Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

LEADERSHIP QUOTES

We're exploring some great quotes that will help us in our lives and leadership. If you'd like to share your favorite with me, please post on the comments section of the Blog. You can read these past posts HERE.

The format for this season is the following:

#1) LEADERSHIP QUOTE: I'm going to share a quote with you. I'd like to encourage you to think about it, respond to it, process it. You can stop here, or go to Section 2.

#2) A LITTLE BIT DEEPER: I'm going to share a couple of thoughts that come to my mind when I think about the quote. Just a short reaction from me. You can stop here, or go to Section 3.

#3) DEEPER STILL: I'm going to share something I've found from someone else: A quote, some tips, a challenge, a thought....

#4) RUSS' LIST: I'll continue to share some links, ideas, books or products that I think some of you might benefit from.

Russ

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential, eliminate the rest." Leo Babauta

What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I want to spend the next 2 weeks looking at quotes about SIMPLICITY. The reason? I tend to make things way to complicated.

This quote from Leo Babauta is the simplest way to define what simplicity is all about? How's that for a sentence....

Step One: Identify the Essential: What is critical to my purpose, my plan, my passion, my pursuit? What HAS to get done, and there's no way around it?

Step Two: Obviously, there are a bunch of things that aren't essential, but for some reason, I keep doing them.

I think the problem is that we have a hard time defining what is essential and core to our purpose.

Here's an easy way to determine what you should and shouldn't do: Make a long-list (a list of everything you think you need to do). Write it on a white board or on a piece of paper. Now, start crossing out things that you don't think are critical to your plan. Sometimes, just seeing it written down helps put it in perspective and helps you determine if it's essential or not. Try it, it actually works!

DEEPER STILL:

There's a correlation between simplification of your life and the ability to "declutter" your environment. Trust me, it's true.

Take my work desk as an example... when my desk is piled with notes, books, technology, receipts, pens, and a bunch of other things, I have a hard time thinking clearly. The mess or the chaos affects me. If I take 2 minutes and "declutter" my desk, it's amazing how easy it is to focus at the task at hand.

This can be true with many things in your life that you need to "declutter" besides the space around you:

  • Technology: Your dependence on it, your ability to have it at your fingertips at all times.

  • Relationships: Sometimes there are just too many people demanding our attention and our time. We can't be there for everyone.

  • Time: We schedule every minute with little margin or space for variations. Simplify your schedule.

  • Money: When we don't manage & control our resources, we end up chasing the details. When it's in order, it makes life easier.

Can you think of other things that need to be simplified?

Don't just TALK about doing the work of simplifying. Do the work. It will make a difference and you'll be able to see clearly where your going.

 

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

Source: www.leadermundial.org