Do THIS First

One of the questions I’m often asked as the Black Belt Leader is how to be more successful.?I often respond to that question with an inquiry of my own,

Tell me about your daily routine.

Like many I pose this inquiry to, you may be wondering WHY I would ask about your daily routine when the question was about success.?The answer is simple, and one I’ve heard countless times quoted by my mentor, Dr. John Maxwell:

The secret to your success is found in your daily routine.

Successful people do things daily that unsuccessful people do sometimes, or not at all. ?It often comes down to a simple factor that successful people embrace, and unsuccessful people shun.?That difference maker is prioritization, organizing your day for success.?

Stephen Covey writes in his classic work, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, that successful people not only plan out their day, they organize, plan out, and prioritize their week.?One of his success habits is beginning with the end in mind.

Successful people know where they want to go, what it is they want to accomplish, and they work their way back from their desired goal, objective, or outcome to create the action steps necessary to achieve success.?It’s an effective way to break down a major project into smaller, manageable steps that allow them to measure their progress, celebrate the wins and build momentum.

Growing up as a kid and feeling of the stress of a major project at school, my Mom would often ask me how to eat an elephant.?Initially, I was surprised by that question, but once I knew the answer, it changed my perspective.?How do you eat an elephant??One bite at a time.

Let’s say you want to lose 50 pounds over the next 12 months so you look great when you attend your 25th high school reunion.?50 pounds??That’s a lofty goal.?How would successful people break this down into an achievable, manageable plan??

There are 12 months in a year, so that works out to a weight loss of only 4 pounds a month. There are 52 weeks in a year, so that works out to only 1 pound of weight loss a week.?How difficult is it to lose only 1 pound in a week??Most of us see our weight vary 2-4 pounds in a single day.?

While 50 pounds may seem like a huge, unachievable goal, but when you break it down, you can now see how easy losing 50 pounds can actually be.?Sure, there’s some work involved.?You have to reduce your caloric intake, increase your physical activity so you’re burning more calories, and over time you’ll shed the pounds.??

As you can measure each pound coming off, and celebrate the wins, you build momentum that accelerates you toward and past your goal.?

Now, let’s dig a little deeper into prioritizing your day for success.

Every day when you rise from your bed, you have a number of competing priorities, all demanding your time and attention. What separates successful people from those who live average, mediocre, lackluster lives is where they place their focus and attention.?

If you’ve ever spent time with Tony Robbins, you’ve heard him make a familiar statement: Where your focus goes, energy flows. ?Successful people focus their attention and their energy on the priorities that yield the greatest reward.

Where are you focusing your time and attention?

A success strategy often credited to Warren Buffet is The BIG Three.?The first thing you do before you go to bed is to make a list of everything you have to do tomorrow.?When you awaken, you turn your attention back to this list and circle the THREE most important things that have to be done today.?

You write these BIG Three on a separate sheet of paper and commit yourself to accomplish them before you end your day.?You then focus your time, energy, and resources to that end, and only after you finish your BIG Three, do you return to your list to find your next BIG Three.

Another approach to organizing your day for success is to break down your list of To-Dos into three categories:

Have To

Need To

Want To

Your HAVE TO list is comprised of the essential, important, and necessary things you MUST do to move you forward toward your major success goal, objective, or outcome.?

You do THIS first.

Your NEED TO list is made up of the second-tier things you should do, time permitting, to work on moving toward your secondary goals.?

Your WANT TO list is comprised of the things you would like to do, time permitting, that are simply fun, enjoyable, entertaining, or relaxing. But, these things don’t move you toward your success goals in life.

Unsuccessful people start with the easy stuff first, focusing their time and energy on getting ready to get started to do something productive later.?But at some point, you’ve got to do what needs to be done or it never gets done.

Les Brown says you don’t have to be great to start, but you’ve got to start to be great.

How many times are you going to organize your desk, check your email, scroll through your social media feed, or refill your coffee cup or water bottle before you actually start to do the things that are going to make a difference in your life??By the time you’re getting started, successful people are well into completing their BIG Three for the day.

By organizing and prioritizing your day, you can actually get more done in less time.?This is how you achieve and experience more success in life. And isn’t that what you truly want in life?

Remember, successful people do daily what unsuccessful people do sometimes, or not at all.

So, what will you differently, starting today, to create a better outcome in your life??

P.S. Grab a FREE copy of my eBook, Organization: Getting it All Together, where I share the 10 organizational tips of highly effective people.?