It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Greetings to you!
Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.
Russ...
LEADERSHIP QUOTE:
"Focus on being productive instead of busy." Tim Ferriss
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
I've shared this quote in the past, but it was a really good reminder this past week for me.
My calendar is heating up, my task list is piling up, my inbox is filling up, my goals are stalling, my dreams are getting fuzzy, my discipline is waning, and I'm feeling overwhelmed and under-engaged.
And we're still in January!
I'm not sure if you can relate to this or not.
I read this past week that the second Friday in January is called "Quitters Day". This is the day that people give up on their New Years resolutions and settle into another year of unmet goals and hopes. The gyms begin to empty out and people just quit.
The quote from Ferriss was a great reminder to me to not focus on all that I need to get done and accomplish, but to focus on the things that are most important, and this is where we get lost and where we lose sight of what we're aiming for.
Today, I want to encourage you to not be overwhelmed by the lists and tasks but to be inspired by the things that actually help you move towards the direction you want to be heading into.
Don't quit! You've made it past Quitters Day.... keep going!
What's one thing you can do today to re-focus, re-align, and re-engage with your purpose?
DEEPER STILL:
I've been sharing a few of the basic tools I use when I do a LifePlan with someone. In a normal LifePlan, there are 22 different tools that help to define perspective and help you to figure out what is most important now. I'm sharing just a couple of them this month with you, but when you put the 22 tools together, it creates a powerful roadmap to the future you are creating and being called into.
I'll share 2 more tools with you this month.
Today it's a simple question that will help you respond with what I shared first in this email.
As you move through the LifePlan Process, you get to a point where you ask a simple question, and it's really the foundation of how the LifePlan moves from charts on a wall into your life.
The question is: What's Important Now? We call these a WIN.
Today, I'm sure there is much on your plate to do and focus on, but when you apply this question, how do those things shuffle out?
When you ask What's Important Now?:
You intentionally push some things down the line because they don't need to be dealt with now, or they're not as urgent as other things.
You focus on 6 - 10 items that are the most important, and you zero in on accomplishing them or moving towards them with clarity & focus.
You find out that there are some things on your list that aren't important, and you just move them off forever. That's a great feeling.
You learn to celebrate the WINS... When you're focused on the most important things today, there's a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes with that.
Today, spend some time defining what your WINs are: What's Important Now and start with that!
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
I'm still reading this book, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. I've actually slowed down the reading because I don't want to miss many of these life & leadership principals!
I read a couple of chapters from this book that was written in 1998 by C. Gene Wilkes, Jesus on Leadership. I really appreciated the conversation about true servant leadership.
I enjoy reading Sharon's perspective on intagram at sharonsaysso and I've enjoyed listening to a number of her podcasts, "Here's Where It Gets Interesting".
I enjoyed listening to Juan Luis Guerra Essentials album this week.
I'm been playing with this TIMER on my desk over the past few weeks and have used it when I need to focus on a project or task. Really interesting to have a clock ticking in front of your face and to know that you're not going to switch gears until the task is complete or the timer is down.