PROCESS– What is my next step?

What this is about:

  • Success is not about ‘tricks’,short-cuts, or luck. It’s about building yourself up through sustained effort.
  • Taking action. Move towards your goals incrementally every day even if you can’t see the entire path.
  • Habit is greater than willpower. Build up habits and routines which will be easier to sustain than to use your willpower. 

Why it matters:

  • Productivity. You will define a process that will allow you to maximize the productivity of your time and effort.
  • Progress. You will make progress daily, weekly, monthly, annually towards your vision. 
  • Impact. The impact you will have is the cumulative result of your sustain effort.

Prompts for Reflection:

  • The three actions I could take this week to bring me closer to my goals are…

 

  • The three habits I need to develop in my life are…

 

  • The three people I will tell about my goals, who can hold me accountable are…

 

  • The three things I need to do less of in order to make time for working on my goals are…

 

Exercises:

  • Wake Up at a Regular Time: Set a time. 6:00 am? 7:00 am? 8:23 am? It doesn’t matter. When you wake up at a regular time, it begins to put your whole body into a rhythm. If possible, routinize the first thirty minutes of your day. It also helps preserve your stamina for making decisions because you don’t waste a lot of energy worrying about trivial things like when you should get up.
  • Plan Your Week: Before your week starts (or at the beginning of the week), review your schedule. There are 168 hours in that week. Think about the most important things to get done in that time frame Three to five things. Block out the time in your 168 hours to do those. Then hold those times sacrosanct. In writing this book, I had to block out a number of hours every week for writing. In time, the book was completed.
  • Inventory Your Activities: Every once in a while (e.g. monthly), take an inventory of how you spend your time. See if some bad habits have crept in. Monitor especially time on social media, video games, and TV. In the professional environment, monitor the projects and meetings you are involved with. Think to yourself: What are the three things I need to do less of in order to make time for the three things I need to do more of?

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