Living Life by Design

How many of you begin each day thinking (or hoping) you’ll get a referral from one of the few referral partners you’ve counted on for years? You have a good reputation but really don’t have any kind of proposition in the marketplace. You really don’t know where your next lead or deal will be coming from. You begin each day unsure of what you’re going to do. So, you operate from a place that whatever opportunity comes to you, you’ll react accordingly.

Has this happened to you?

You lay awake at night frustrated and wondering what you actually accomplished in the day. You barely remember what you accomplished within the last week. Yet, somehow you always seemed to be busy, but not busy accomplishing long term wins. A creeping sense on anxiety began to set in.

I’m sure you made a decision: tomorrow I will finally get IMPORTANT tasks done! But, tomorrow came and went and it was groundhog day all over again.

Email, interruptions, and random tasks fill your days. By the time you got home you were tired! Instagram, Facebook, phone calls and other distractions took over. Your important work got pushed to the side, yet again.

You need help. You begin trying productivity apps and planners to get important stuff done. You may have tried…weekly planners, daily planners, to-do lists, calendars, Outlook, time tracking, etc. I’m sure some helped you to be slightly more efficient, however, your most important tasks were not getting done consistently.

I’m a huge fan of personal development. I’ve been using a Franklin Planner for over 25 years. When I came across this productivity story a number of years ago, it had a deep influence on my business.

• Around 100 years ago, PR consultant Ivy Lee shared with Charles Schwab, CEO of Bethlehem Steel, a time management technique that drastically increased his productivity. The method was quite simple. List out your three to five most important tasks for the day and tackle them in order of importance. This simple technique made Schwab millions and helped the unknown Bethlehem Steel Company become the biggest independent steel producer in the world.

Today, this technique is better known as the prioritized to-do list. I’m sure you’ve tried this but if you’re like me, while we got things done, we were not accomplishing the things that really mattered.

Unfortunately, this is the problem with most business planning systems. They focus on neatly organized to-do lists, but never recognize if an item SHOULD be on the to-do list in the first place.

It’s this linear focus that needs to be part of any business planning system. It’s simply too easy to multi-task (have millions of browser tabs open, check email, scan social media, etc.) or fill our days with urgent nonsense rather than identifying the one, two or three things if accomplished, would make everything else unnecessary.

You must look at your business and build it based on a plan. And once you’ve developed a plan, you use it to set your schedule and move forward! You will need to do exactly the opposite of what everyone else does. You need to operate from your own set of rules and principles, based on proven strategic methods that we will discuss. You need to have a clear picture of what you want your business income and lifestyle to be. Our training will consist of:

1. Discovery
2. Business Planning
3. Productivity Planning
4. Accountability

After completing the training, you will finally be able to rest your head on your pillow, satisfied knowing that you accomplished important tasks that pushed your business forward (towards your goals), forged stronger relationships, everything that you’ve wanted to accomplish for years, but have not.

Enjoy the ride…