Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

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:

We're going to finish the quotes on FOCUS this month.

For me, this quote from Tim Ferriss is powerful. There are many ways to say this...

"Learn to say NO"

"It's not what you say YES to that matters, it's what you say NO to."

"If the devil can't make you BAD he'll make you BUSY"

Ferriss is simply reminding us that being busy isn't the goal. It's finding alignment: Vision - Priorities - Goals - Focus... that get us where we need to be.

My son shared the Tim Ferriss book with me, The-4 Hour Work Week, while he was in college. I hadn't followed Ferriss, but I dove into his book which just affirmed some things that were important in my life:

  • The idea that my best results come from about 20% of my efforts (80/20 Principle)

  • The idea that a traditional work schedule doesn't have to be the only way to achieve my goals. If I would learn to work smarter on the most important things, I would achieve my goals faster.

  • The idea of a "lifestyle design" to my life, where I'm not working so I can enjoy my retirement years, I'm working and enjoying life along the way. It's not a deferred plan.

These ideas challenged me, and were backed up in my Kingdom Calling, which is what I believe God has put me on the earth to do!

We often measure peoples success with their level of being busy instead of being effective.

While the tagline of Ferriss' book sounds like it provides a way for you to "work less, travel the world, and get wealthy", the book is really about focus and while all of concepts aren't applicable to everyone, there are some really good thoughts that come out of this that will get you thinking.

How do you use the power of "NO" to keep you focused on your priorities, and not just being busy?

DEEPER STILL:

Talking about FOCUS and actually doing it are different things.

I'm reminded that Jesus said NO. He was the Messiah, and he loved people, and he was available, and he was focused, and he accomplished what he was sent here to do.

But he said NO.

Read this article that tells more about this HERE.

In the midst of a storm, he slept.

In the midst of chaos, he slipped away to pray.

With pressure to perform, he stuck to his purpose.

Don't be afraid of how others will respond to the decisions you make that are important to you. Communicate well. Be gentle. Be consistent, but make the decision!

What do you need to say NO to today, that will bring you back to your priorities?

 

Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:

Source: www.leadermundial.org