The Golden Key To Life: Focus and Commitment.
“The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
a Life that Matters.
Last week we discussed the connection between your Will Power and your Results.
Without question, the Results you actually GET in the TIME you have will determine your ultimate success or failure.
Want greater success?
Consistently produce greater Results!
This week our focus is on the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done your very best.
If you have, day-by-day, achieved the best that is in you, what more is there?
That’s right, nothing.
However, you owe it to your life to actually give your best—consistently.
You owe it to yourself, and everyone around you, to make absolutely certain that you are operating at peak performance… putting your God-given gifts and talents to their highest and best use.
Nothing less will guarantee the life you want for you, your friends and family. Yes, you owe your best to not just YOU, but everyone around you.
This Week’s Lesson In Excellence…
If you want to produce better results this week, you can.
Learn to take highly focused actions based on your core priorities.
How? Easy!
Simply print off this TQ Lesson Plan, and take a few minutes each day to not only THINK about these ideas for action… but put these ideas into ACTION.
Then, take a moment each day to ANSWER the “Today’s Question”, and see how other people have responded as well.
This will give you specific guidance for living a life of RESULTS, not REGRETS!
By committing to this simple, yet highly effective daily regimen, you will take your performance to the level… not Someday… but now!
Focus On The Important… Not The Urgent…
To achieve your dreams… to maintain balance in the heat of the battle… to know that you have done the best you could given the circumstances you faced… requires you to focus on the important, and not be consumed by the urgent.
This is a major driver of success, both personally and professionally. It is not hard to focus, if you know what’s important to you, and what’s not.
Focusing on First Things First.
Last week, I asked you to take a minute a WRITE out what you hope to accomplish next year. What will make you feel GREAT next year at this time when you look back on the year that was?
Now I want you to explain to yourself WHY this is so IMPORTANT to you.
FAMILY ___________________________________________________
Important Because______________________________________
FRIENDS __________________________________________________
Important Because______________________________________
YOURSELF ___________________________________________________
Important Because______________________________________
Look closely at what you have written down.
How are you going to move these hopes off this page and into your life? The simple answer: By constantly remaining focused on the important, and not permit life’s urgencies to wear you down and wear you out.
Right now your list is only a list. It is a reflection of what you HOPE you will achieve.
Last week, I asked you to question the VALUE of this list… BEFORE you invest a year of your life pursuing it. Assuming you did this, I now want you to FOCUS.
Prioritize Factor 6a asks if you “prioritize your life by choosing what’s most important rather than what’s most urgent?”
Do you?
The simple fact is, when you prioritize your life, you determine where your time will produce the most rewarding and satisfying results.
Base these priorities on your personal list of values, goals, and commitments. (If you don’t have this written list, do your Mission workshop now.)
Urgency is a quality given to something requiring immediate attention — regardless of its relative value.
You can spend years chasing down one urgency after another.
Or, you can focus on top priorities and ensure that what’s most important to you actually shows up in your life.
By choosing priorities over urgencies, you stop reacting to circumstances and start creating a life of power, passion, and purpose.
Factor 6A’s CONTRIBUTION to your performance…
A high commitment to this Factor of your performance suggests that you prioritize your life based on things that mean the most to you. You consistently make the right choices between the urgent — and what’s most important. You apply your life’s priorities to every situation — from how you’re going to spend the day — to those crucial decisions that determine your future.
Sometimes, you choose to put what you value most on hold while responding to more demanding events. Yet, even then, time is not diverted so long that it does any permanent harm to your highest priorities. Custom lesson plan, to improve this Factor…
“It is the mark of great people to treat trifles as trifles and important matters as important.” ~ Doris Lessing
Factor 6A’s COST to your success…
A lack of commitment suggests you are someone who can lose sight of what’s most important. Your life is often not as satisfying as you would like.
Urgencies tend to rule your day, and it may feel like there’s never enough time to do the things that are the most meaningful to you.
Long-term goals are consistently delayed, as you attend to more urgent demands in your life. You also tend to put off your favorite dreams indefinitely, while chasing down easier or more immediate payoffs.
The bottom line.
What happens when you FAIL to consistently do Factor 6A? Your goals die a slow, agonizing death from a lack of attention, focus, and action.
Look at your list of hopes again. Are they forged of fire and passion resulting in a white-hot commitment? Or do they lack the purpose and the power to shift your inner drive into overdrive?
Remaining FOCUSED on what’s important, every single day, is part of doing your best…
When you are committed to your personal best—day in day out—you will live a life of abundance and accomplishment.
Uncommitted and unfocused equals a life that simply doesn’t matter.
Remember, your family lives on the RESULTS you produce. Time measures you by the RESULTS you produce.
So, take action to produce better RESULTS. Do it today! What’s holding you back? — E.R. Haas, CEO
Category: Personal Growth
