Gas before Lattes ... a cautionary tale!

A cautionary tale about FOCUS, PRIORITIZING and OVER-SCHEDULING!

 Now we all know I am tough, but I am not a magician. Try as I might, not even I can get from Nashville to Atlanta by sheer WILL alone. There is a certain amount of preparation, planning, scheduling, googling, and forethought that is required if you are going to do Three Cities, Six Appointments, Seven Phone Clients, Three Hotel Rooms, and Two Planes (two different cities) in FOURTY EIGHT HOURS!

 Guys, it is not enough to just WING IT! TRUST ME!!!! APPLE PLAY, GOOGLE MAPS, and the STARBUCKS APP are not going to SAVE YOU NOW!

 YOU are going to have to APPLY LOGIC and ACTUALLY THINK somewhere along the line.

 THAT IS, if you WANT to reach your DESTINATION.

 IRONICALLY, on my first coaching call, We ACTUALLY discussed working together to create a CHECK LIST before events to ENSURE we don’t FORGET any CRUCIAL ELEMENTS for achieving success!

 BOY, as I sat stranded and sweltering on yet another strip of lonely highway, yes Dear Reader this is a pattern, I longed for that CHECK LIST!

 It SHOULD have read:

 GAS

LATTE

DIRECTIONS/ADDRESS

FOOD/WATER

PLAYLIST/AUDIOBOOKS

 

NOT:

 

LATTE

DIRECTIONS/ADDRESS

FOOD/WATER

PLAYLIST/AUDIOBOOKS

 

How could I miss such a CRUCIAL element?

 You got it folks, “FOCUS, PRIORITIZING, and OVER-SCHEDULING”!

 In my case, you can throw in an over- dependence on ELECTRONICS too!

 Trust me, next time I set out on a journey I will ask myself the following questions:

 What am I missing?

What am I forgetting?

Does this schedule pass the LOGIC TEST?

I invite you to do the same!

 So, what’s a busy girl or guy supposed to do?

 Try as you might you cannot fit Ten pounds in a Five-pound bag!

 You are going to need to FOCUS, PRIORITIZE and my favorite SCHEDULING TIP, EMPTY NOT FILL.

 Here are my tips for Navigating your way back home!

 BUT DOES IT PASS THE LOGIC TEST?

 If you have to ask this question chances are it doesn’t!

 If you have to QUESTION it. PSYCHOANALYSIS it.

CALL to discuss it with MULTIPLE friends.

It requires THREE Wardrobe Changes. MULTIPLE Layers.

Crosses TWO Time Zones.

It doesn’t fit in the OVER-HEAD BIN.

IF you are asking yourself the same questions YEAR after YEAR!?

 Then folks ...

 IT DOES NOT PASS THE LOGIC TEST!

 Oh, the time and trouble I could have saved if I simply applied this SIMPLE rule!

 I have raised a family, lead teams, coached clients, mentored many, rolled out multiple successful product launches and implemented more initiatives than I can remember! Nothing, I mean NOTHING, gives people reason to PAUSE more than when I ask them if what they are doing PASSES THE LOGIC TEST!

 APP APPRECIATION NOT DEPENDENCE!

 I LOVE me iPhone- I REALLY do!

 I love that I can read on it. LISTEN to music. STAY connected-TOO CONNECTED. Do my work. Manage SOCIAL MEDIA. Watch TV. BUY SHOES. Book a Flight. Change a Hotel. Google Directions- Avoid Speed Traps- not great in my case ??!

 Order a Latte at any Starbucks-in any city- be lead there by GPS- and it will be waiting on the counter- WITH EXTRA ICE!

 Essentially, you can leave for a trip with nothing but your Phone. Not a CLUE of your agenda. What a Foreshadow of what might lay ahead!

 DOES THIS PASS THE LOGIC TEST?

 OF COURSE NOT!!

 As I sat sweltering Gas-less on the side of the road I contemplated what good my FANCY APPS & APPLE PAY would do since I had NO GAS to get to the next station. Sadly, they ALL would be irrelevant.

 Further, once I got gas I wouldn’t have a CLUE what to do next or where to go, because my phone would be DEAD!

 THE POWER OF NO

 NO IS A FULL SENTENCE!

 It helps set BOUNDARIES. Build SELF -CONFIDENCE. Engender RESPECT.

 Helps us PRIORITIZE.

 SAVES US EMBARRASSMENT!

 NO VULNERABILITY from committing to things we DON’T KNOW or SHOULD NOT!

NO OPENING ourselves to LATENESS from OVER SCHEDULING

 Bonus: No Double Booking!

 SAY NO ENOUGH and People WILL LEARN NOT to take you for GRANTED!

 WE don’t owe anybody anything- unless of course they EARN IT!

 THE FOCUS 5

 So how do you keep the FOCUS?

 NOT over schedule?

 Complete EVERYTHING, (or ALMOST everything, on your to do list?)

 How do you avoid getting DERAILED?

 TRIPPING over a LAND-MINDS?

 NOT end up STRANDED on the side of the road?

For this I have created the FOCUS FIVE!

I ask myself each month, week and day, “WHAT IS MISSION CRITICAL” for,

 My PERSONAL Success?

 The SUCCESS of my COMPANY?

 The Success of my LOVE ONES and FAMILY?

 The BETTER GOOD?

 When I create my list for WORK I ask myself:

 Will it enable me to hit my GOALS?

Hit the NUMBERS?

Is it In-Line with CORPORATE CULTURE? OPERATIONAL SOUND?

FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE?

 NEW QUESTIONS ???? HEALTHY? SUSTAINABLE?

 Is there an opportunity for CHARITABLE GIVING?

 But Wait.......

 I ALMOST forgot?

 Will it enable me to LIVE IN BALANCE?

 IS IT NECESSARY?

CAN IT WAIT?

WHO WILL IT HURT?

 The success of my loved ones and family is A GIVEN.

 It is the center of all I do.

 In fact, it is WHY I DO what I DO. SO, they can DO what they DO!

 And that my friends is the HEART of the PROBLEM!

 The CULPRIT in this SAD and WINDING TAIL!

 The FUEL in the FIRE of over-scheduling.

 For ME, and I bet MANY of YOU!

 MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY!

 Putting OTHERS FIRST!

 Thinking We CAN DO IT ALL!

 Thinking We CAN HAVE IT ALL!

 We OVER-SCHEDULE so we can get MORE TIME doing the things WE LOVE with the ones WE LOVE.

 More times than not something GOES WRONG. Someone gets MAD. We are LATE or DON’T make it due to TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. (Road Warriors Unite)

 Sometimes we are LUCKY!

 Nothing GOES WRONG!

 We GET THERE.

 We FALL ASLEEP sitting up.

 WE ARE EXHAUSTED!

 If you know me you HAVE SEEN ME DO THIS! It’s an ART FORM. (I will DENY it!)

 MORAL: FOCUS-CHOOSE WISELY-IT CAN WAIT!

 EMPTY NOT FILL?

 When I was a little girl I loved the game where you would guess how many jelly beans there where in the jar! Logic, Chance and Fun all wrapped up in a pretty jar of bright colors. I often won.

 Not this time Folks!

 Let’s ponder? How many CVS’s, Shoes Stores, ULTA’s & Malls are there between Nashville, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia? (There is a boat load of Gas Stations too by the by, but we have moved past that!)

 So, I ask you, what would have happened if I did not LUG that HUGE, CUMBERSOME, BRIGHT, I mean BRIGHT HEAVY RED bag which required

KNEE BENDING, SQUATTING,

HEAVY LIFTING, DRAGGING, SCHLEPPING, HEAVING & HOEING! You get the point.

 NOTHING!

 Did we not forget the LOGIC TEST?

 I was in three cities, in two day. I saw Twelve different people at Six different organizations. Truth be told, I could have worn the same darn thing both days! Who’d have known? I am sure none of them called each other after I left to discuss what I was wearing! One dress was even REVERSIBLE

I mean seriously, where is the logic here people?

 THE REVIEW MIRROR:

 I would love to say that this part of the story is hypothetical. Mystical in a way! That I am making it up to embellish the story.

Sadly, I am not. It is TRUE!

 I wake up each morning with great ENTHUSIASM.

 In fact, there are folks out there that will not talk to me until they have finished their morning coffee and read the paper!

 A good-night sleep under my multiple choice of belts, I am ready to start a new!

 Time to leave yesterday in the past!

 This week’s problems behind me.

 I head out ready to seize the day.

 UNTIL I got to my car....

 My REVIEW MIRROR Is hanging by a string!

 Is this a joke? How did this happen?

 OR

 Is this a SIGN!

 Recently, I have been having trouble with ACCEPTANCE & MOVING ON.

 A wise Friend kept reminding me to keep things in PERSPECTIVE.

 The PRESENT should be my FOCUS!

 The PAST belongs it in the REVIEW MIRROR!

 What’s done is done.

 You must LEARN from it.

GROW from it.

MOVE ON.

 DAY IS DONE:

 Rental Car returned.

FINALLY settled in an uber.

MORE than READY to leave this SORTED AFFAIR behind me.

 The sky falls in as we pull into the airport!

If you are a Road Warrior like me you know what that means.

 You are #%*?!

 Translation: You are not going anywhere!

 As I lug my very large monstrosity of a bag (We have been over this) to the counter to discuss my limited options my patience is dwindling.

 As you see I have been here before.

 At this point I could care less what my options are as long as one got me back to New York!

 The Women behind the counter APOLOGIZED because she could ONLY put me on standby BUT couldn’t guarantee that my bag would make it back to NY.

 You could imagine her shock when I jump over the counter, hugged her and shouted, “Sign Me Up”!

 I clicked off my heals, threw on my flip flops, waved good-bye to my bag, (which could be forever), and crossed my fingers as I skipped off into the Sunset.

 And this my dear readers is why your are suffering through a week of Time Management & Priotritization Tips :)