Tips & Insights for Top Performance

This is a great book that can be read in one sitting and then re-read over the course of 8 days or 8 weeks. Phenomenal MUST read. It includes 8 easy to digest mentoring sessions that one of the authors, David Cottrell, had sitting at the feet of a business master. Each chapter/session includes great reminders for every business person to remember and integrate into how they work personally and with others. Whether through work, volunteerism, family or elsewhere, these timeless tips are motivational and applicable for every person. He talks about many things we have shared before and also has some new tips. In the sessions on time management, one key statement I found motivational and true was from p. 63: “I’ve never found anyone who had two or three hours a day they could save by doing one thing better. But, I have seen many people find an hour or two a day they could use better by doing a few things differently.” If you want to make better use of your time, you need to be looking for the small increments of time… a minute here, five minutes there, etc. Add them all up and you’ll create more time for you to use.” There is much more. Get the book for your library!

This is one of Steven Covey’s foundational books on how to be effective and productive. There are many great tips and strategies in this book. One of the most common is the 4 box grid which helps identify the important vs. urgent. In our society today it is almost impossible to NOT get swept up in the urgent, reacting to all the things that pop up around us and demand our time. If you do not deal with the important eventually everything becomes urgent and a crisis.

You have a choice every day. Will your day run you or will you run your day? Will you live in the urgent or important? The feelings of unproductivity, insanity and chaos occur when you constantly live in the urgent. To shift and balance urgent with important and actually RUN your day, you must have a clear handle on what is important and know how to handle the urgent things that come up so they do not derail you from accomplishing the important. Check out this book to master your skills.

Brian Tracey has a great book, Eat That Frog. This book is awesome for illustrating the basic concept of prioritizing. In order for you to get your plate empty you will have to stop and assess what is the most important thing for you to get done. Our to-do lists do not usually include unimportant things to do. Everything is important. (The urgent things don’t even make the list, they just take up time so we don’t even get to the lists). Then, when we just start chipping away at to-do lists, we often eat desert first. We do what feels good but is not really most essential to our performance.

Tracy’s concept is to get the most important thing you need to get done first; this is your frog. Do it before you do anything else (including urgent things – unless it is a real emergency). Your frog is the #1 thing on your to do list. As you get that done, you will have more energy for everything else on your list and will be able to accomplish more in your day in addition to having greater results as you take care of the most important things first.

Action:

• Make a “to do” list nightly.
• Prioritize the list.
• The #1 item is your frog. Complete it before you do any other projects.
• Make it your goal to complete the next 5 top priorities before moving on to anything else on the list.

Remember back in January when you laid out your plans for the New Year? How are those plans coming? Ask yourself honestly, “How am I doing? What have I been able to do and what have I been procrastinating on?” There are several great books on this topic that offer tips and thoughts to keep you in motion. One you might enjoy: Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander.1 This is a funny, short and easy-to-read book that will inspire any action-oriented person to get moving! Scott Alexander has a creative approach to get you ready to charge forward into action!

The author makes the premise that there are two kinds of people in the world, “Cows” and “Rhinos.” You get to choose which one you’d like to be.

The fact that you are reading this article suggests that you are already rhino material! Rhinos are the people who charge ahead and don’t let things get them down. They get things done and see the possibilities even in adverse circumstances. Obstacles are merely hurdles to break through, not road blocks that immobilize. Now realistically, every rhino is going to have some “cow” days; the trick is to be a cow as little as possible, because rhinos simply get more done and are more successful. Cows have a different purpose altogether and are OK with mediocre, “good enough” and settling for living in fenced-in pastures, chewing their cud. I am not going to focus on cows, because the rhino is the one who is making things happen and moving forward through the jungle of life!

Strategies for living your purpose and expanding your awareness for life, people and the opportunities of each day

Rhino Mind-set:

• Positive Self-Talk. Scott Alexander talks about reading a focus statement daily. He suggests: “I am a rhinoceros. I have a damn-the-torpedoes spirit! I am full of energy and I can’t wait to get up in the morning to start charging!” Now, write your big picture goal and get moving!
• Expect Torpedoes. These are the obstacles and negative things that inevitably discourage, distract or serve to get you off track. Expect them and commit to not letting them knock you over. Develop a tough, thick skin so you can keep charging. These are traits like confidence, endurance, discipline, focus, and determination.

Rhino Behavior:

• Action is essential. Pick the most important thing you need to get done each day and do it first, before the smaller and more seductive things (e.g., checking e-mail, cleaning, personal calls, coffee breaks). Also, write the four other key things you need to get done each day, and focus on doing those. Make it your goal to accomplish these five key items every day.
• CHARGE! Rhinos are in the business of “charging” forward. They have a target in mind (the goal) and are focused and going for it. Since you have already developed your plan, you can be confident in your charge. Go for the next step and get it done. Success happens one step at a time, whether the goal is large or small. Whatever you do, do something, stay in action and keep moving forward.

1 (Laguna Hills, CA: Rhino Press, 1980)