Tips & Insights for Top Performance

I asked some of the successful and talented business owners and professionals I know, what they consider their key to success… here is what they said…..

“Successful people are always pursuing balance in their life. There are only so many hours in a day and it is important to prioritize every aspect of our lives instead of just our business lives. Family, marriage, spirituality, health, volunteering, etc. are all the components of a successful person – in business and in life. If you are lucky enough to pursue what you love then you will see success follow. People will want to be part of that success.”

Lois Cozart, Owner
My Girlfriend’s Closet
www.mygirlfriendsclosetnc.com

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

The Wheel of Life Assessment Tool can be used to evaluate your life balance, determine where you are at now, assess where you need to focus in the future or just give you a snapshot of your life to consider what is working and what is not.

How balanced is your life? The eight spokes represent a balanced wheel. The less balanced your wheel is the more wobbly will be your ride through life. The more balanced the wheel is, the smoother it will run.

HOW TO USE: Use this tool as you plan for the future.

1. Print a copy of the “Wheel of Life”
2. Consider each area and how fulfilled you feel right now, given this area of your life over the past year.
3. Rate each area on the spoke just below the area title.
   0 is at the center = dissatisfied; 10 is at the outside = very fulfilled.
4. Put a dot on the line, where your rating of this area falls.
5. Consider what each area would look like if it were a “10″.
6. Write a few notes on what would need to happen to make it a “10″.
7. Pick one area, that if you improved it, all the others would also increase in fulfillment.
8. Consider this as an area for focus in the future.
9. Write a goal and set 5-10 objectives to make this area increase in value over the next year.

Use this tool to see the balance in your life and determine where your focus will benefit you most in the upcoming year!

Click here for your own Wheel of Life Assessment Tool!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

It happens to most people I know, including myself! We get swept up with our work and life and before you know it any systems you had set up to help you balance important and urgent tasks that were working, are unintentionally eroded. The systems are gone and have been taken over by the suck of fast paced demands and pulls of the 21st century world we live in.  

In Stephen Coveys book, First Things First, begins to explain what is happening. He says, in the book, “consider whether you look at life through a basic paradigm of ‘urgency’ or ‘importance’?” He explores the effects of urgency addiction” and promotes a new perspective, “more than ‘time management’, it’s a generation of personal leadership. More than doing things right, it’s focused on doing the right things.”

What does this mean and how do you do it? There are many things to say about this but to me one of may favorite and first steps to tackle a life that has been consumed by the race of the urgent is to simply stop and get focused. This is a daily habit or practice that is good to do each day, ideally in an AM or PM routine. Here is how you do it:

1) brain dump everything that is on your mind onto a sheet of paper (please do not think that keeping lists in your head is effective, just like a computer will freeze up when to many windows and programs are running, so will your brain)

2) review your personal values (these are your passions, motivators and what makes you uniquely you)

3) review your big picture focus or goal (what are you aspiring to achieve in their period of your life)

4) select the 3 most important things you need to accomplish in order to move forward and remove the heaviest weight that is burdening you (often what weights on us is not what we do – that is what we procrastinate about – what we do is usually quick, insignificant to-do’s). Write these 3 things on a sticky note and post it where you can see it all day.

5) commit to 30 minutes a day to work on one of the items. Ideally an hour first thing in the AM, but protecting some time to really work on the top 3 each day is a great start.

This is the first step in thinking about your life strategically vs. reactionary. There is much more to balancing all parts of your life, living in line with your values, prioritizing, etc. but at times when we get so overloaded it is good to have a simple approach to remove yourself from the beginning of a crisis cycle and get back to putting first things first.

Be strategic!
Christy

Do you find yourself amazed at how quickly the months pass? Do you find yourself in a small panic over all you know you have to do and how little you feel you are actually accomplishing? Join the crowd! We live in a busy world where our time, priorities and energy are constantly challenged. The reality is that there is simply not time for everything and we don’t have enough energy to complete everything. Bummer, I know! If only God had created the world with 8 days in a week or 30 hours in a day…. sounds good? Maybe, but really we would just quickly absorb that time too and be in the same spot.

What can we do? There are 5 simple steps to create greater success by managing our time and getting things done in business and life that are important.

1. EVALUATE. What do I really want? Where am I headed? What am I doing now?
2. GET REAL. What is really important that will impact and support your long term goals the best? What is not important? What is distracting me? What is not really supporting my long term goal?
3. PLAN. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? What are the KEY action steps? How will I do this? What schedule or strategy will keep me focused?
4. FOCUS. Who do you need to be and what structures do you need to have to accomplish this (mindset, attitude, accountability)?
5. MONITOR/EVALUATE. Am I doing little, unimportant things? Am I procrastinating? What is working/ what is not? How could I streamline what I am doing?

What happens with good intentions and goals…

Plans begin as ideas in our head; we desire to have or do something. The key to the success of the idea is a plan. You know the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Sometime our ideas will make it to paper in the form of a SMART goal and sometime not. If we do write a goal people sometimes we will create some action steps, but rarely do they take the time to thoroughly think through what actions are actually needed at each stage to accomplish the goal completely. Sometimes people will start planning and get overwhelmed at how much work it will actually take or get overwhelmed with the process and give up.  Often our goals remain our dreams because we fail to carve out time to make them reality. A management tip is to create a plan from start to finish. With this plan, decide if you have the time, energy, resources and desire to bring it to completion. Next, estimate HOW LONG each task will actually take. It is common to underestimate how much time each step will take and therefore it never gets done.  Remember, if you are going to add something to your schedule, you must also plan to say “No!” to something else to make time to accomplish your goal.

Step 1: EVALUATE…

To create an effective plan, begin with a careful evaluation. Most people are constantly evaluating their present state without much problem. We are constantly assessing, “What do I really want right now?” We look at things around us and talk about what we would like to be different in our life. We talk about our goals, New Year’s Resolutions, current intentions, etc. We often state them as fact and sincerely intend to accomplish those in our life. We see how they would make a positive difference and desire for them to happen. There is a small percentage of people who also evaluate the questions, “Where am I headed?” and “What will it take for me to get there?” Evaluation is a tool that allows you to anchor where you are now, determine where you want to go and create markers along the way to ensure you stay on course.  Without a longer term vision, we tend to react to current situations, “I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I need to get this business off the ground, etc.”  This leads to wandering through life without focus or purpose. Evaluate the present and then also evaluate the future and what it would take to get there.

Step 2: GET REAL…

Then, get real. Does this fit in with where you are headed with your long term goals in your life? What is doing this going to get you? What is the cost (consider time, money, energy, emotional, etc.) Are you willing to pay it? If you do really want this, what is going to be important that you do? What is distracting you from making this happen?

Identify Key Result Items:

· Write exactly where you are headed and what this is going to get you.

· Identify what you will have to do and write that down.

· Identify what you will have to say “no” to and commit to 3 things you will have to stop to make this happen. Identify what this will “cost” and write down how you will “pay” for it. (This is not just financial, it may be something intangible like – COST: time with the family, PAYMENT: work later during week, but home Friday for dinner and family day all Saturday.)

· Identify 5 main distractions and how you can eliminate those.

Step 3: PLAN…

Next, plan what it will take to make this happen. You already have some Key Result Items from your Get Real Exercise. Take those and add to the list other ideas of what you know you will need to do to accomplish your goal. What are specific action steps you will need to take? Stop a minute and in your mind focus on your long term goal. See it in full and complete form. What is there? What are you doing? What do you notice about yourself and your actions? Now, in your mind walk backwards what did you do to get there? For example, if part of my long term goal is to have a thriving independent business, I may visualize myself in an office with the flexibility to be remote. Part of what I would need to do is establish an office, design portable systems, have a virtual assistant, have tools and resources for office work, etc. This becomes one Key Result Area: A functional Office. Then I walk backwards and plan steps I would have taken to create this functional office. Put dates on each broken-down action step and estimate what it will take to make each step happen (time, cost, etc.).  Allocate completion targets accordingly.

Step 4: FOCUS…

Now that you have your plan flushed out and in place, who do you need to be to accomplish this? Going back to your vision of your completed goal, what mindset and attitude did you have throughout the project? How did you do this? What schedule or strategy kept you focused? What systems of accountability did you have in place? What kept you on track and focused? One of the most common errors people make is IF they get their plan complete, they begin work and get caught up in the rush of life again and start reacting and forget about their plan. When you created your plan you were looking at the big picture. When you are working in the trenches of life, you are limited to see what is in front of you, unless you stick to the plan. There is nothing wrong with evaluating and refining your plan as you go, but only when you are looking at it in perspective of the whole picture and not the short term moment. The story is told about the caravan crossing the Sahara desert. The desert was barren and large. Many parties got lost crossing the great plains as they could not see their destination over the horizon. A team went in and put in markers for travelers to focus on as they crossed so they would use each marker as a point of reference until they could see the city. This allows many parties to cross the treacherous desert in the most direct and efficient path. This is your plan. Plan it well, establish milestones to focus on, trust them and stay the course!

Step 5: Monitor…

Step back occasionally and evaluate what you are doing. Go back to step one. How are you doing? What is working what is not? Are you on track or off course? Make adjustments to get on track, re-design what is not working to new solutions and refine the plan in area that would increase efficiency or results toward your goal. Keep your long-term goal in mind and check to make sure your short term goals are supporting the long term goals. Notice your behavior. Accomplishing big goals is hard work. Plan first and keep your eyes on the pre-set short term goal that position you to reach your bigger vision.

Bottom line…

None of these strategies are rocket science. The challenge is to maintain the discipline, focus and clarity to implement these basic strategies. Evaluate your long term goal, be realistic, plan, set structures for focus and have check points to monitor. Invest your time in your plan and maintain the course once it is set. If you are serious about these goals, take action today. Insure your success by developing an accountably system for yourself. Hire a coach as your strategic partner to run with you. Find a buddy in a similar situation. Whatever it is, build environments to support your vision. Take the time to plan and design structures for success and you will see a difference! Here’s to you and your success! Have fun!

We are on the edge of the holiday seasons. Our excitement stirs as we think about the smells, activities and fun that each event brings. But, just as joy fills our thoughts, stress often fills the body!   All of the to do’s, dates, expenses, people and other holiday demands fill our minds. It’s time to make this year different! Here are 5 basic strategies to help you plan a balanced and joyful holiday:

1. Have a VISION.  Spend a few moments dreaming about the holidays.  Consider what you want your holidays to look like this year.  Think about your essential 8 (work, health, money, space, family, friends, fun, spiritual). How do you want to handle work, family, personal and outside obligations?  Take a few minutes to picture your vision and then write it down. What is important you that you want to do? What is not included in your vision? What is different this year than you have done in the past?

2. CLEAR Your Mind.  Thinking about all the things that you have to do, divide a piece of paper into the 4 major categories that represent where you will be spending most of your time this holiday season. (i.e. work, family, home, church). Jot down everything that must be done and all the things you would like to.  What is most important for you to finish by the end of the year (projects, deadlines, etc.)?  What commitments are on your plate over the course of the next few weeks?  What would you need to do to make your holiday vision a reality?  Be sure to consider each area of your life.  List everything here, even little things. If you don’t, it is like having 20 windows open on your computer and your brain will work slower. You can’t afford forgetfulness or delays at this busy time of the year. WRITE IT DOWN!

3. PRIORITIZE you projects.

a. Deadlines and Time. Note when each project must be done and how much time this will take you. This is just simple reality check. There are only so many hours. Is it realistic you will get this done? Do you need to do it, delegate it, ask for help or trash it? Don’t set yourself up to fail before you’ve even started!

b. Evaluate. Review your list and consider which items are the most important and which are the least important.  Highlight the items that are MUST DO’S. Do yourself a favor, and cross off the things that are wishes, but you know you will simply not have time to do.

c. Commit.  In order to accomplish your vision and necessities, what will you do and will you NOT do? For example, my vision is to do 3 Christmas activities with my family, so I will commit to putting those on the calendar and I will commit to baking cookies on one day only (will NOT get stuck in the kitchen each Sat.). or my vision is to take Christmas Eve, Day and one day on either side off, so I will arrange to block out my calendar and will commit to NO appointments on those days.

4. STREAMLINE your projects/tasks. Determine what tasks need to be accomplished in order for each item on your list to be completed.  So that you’re making minimal shopping stops/errands and spending minutes instead of hours doing research and on-line searches, it’s important to “GROUP” like tasks.  Have a clip board with the following sheets on it: Gifts, Errands/Shopping, Office, Home, and Scheduling. As you think about your projects, put the to-do’s on the “GROUP” lists so that you can quickly reference it and accomplish more in less time. For example: Gift Giving. Think through all the people you want to send cards to, give gifts to – from friends, family, business colleagues, neighbors, service professionals (mailman, hairdresser, etc.), the people for whom you purchase gifts each year.  Be sure to note budget, likes and details like each person’s birth year and size.

5. PLAN how you will get it done! For each area on your list, ask yourself “How will I stick to this plan?” Create for yourself a system that will ensure that you follow through on the plan that you created.  Now that you have your projects, priorities and groups, put what you will do, how will you do it and when you will do it. Planning time for your projects is a sure way to guarantee your success.

a. Use one calendar; put all professional and personal appointments on your calendar.

b. Make sure to block out accurate time to complete the project/tasks.

c. Set up buddies/accountability as needed to make sure you keep the appointment/deadline.

d. Make sure to schedule any “prep” work that needs to be done for projects.

e. Review the next day’s schedule/plan each night before you go to bed.

f. Make sure to schedule time for self-care!  To perform at your best emotionally, mentally, and physically, take time each day to take care of yourself:  exercise, drink water, take your vitamins, get enough sleep, and relax!

Once you create you plan, stick to it! Do not procrastinate, because your plan is built on deadlines and priorities. So force yourself to get it done. This often works best by doing the “hard” thing, first thing in the day. As you follow your plan, you load will get lighter, the system works and your holidays become balanced and joy filled.

*Special Holiday gift for you: Would you like to have a mini Balance Wheel to put in your wallet or in a place to help you remember this balance all year long? E-mail me.