People who have goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s as simple as that.
—Earl Nightingale
How do you know which targets to start with? Perhaps you’ll want to choose the ones you can attain the most quickly so that you feel success sooner. Or decide which are more critical for you to reach now.
Writing down specific targets from your priorities lists will help you to focus better on your work and also will help you to focus on creating a life outside of work. Having and viewing these targets will help your brain to make better decisions about how you use your time.
NEXT STEPS
Richard put these strategies and tactics into play. He set specific targets for the various parts of his work life and personal life. He concentrated on spending a specific amount of time with his wife and kids each week. He also made it a goal to not work on business-related tasks at all during designated family time. Within a month, he was working the hours that he chose and spending the promised amount of time with his family.
• Where will you post your personal targets list?
• Where will you post your work targets list?
• When, each day (or evening), will you view these lists?
• Viewing your target lists on a daily basis has most likely not been a tactic you’ve applied regularly. How will you remind yourself to do this every day?
• Where can you store these lists so that they’re available for you to view when you need to make a decision?
• How will implementing the strategies and tactics in this chapter benefit you?
Nancy was a typical client. Before we started our sessions, she worked constantly and never took time for herself. She always had her computer on and was doing something on it. Morning…afternoon…evening…often well into the wee hours of the night. Six days a week, sometimes seven. She stayed hyped up on caffeine, drinking more cups of coffee than she could count on one hand. All her food came out of boxes or cans or restaurants. Her brain was always going a mile a minute.
One day, she had a huge proposal presentation to deliver to the C-suite of a major player in town. If she could land it, this account would be her cash cow for the next two years. She already had a lot on her plate and always seemed to address those other items first…until the day before that big presentation, she realized, “Holy cow! I need to get this together!”
She’d been up late every night that week as usual, trying to catch up on everything. This night, she stayed up until 2 AM to finish that proposal and was up at 6 AM to get ready. She was confident that she’d just developed the most awesome presentation slides ever created on this earth, and with her people-friendly personality, she knew she’d nail it.
Unfortunately, she did not nail it. Her brain was so exhausted from the lack of sleep and so blown out by caffeine that she didn’t rock the presentation. She was all over the place and didn’t exactly make sense at times. She lost the account — and her credibility with that company.
My friend Cary Corbin runs her own PR business, Corbin & Associates. In July 2014, for the first time in 10 years, she decided to get her family together for a two-week vacation in Florida.
She notified all her clients about what she was doing and tied off all loose ends before leaving. She knew she could check email on her phone in case of emergency, so she felt confident as she and her family headed off on their family vacation.
On the first Monday into the trip, she thought she’d sneak a peek at her email just to make sure that everything was still fine. She couldn’t get her email to come up on her phone! She panicked. She took the phone to her sons so that they could figure out what was wrong. They couldn’t. She could not check email! She walked around, took a deep breath, and decided, “I’m on vacation. I let everyone know ahead of time. I’m going to enjoy myself.” And she did exactly that.
When we met up after her return, she told me, “I went away for two weeks. I never checked email, never checked voicemail — and my business is still running. You know what I realized? I don’t need to work 24/7. It’s okay to slow down. My business will still be there. Not only that, but this is the most rejuvenated I’ve felt since I don’t know when!”
Vacation time is your chance to experience special moments in your life. Plus, allowing your brain to rest from work revitalizes you and allows you to make better decisions about how to use your time.
GOAL
Make your health and well-being a priority by implementing all the following tactics. Add on one at a time, at your own pace.
TACTICS
Breathe Deeply
1. Whenever you are asked to take on a new project or task, pause for a few deep breaths while looking at your calendar before making a decision about that action.
2. Whenever you are feeling stressed, pause for a few deep breaths before making a decision about that action.
3. When you get out of bed in the morning, pause for a few deep breaths, and tell yourself that today is going to be great.
4. When you slide into bed in the evening, pause for a few deep breaths, and reflect on at least one thing that happened during the day for which you’re grateful.
5. When in doubt, breathe deeply!
Sleep
1. Turn off all electronics at least 30 minutes before going to bed. Even mindless internet searches and texting activate subconscious brain sensors and keep us awake.
2. Use a real alarm clock instead of your phone.
3. Go to bed at least seven to eight hours before you need to be awake. Eventually, you’ll figure out your sweet spot — the number of hours you need to function well.
4. Eat or drink nothing but water within two hours before going to bed. This helps with both weight loss and deeper sleep throughout the night.
Eat Nutritiously
1. Yo mama was right. Eat fruits and veggies daily.
2. Increase the percentage of your from-home meals.
Hydrate
1. Drink water.
2. Eat foods like fruits and vegetables that contain water.
Walk Daily
1. Go on a walk whenever you catch yourself procrastinating.
2. Schedule a daily walk, during which time you can decompress from the day.
3. Whenever you feel stressed, go on a walk instead of reaching for food or drinks or social media.
4. When you need to make a big decision, take a deep breath, and go for a walk.
Take Breaks