not making it a PRIORITY, hence, I am a chubb-o (I know why and how, it is simple).  On the flip side, I make time to read books EVERYDAY, which is a horribly slow process of learning, but I VALUE it.

You get a lot of slack with me… but not for making excuses!  If you want it, make time for it.  If you do not, then shut up and move on.  Do not waste others time under the guise of learning with your excuses. 

Success is a matter of PRIORITIZING based on productive value… If you cannot figure out what is important, maybe you should wait a little while to start FaceBooking for your business, eh?

Cheers,
Zach

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

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – There are No Sacred Cows: The Vince Young Post

"People say that's immature, but that's just me."
-Vince Young, former Tennessee Titans (NFL) Quarterback

Many people saw this Morning Motivator coming a long ways away today.  In al seriousness though, I think there is a GREAT lesson in all the drama around former Tennessee Titans (NFL) Quarterback.

Vince was one of the most heralded and coveted athletes to leave college athletics.  His performance in the National Championship game against USC was one of LEGENDS.  He had TREMENDOUS athletic gifts, sadly, no one ever taught him to APPRECIATE them.

We can all accept the idea that super talented athletes are RARELY told "NO" by anyone.  Moreover, the people around them oft ENABLE them in their poor habits or behaviors.  Thus, they become THE SACRED COW of their team, family, social circles, etc.  They can do no WRONG, even when we all see the disaster forthcoming…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Many SUCCESSFUL people and young leaders are easily able to fall an unknowing VICTIM to the "Sacred Cow Syndrome."  With success so easily attained in the PAST and an expectation of future success, many people can become over-confident in their skills and CREATE a self-imposed "untouchable" mind set.

Yet, as we all know, even the SACRED COW is sent to slaughter if situations deem necessary.  Emerging leaders will be stripped of their leadership roles, top producing sales reps will be fired, award-winning actors will be overlooked for roles, etc. 

Your attitude and ability to remain HUMBLE throughout your increasing success will drive future success exponentially.  When you become JADED and adopt a "Sacred Cow" mentality, you will find yourself alienating your team, mentors and followers… with the SACRIFICE soon to follow!

Do not be another NFL Quarterback story… "All the talent in the world with a total lack of the mental strength to do anything with it."

Cheers,
Zach

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

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – KILL ALL Multi-Tasking!

"It is impossible to multi-task.  Rather, we are quickly task adjusting."
- Unknown Source comment from "Crackberry'd" on CNBC

I like to tell the story about how my in-laws HATE my voicemail.  If you have not heard it, it goes something like, "Thank you for your call.  To service you more effectively and efficiently, I return voicemails at 11:15am and 4:15pm…"  WHY would anyone be so dismissive of potential callers?

For me, it is about FOCUS. 

I am the first to admit that I have the intelligence of an adult and the ATTENTION span of a four year old.  I UNDERSTAND what people think and want, however, I just cannot accomplish five tasks at one time.  I have to CHOOSE one and focus my way through it.  Usually, I am able to complete the task very quickly, without errors!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The thing about MULTI-TASKING is that it does NOT do what you want it to! 

You EXPECT to complete more, which you often spend more time collectively on all tasks than prioritizing and executing based on that prioritization.  You EXPECT to execute QUALITY work, because you are a well-educated professional, and yet, studies PROVE that multi-tasked work is SLOPPIER with oft-egregious errors throughout.

So what should you do?  KILL MULTI-TASKING!  Eliminate it entirely from your vocabulary. 

Just think if you were able to confidently tell a client that when you work on THEIR needs, that is the ONLY thing you will be working on.  No emails, no voicemails, no IMs, no chats with co-workers, just flat out FOCUS.  What kind of IMPRESSION do you think your client will receive?

I will leave your voicemail options up to you…

Cheers,
Zach

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

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Give It Away

"Delegation is a great symbol of leadership."
- Unknown

Learning to lead is learning to TRUST others.  The difference between being a great individual and a great leader is your ability to begin GIVING AWAY some of your responsibilities, while still seeing them be completed.

How difficult is it to let go?  VERY.  How difficult is finding success when you do all the work?  IMPOSSIBLE.

Face it.  You are going to have the START trusting other people to take care of some of your most treasured tasks, and then FOCUS on what produces the most, most effectively.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
START SIMPLE. 

We all understand that "letting go" is very challenging.  To begin to learn to trust and manage – start with something small.

Maybe you could delegate away your expense reporting.  It is simple enough to VERIFY all your expenses were done properly by matching receipts after the report is completed.  Possibly, you could give away your database management.  It should be SIMPLE to see that all your contacts are updated and information is complete via random testing.

The key is to IMPLEMENT some step of delegation.  Try anything you are comfortable with and build from there.  Remember, as much as you FEEL like you have to do it all… your ability to ACHIEVE more is directly impacted by your ability to get more HIGH LEVEL activities accomplished.

Cheers,
Zach

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

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – ONE FOCUS, ONE GOAL

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."
- Alexander Graham Bell

What is your GOAL for today?  Quickly name it off…  If you had to THINK about it, then you probably do NOT have a goal for today.  If you named off more than one thing, then you likely lack the FOCUS needed to the MOST IMPORTANT one.

Time and time again, FOCUS comes up in conversation.  Most often the term is accompanied by an EXCUSE, such as "I would do better if I could just focus."  How many times have you heard that (or worse said it) in the past week? 

There is HOPE for you, me and everyone else though…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
FOCUS is a practice of simplification.  Yes, simplifying your day will generate GREATER results.  Let's agree on that for now.

If you had FEWER things to do and were EASILY able to identify which tasks was more important than any other, how CHALLENGING would you find it to FOCUS on accomplishing your goals?  What if you had only ONE single thing to accomplish?  WOWZA!!

Here is the trick – I ACCEPT that you have multiple things that need accomplished in a day.  So do this – BREAK UP YOUR DAY.  In the morning from 8-10am you focus ONLY on your most important task.  Once completed, you MAY move on to the next.  If completed, 10:15-11:45am is FOCUSED on the #2 most important task (which becomes #1 since your other is completed).  1-3pm and 3:15 – 5:00pm, so on and so on.  GET IT?

So, what is your GOAL for today?

Cheers,
Zach

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

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.