I used to hate the holidays—but now I love them and here's why you should, too

The holiday season is in full force. It’s a time for most people to go shopping, be inactive, and overindulge, which means it’s critical for you to stay hyper-focused and not take your eye off your massive goals. Navigating holiday interferences is a challenge for everyone, even the most productive and successful people. We live in a world that is already full of distractions—but adding Thanksgiving and Christmas through the New Year and everything in between to the mix, can truly turn your world into a state of chaos and missed opportunities.

Even if you don’t participate in these holidays, your employees, co-workers, customers, clients and others around you probably do. In order to keep up your massive 10X levels of action stop thinking of the holidays as a vacation or time of year where you don’t have to remain productive.

Here are 5 tips to remain focused through the holidays:

1. List all possible distractions: Create two columns on one sheet of paper. In column A, list the things that won’t ever contribute to your production. In column B list the distractions and activities you must do—the ones that add value to your family, church, community, etc. Now, avoid all activities in column A. It’s that simple and seeing it on paper will increase your awareness of these potential and meaningless distractions.

2. Remove ALL white space from your calendar: You should be so busy that you don’t know what day it is. Stacking your days is a must, especially during this time. The days in December that are free from holiday distractions must be filled with calls, meetings, and goals. Establish a policy that during those no-distraction days you will commit to new levels of action. When people complain that they, “haven’t seen you around,” you know you’re on the right track. The more productive you are, the less distracted you’ll be.

3. Create time instead of managing it: Divide each hour into four 15-minute blocks of time and see how much you can complete in each 15-minute block. Work fast and furiously to see how much you can accomplish—make it a game. When you start to approach time this way, you start to move from one thing to the next with little room for disruption.

4. Share your seasonal strategy: The more people that know about your commitment and dedication the better off you will be. Ask those closest to you to agree contractually to support you. Let your friends, family and colleagues know your goals and that you need their help and support. They will want to see you achieve what you set out to do.

5. Get obsessed!: The only way to eliminate any distraction is to get completely obsessed. This method will cause everyday distractions to seemingly disappear. This is when you don’t even hear the TV or other noise going on around you.

It’s simple, those consumed by distractions choose these experiences over freedom. Successful people distinguish themselves from the rest because they are willing to sacrifice the experience in order to build a future and fully utilize the time they have.

My goal is to help you commit to achieving financial freedom and security for your family. Right now I am offering—for a limited time—LIFETIME ACCESS to Cardone University. This deal will go away at the price being offered very soon. Take advantage and invest in yourself. That new fancy pen won’t make you any money.

Be Great,

GC

Grant Cardone is an American entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, speaker, motivator and online sales training expert. Cardone is a respected, highly regarded master salesperson whose passion is to teach people how to sell themselves, their products and services regardless of economic climate. His books, audio packages and seminars provide people of all professional backgrounds with the practical tools necessary to build their own economies towards the path to true freedom.

“Success is your duty, obligation, responsibility."