In this week’s episode of “Success From Scratch,” Meghan Pelley from the San Antonio market shares how she applies the art of “stop selling and start listening” to create a business she loves, by design.
Happy Monday. Last week I wrote about sharpening the saw… continuing with that theme today. As we learned together from the Stephen Covey video, to become a master of your time, you need to first be aware of your priorities in the larger context. The framework that I will be sharing with you in this blog is — the Time Management Matrix — it is designed to help you structure your daily activities and deal with them based on priority. Take a look:
Time Management Matrix
Think of each square as a quadrant. The top left, urgent and important is Q1; important and non-urgent is Q2; non-important and urgent is Q3 and Q4 is non-important and the non-urgent. Take a look at this summary of dealing with each quadrant:
Q-1 Tasks: Manage immediately to get them out of the way. Spend the required effort such that they do not blow out of portion.
Q-2 Tasks: Focus disproportionately due to the high payoff from the investment.
Q-3 Tasks: Delegate, automate, or eliminate due to their urgent nature, but be minimally involved as they are not important.
Q-4 Tasks: Dump them as they are neither important nor urgent.
The table below illustrates a breakdown of how effective people allocate their time. The bigger the quadrant size, the more time you spend on it:
The Ideal Time Management Matrix
How do you choose to invest your time this week?
#WinTheDay #Productivity #Service #14K
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Here is what I know, no book, no certification, no training, no coaching program or pill will EVER help you succeed as much as:
The vision you see.
The decisions you make.
The beliefs you have.
The peers you keep.
The priorities you choose.
I’m often asked what’s the secret to my success and the success of our most productive agents? It’s easy… EXECUTION. You see I know – and my team knows – ideas are plentiful yet ACTION is the formula to make ideas successful
So my question today is, what’s holding you back?
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small parts.
Are you ready to stop talking, thinking, stalling or getting ready to get ready?
Execution is a NOUN. Let’s GO!
Read more on how to reach your success in my previous blog – Success Is In The Doing.
Stephen Covey’s book proves it and Googles research reinforces it… there is ONE thing in common to every individual, relationship, family, organization, and government throughout the world. The one thing which when removed will destroy the most powerful army, the most successful business, the greatest friendship and the deepest love.
So, what is trust? Jack Welch, legendary CEO of General Electric said about trust, “You know it when you feel it!” The truth is, in any relationship, what you do has a far greater impact than what you say. Thus, trust is established through ACTION and action is driven by your behaviors.
In his book The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey outlines 13 behaviors that drive trust. The first five behaviors relate to character and the second five behaviors relate to competence and the remainder are a mix of the two.
Covey believes the quickest way to decrease trust is to violate a behavior of character while the fastest way to build trust is to demonstrate a behavior of competence.
In the end, in today’s modern fast-paced economy trust is essential to our mutual prosperity. We can create it, we can restore it and we can extend it.
Trusting this post will prompt you toward a more powerful week. How will you practice trust this week?
It’s been about 134 days since we all made those “New Years Resolutions.”
So, how are you doing with those?
The answer was either a wow, an ouch or something in-between. Good, because whatever emotion that brought up for you, declare it perfect and move forward in a powerful direction.
Gym owners and weight loss providers love January 1st because that week is when so many people come in to join for the year, participate for a few weeks and then slowly disappear.
Consider this, replace the gym or weight loss program with any other new behavior change like learning a new language, getting up at a certain time, making sales calls and more. You see, we know human nature… you get all excited in the beginning yet somewhere along the way the enthusiasm fades and the new behavior is dropped.
Why does this happen?
Ask any expert and they will say… it’s not having a strong and compelling reason, a or “why.”
I once worked with a real estate agent that I was providing leads for. He was an average producer doing OK – not great yet not bad, just about average. One day he called me and said, “Mark, I have a $50,000 court judgement!” So what happened next?
Nothing changed in my business model; same leads and same market conditions. Over the next 6 months, his production nearly grew by 10X. He called me and said, “I paid off the judgement.” The next month and following months his production returned to his pre-judgement average pattern.
What moved him from average, to 10X and back to average?
This agent had a short-term compelling “why” that drove his daily behavior. When his “why” faded, so did his daily routine and motivation. The conclusion: getting clear on why you want to create something is basic science at this point.
You want to increase sales… Why?
You want to lose 25 pounds… Why?
You want to spend more time with family and less time working… Why?
What is it you REALLY want?
Is it the weight loss or how it makes you feel? Is it the increased sales or the financial freedom that brings you? What do you really want? Ask yourself, answer and repeat that about 5 times to get to the REAL answer.
When the days get tough and life gets in the way, it’s the compelling “why” that keeps you engaged and on track.
A: Making more sales is important to me because I want to have more money.
B: Making more sales is important to me because it provides me more freedom in supporting my family, it creates more options of travel and schools for me and my family, it allows me to contribute more to the charities and my community that I love and are dear to my heart.
With B you can feel the reason. You can see the reason. You can believe the reason. B is crystal clear.
A: Making more sales is important to me because I want to be happy.
B: Making more sales is important to me because I want to make the best out of the cards I was dealt in life. I want to celebrate life, provide for my family, give back to my community and live with joy.
With B, it is much more meaningful than a vague “I want to be happy.” Yes!?
If you actually believe creating a compelling “why” can change your behavior, then it will. If you believe it won’t, then it won’t. The choice is yours to make. It’s like Henry Ford said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”
Think about one of your major accomplishments… strong reason “why” was part of your formula. Without a compelling “why”, whatever you attempt will just be another project that sits on the shelf collecting dust.
Positive change awaits you when you make the effort and you tie it to a compelling reason “why!”
Now, I’d like to know… what goal is important to you? What will accomplishing this goal do for you? What’s your “WHY” for this goal?
Share your thoughts and comments with us now, we value your contribution to this community.
“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” – Jessica Jackley
Delegate, Automate or Eliminate — Today’s post is short and sweet. Sometimes those are the best, yes!?
You see, I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs follow this idea like it’s some kind of commandment: “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
Can you relate?
Imagine if you could delegate, automate or eliminate many of the tasks you’re not good at, or dislike… like booking appointments, marketing yourself or running errands. The result? Creating more time to do what you are best at, love and find important.
The key in delegation, is understanding and accepting that others simply won’t do it like you. So, get over it! Have standards, yet allow your team to run with it. When you do, what is possible in your personal productivity and life satisfaction?
For automation consider “If This Then That.” IFTTT is the freeway to get all your apps and devices talking to each other. Not everything on the internet plays nice, so IFTTT is on a mission to build a more connected world.
Consider letting go of some of the things so you can spend more time in your genius zone. CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke, Business Consultants and Authors of The Beauty of Conflict recommend taking an honest look at how you are spending your time through a four zone model.
What type of workplaces you in your genius zone?
What can you delegate, automate or eliminate this week? This week is YOURS. Own it!
