Just stop for a moment and think back to those business goals, work targets, KPI's, and personal aspirations (lose weight, get fit, learn something new, etc.) that you set at the beginning of the year. Think about those visions of success, profits and happiness you saw yourself achieving this year.
Are you still on track?
...or have you broken some of those promises?
"Just a moment", I hear your say "I never *promised* that I would achieve them, I just committed to trying my best. I didn't break any promises, I just got caught up in other things"
To me, this is an excuse.
It is a habit of allowing yourself to not stick to your targets because you lose focus when under pressure.
Am I being a little harsh? Perhaps.
Am I being truthful and accurate? Absolutely!
If you want to have success and happiness consistently in your life, then you need to become resilient to pressure by raising your standards.
Let me explain...
Studies have found that your body 'normalizes' stimulants that it is exposed to on a regular basis. Meaning that you become somewhat de-sensitive, or less sensitive, to the frequent noises, smells, images, tastes and sensations of the environment around you.
Two examples:
The smell receptors in the olfactory (smell) system of the body of garbage collectors becomes less sensitive to the smell of garbage after about 6 weeks. The body adapts to the smell by desensitising to the smell of garbage.
Even an hour or two after putting on perfume, cologne or aftershave you become somewhat unaware of the smell. Your body desensitises the frequent stimulants around you.
So what has desensitisation got to do with becoming resilient to pressure and achieving your goals??
If you consistently accept an excuse, cop out, or lower standards of performance from yourself, then your body learns to accept that as OK. After a while, you become desensitised to your excuses and you no longer notice them. That's when they become a habit.
When the pressure builds up, if you have developed the habit of allowing excuses and cop outs to be an acceptable response - then you will always find yourself setting goals, targets, new years resolutions, but rarely reaching them.
Think about your excuses for a moment.
Which one do you use?
"I just got too busy"
"Sorry, I became sidetracked"
"I have been swamped with other work"
"I simply couldn't be bothered today"
"I just don't like calling up my clients"
What's your excuse?
Excuses are like armpits - we all have them and they all stink!
Top 3 Excuses and how to beat them:
1. 'I'm too busy and don't have any time'
Who isn't busy and pressed for time?
However, you can get into the habit of saying , or thinking, that you are too busy. In this frame of mind, you no longer look for ways to reach your targets, but get caught up in why you can't reach them.
Raise your standards by expecting more from yourself.
Solution: Create time via leverage.
You may have heard the saying 'If you want something done, ask a busy person'.
Busy people fit more into their day because they look at ways to shortcut those tasks/jobs by leveraging their time. A great example of leverage is outsourcing those tasks you would rather not do, or take up too much time.
2. 'I just have to get through this first before looking at everything else'
Another 'excuse habit' that stops you from planning your success.
Planning a wedding is a huge event. It is an exercise in logistics, project management, HR, mediation, communication, and occasionally, health and safety. It would be madness to leave the seating, catering, venue, table decorations etc. all to the last few days - major stress.
In the same sense you have plan how to use your time so that you get the best return on each hour of your day. How do you plan your time?
1. List what needs to be achieved over the next 7 days
2. From that list isolate what needs to be achieved in the next 24 hours.
3. Plan your order of action according to:
a. What action will give me the best return
b. What is the most productive use of my time
c. What needs to be done now?
Sure, a time plan can change in the first 30 minutes of your day. So, just re-do your plan if/when that happens.
3. I just can't be bothered.
This habit trains your body to become lazy. It sends a message that 'it is Ok to stop trying when you are outside your comfort zone'.
If babies thought this way, they would never walk.
Instead, raise your standards by being accountable.
a. Accountable to yourself.
Write out clear targets and read them each day. Stay mindful of where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Set clear dates by which you want to accomplish certain tasks, etc.
Be accountable to yourself for your actions.
b. Be accountable to others.
Let others know of your targets, aspiration - personal and professional. This way if you decide
to fall in the habit of 'I just can't be bothered' you will know that others have an expectation on
you - which may kick you back in to gear.
.........................................................................
Michael Licenblat B.Sc.(Psych), Resilience Expert
Website: www.BounceBackFast.com Email: Support@PerformanceSolutions.com.au
There's an old saying that says...
"If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!"
Brian Tracy says that your "frog" should be the most difficult item on your things to do list, the one you're most likely to procrastinate on; because, if you eat that first, it'll give you energy and momentum for the rest of the day. But, if you don't...and let him sit there on the plate and stare at you while you do a hundred unimportant things, it can drain your energy and you won't even know it.
In Eat That Frog!, Brian cuts to the core of what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline and determination. In 21 practical steps, he will help you stop procrastinating and get more of the important tasks done...today!
Brian is one of America's leading authorities on development of human potential. He speaks to over 250,000 people a year and has written over 25 books. Eat That Frog! is an international best seller, with over 500,000 copies sold.
We're pleased to say, however, that Simple Truths has taken a great book, and well...made it better! How? They have made it a little shorter; a little more engaging with great graphics; a little more "giftable" with an embossed hard cover, and of course, packaging that can create a "wow" effect! In short, they have turned a great book into a great gift for employees, customers, friends and family.
Here's a small sampling in Brian's chapter titled: Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything. Enjoy!
An excerpt from Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few", the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many", the bottom 80 percent.
He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.
Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.
Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.
The filing system proposed and used by Noguchi Yukio is worth a look. To employ the system, you'll need to discard many conventional notions about how to store paper documents. Here's how it works:
You need a set of A4 (letter)-sized envelopes and some way to mark the outside of the envelopes. If you want, you can color-code them with markers.
Take every document and store it in an A4-sized envelope with the flaps cut off, as shown here.
Mark the title and date of the document on the side of the envelope, as shown, and the envelopes are stored vertically on a bookshelf.
Don't attempt to classify documents. The color coding is optional, and only there to help you find documents more quickly.
Add any new document to the left end of the "envelope buffer." Whenever a document is used (i.e., the envelope removed from the shelf), return it to the left end of the bookshelf. The result of this system is that the most recent and frequently used documents move to the left, while documents that are rarely or never used migrate to the right.
Over time, some of the files on the right side of the shelf will be classified as "holy files" which you will retain indefinitely. Remove these from the shelf and store them in boxes. If a "holy file" is in use, it is part of the working file group at the left. Thus, holy files are really dead files which you cannot part with. Get them out of sight into a box.
When you need more space, throw away any documents that you consider "unnecessary."
Read more on Noguchi's system in this article by William Lise, or on Noguchi's website.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you're lucky enough to experience a rare occurrence where your natural gifts and skills lend themselves to a moment of grace, you experience a profound change. It can feel mysterious and awesome all at the same time. The key is to discover and nurture your natural gifts and skills so you create a life fertile for these breathtaking moments of grace.
I'd like to share with you a special quote from writer Anne Lamott:
"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us."
In March, I posted a blog titled "Psychology and Success: The Magic of Your Talent Advantage". In it I wrote:
"When you use your natural skills consciously and intentionally something interesting happens. Your skills and talents don't just develop, they blossom and transform in ways that you cannot predict. By leading you into actions, environments, and situations that draw upon and support them, your innate gifts and skills open you to new possibilities that you could not previously imagine. New layers, new depths, and new meanings unfold that will draw you into new, unexpected manifestations and applications. You will not just discover; you will live your unique skills and talents. It's magic!"
A recent experience encouraged me to consider that rather than "magic," I should use the word, "grace": "a moment of unmerited divine assistance given humans."
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went to California to attend a family reunion of my wife's relatives on her mother's side, and to celebrate my mother-in-law's 90th birthday. She comes from a long-lived family in which seven of the nine siblings lived to at least 90 years of age (the ages of the three remaining are 105, 95, and 90).
Part of the weekend's events included gathering to remember one of the recently deceased sisters (who died at age 98) and spread her ashes in a beautiful place along the Big Sur coast. I had previously only met a few of the approximately 50 people who gathered, so after people had spoken their memories and we had re-arranged ourselves to watch the spreading of the ashes, I was not surprised to see a man whom I didn't recognize walking toward where I was standing alone on the path.
It was a cold, misty, rainy day, as it so often is along the Northern California coast in late spring, and we were a curious bunch ranging from 18 months young to 105 years old, obviously gathered for a purpose.
The 'stranger' and I acknowledged each other, and then he revealed he was not a part of the family when he asked me, "What's this all about?"
I explained it was a family reunion, and that we had gathered to remember a recently deceased member. I pointed out the two sisters of the deceased, but was cautious regarding the spreading of the ashes, since I wasn't completely sure of the legality of what was happening (I have since found out that is technically illegal, but that it is a common occurrence and officials generally look the other way).
As we continued to talk, it was obvious he was just curious, unconcerned about legalities, and I ended up explaining exactly what was happening. His face lit up with a smile and he told me that his mother's ashes were spread on the hill right behind us; that this was a beautiful final resting place. He explained how he was seeking to photograph a Swainson's Thrush, but was unlikely to see one on such a cold and wet day. We stood silently for a few more minutes observing the scene, and then he wished us well and went on his way.
Even though I knew the woman whose life we were remembering, I had not shared any memories with the group. None of mine stood out as particularly significant, especially in relation to those of her sisters, children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But I had liked her very much and had been feeling a little diminished by not participating.
But the interaction with the 'stranger' left me with a warm, happy feeling and a sense of completion and closure.
It wasn't until later, during a quiet moment reflecting on the morning's event, that I was struck by the aspect of grace in my chance encounter.
As I mentioned, I had been feeling a little disconnected from the memorial because of my lack of participation, but the arrival of this total stranger presented me an opportunity to use one of my natural gifts - the ability to provide to others contextual understanding of what is occurring, in a way that includes them and makes them feel "a part of".
Grace is rarely a one-way phenomenon, and I don't know all of what the stranger received from our encounter, but I do know that in our brief interchange he got to remember his mother fondly, and share with a group of strangers a moment of connection and common experience. The experience remains a powerful one to me.
Discovering your natural gifts, talents, and skills is not just about success in business; it is integral to becoming you in all aspects of your life and sows the seeds for amazing moments of grace.
"If you work on your gifts they will make room for you." - Jim Rohn
......................................................
Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 27 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology - Berkeley. He is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. He's a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. For free information on how to succeed as an entrepreneur or coach, create a thriving business and build your bottom line doing more of what you love, visit http://www.YourTalentAdvantage.com
Play "Spot the difference" and talk about fruit and vegies
=> http://bit.ly/VY0PZI
by Steve Springer
Usable as a hands-on guide from the very first day of school,The Organized Teacher addresses the practical needs of first year teachers of grades K-8. It covers everything they need to know, from classroom management and school procedures to streamlined record keeping and state standards. The book includes helpful reproducible checklists and instructive illustrations, along with invaluable advice from experienced professionals.
Amazon has copies http://amzn.to/2ColKOU
Yes that's an affiliate link,
and if you purchase the book using it
I will earn a few cents. Thank you!!
by Leo Babauta
The author writes, "At the heart of this simple book lies the key to many of the struggles we face these days, from being productive and achieving our goals, to getting healthy and fit in the face of fast food and inactivity, to finding simplicity and peace amidst chaos and confusion. That key is itself simple: focus. Our ability to focus will allow us to create in ways that perhaps we haven't in years. It'll allow us to slow down and find peace of mind. It'll allow us to simplify and focus on less-on the essential things, the things that matter most. -> http://bit.ly/SAGcvZ
