Clarity Really IS Power

If you want to leverage the real power of clarity, you need to be specific about what you want and build your outcome around a significant way of measurement.

Let’s assume you want to make more money this year, and you ended up earning 10 extra dollars… technically, you’ve achieved your goal, I mean, you earned “more” money this year; but I doubt that was your idea when you set that goal, right? The difference was probably more in the area of the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.

You always want to set a clear goal for yourself, always.

If you are specific with your outcome and have a clear picture of what it is and why do you want it, your actions will be like a big, sharp telephoto lens that will achieve them.

Now, following the precepts we established in the previous articles, you know you need to be working toward your core values, and follow your personal rules in the process… so, how can you be sure?

Make a core values audit:

Keep a close track of your activities for two weeks, take note of which values your actions are connecting with, and evaluate yourself as you move closer to your goals.

Once you have several weeks of progress written down, take a thorough look at how you’ve spent your time; highlight any activity that you know is unconnected to your values and goals –like checking social media every other hour- and take it out from your schedule. Replace them with something else that can contribute to your ultimate plan.

After a while putting this procedure into practice, you’ll notice you don’t miss all those time-consuming tasks anymore.

Next week we’ll be talking about how to minimize distractions by, among other things, learning to say NO.

Until then, stay strong!

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca

Deadlines: our way to Deliverance

It’s been said that procrastination is the silent killer –or was it hypertension? Never mind that; let’s stick to the first for now.

We all procrastinate, and in a wide variety of reasons; the most common is fear, and also simple laziness. In a way, our biology takes off the hook with laziness, simply because it urges us not to spend energy on a task that isn’t important to our survival; so we postpone, delay, avoid, excuse ourselves, etc.

But then, the deadline comes, and pulls us out of laziness giving us a sense of urgency… Deep inside we know that missing this deadline is bad for our survival; it can cost us our job, money, assets, our free time, friendships, relationships, etc.

This knowledge becomes fear, and this fear pushes us to do whatever it takes to finish our project, and we go crazy to make this happen.

Some time back, I heard about Parkinson ’s Law. It states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.

That’s a very interesting point; because it sends you into a mild survival mode where you actually get the job done, without lazing about too much.

Getting used to set deadlines.

When we are faced with distant deadlines, we get a false sense of security… let’s say we have a task due in three weeks, so we’re ok to “burn daylight” watching a movie or taking a nap.

Time limitations force us to restructure work so it can fit into the schedule.
They also help us work less, or at least, spend less of our time in “work mode”.

What we lose ignoring deadlines

Giving ourselves something to lose is the best way to make ourselves respect a time limit. What are we missing out by lingering at the office after hours?

Think about it… if we get home early –or in time, we could enjoy a movie with our family or spouse, relax at home and cook a special meal, or give some time and attention to that side project…

But no… we’re wasting all those opportunities by doing last minute work we could have done earlier in the day.

Creating reasonable deadlines

Parkinson’s Law has high practical value.

It helps us cut down lost ours in which we could be doing something else, and it keeps us away from the guilt and stress that always follow wasted time.

However, when first starting to apply this rule, it’s likely to feel overzealous and set impossible deadlines in an effort to work faster. This doesn’t work. It only gives us more stress as we try to meet the time limit, thus reducing the quality of our work.

The point of the deadline is to cut down on stress and wasted time, not to wrestle with the clock.

If a task requires 10 hours of work, let’s have it done in 10 hours. If we can do it in 9, great; but it’s also ok if we have it in 11. That extra hour isn’t wasted time; it’s a buffer for unexpected events like an urgent request, a phone call, loss of concentration and even a moment to relax.

Deadlines can help us reduce some of the wasted time and the stress we tend to accumulate in our working days, and it can also help us do more than we thought possible.

So, if you’re interested in optimizing your performance, keep the following in mind:

• Always define your work ahead, and set a deadline

• Think about what you can lose if you miss on the deadline

• Is your deadline realistic? If not, give it some extra thought and figure it out.

And remember, time limits are a tool to help you out, not something to fight against.

Stay strong!

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca

The Holiday Season, a Time for Retrospection

The Holiday Season is upon us again, and so I invite you to reflect upon the concept of Christmas and New Year.

Christmas is not only a place of celebration and joy; it’s a time to consider the less fortunate, a time to think of how others struggle in life, and also to recognize where we have also struggled before, and feel grateful for our current position.

That sense of growth that comes from reviewing our own progress is crucial for developing the kind of habits that will allow us to move forward and strive. 

Take a look at this year coming to an end, and ask yourself the following questions (you can actually use them as guidance in a text file and write actual answers in it, not just think them in your mind):

What goals did you set at the beginning of the year and actually accomplished?

Where did you fall short?

Was it something you gave up right after your first failure?

Was there any other way you could have approached your goal in order to succeed?

Was there anyone who could have helped reach that goal?

Did you take constant action on that goal?

If not, why? 

We all have goals, but most of us chase after them with our big-talk ego, and little or no action and progress.

We like to be recognized for the plan we layout to chase after them, but usually fell short on tangible results because we don’t put actions where our mouths were… or using the words of Top Gun movie Commander: “our ego is writing checks our body can't cash”; we don’t put the work in and stay determined. We tend to stop altogether at the first sign of failure and throw our dream aside because of that obstacle.
We need to remember that those “obstacles” are there to strengthen us, to forge us in the kind of people we need to become in order to achieve that goal.

It is essential to frequently assess where we are and take responsibility for the options we have in order to adjust our course and build momentum to get where we want to be.

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca