Weekly Quote: Time

"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." -- Samuel Johnson, Lexicographer

"It's time to WAKE UP & realize that the habits you indulge in could be compounding your life into repeated disaster. The slightest adjustments to your daily routines can dramatically alter the outcomes in your life. Again, I'm not talking about quantum leaps of change or a complete overhaul of your personality, character & life. Super small, seemingly inconsequential adjustments can & will revolutionize everything." - Darren Hardy, Success Magazine

Too busy to get everything done? Business depends too much on you? Seems like you are drinking from a firehose all day? That "to do" list gets done but it seems you didn't accomplish anything worthwhile?

It's all about habits that we get ourselves into. It is hard to break bad habits, but it is easy, if you are committed, to develop new habits.

My coach Steve Chandler says that "busyness is laziness". In other words, if we are busy, busy, busy, all day long, we are just too lazy to do anything about it.

You see we cannot manage time, but we can manage the actions we take each day. 20% of what we do each day = 80% of the desired results. We just have to be committed that the 20% is going to be directed at Key Actions to help us obtain our goals.

How?

Commitment - you have to commit to starting new habits and keeping every appointment with yourself (blocked hour for a Key Action).

Empty the bowl - get everything out of your head and on paper, as long as you have these to-do's in your head they will stress you.

Clarity/Goals - write down a few SMART goals and the key actions to achieve them. (see Last Week's Post).

Rocks - list and prioritize the Rocks (the Key Actions).

Block - block your calendar an hour here and there each week and focus on a specific Rock/Key Action.

Focus like a laser - 1 hour of focused time = 3 hours of interrupted time.

Say no - you have to learn to say no to things that are not going to achieve your long term goals but require time - you can't do everything for everybody.

For a detailed discussion watch this 12:19 video on the subject.

Have comments to share on these weekly topics? Feel free to let me know what you think!

All the best,
Rick Wallace