Personal Effectiveness

It is loud, it is deafening and there is no denying the profound impact of the buzzing of present-day living. Words such as resilience, afloat, pivot, transition and reemergence have dominated the business environment in recent times; KPIs have doubled, and even tripled as businesses strive to stay relevant in a super-fast-paced technology-driven world.

Have you ever felt stretched to the limits as you navigate through the twists and turns of the endless strings of demands, asks and deliverables of each work day? How many personal dreams and aspirations have you shelved as you struggle to find yourself and make a meaning of the bubble we seem to be floating helplessly in? It is so easy to get caught up in life’s maze of ‘pressing needs’ that we lose sight of ourselves, who we are, why we are here and what we truly stand for. In this article, I have shared a few tips to help you realign with your inner self and begin your journey to personal effectiveness.

Personal effectiveness is a firm decision to deploy and maximize all the resources available to you, that is, your talents, skills, strengths, time, energy, network and money to gain mastery of your life and to fulfil your life’s mission. If you have not clearly articulated your life’s mission before, take a moment now and ask yourself what your life’s mission is. Write down that one thing that when accomplished will bring you the most joy. Identifying your mission in life is the first place to begin your journey to personal effectiveness.

Here is a simple exercise: on your notepad, write down letter A, then draw a horizontal line to another point, point B. Point A represents where you are right now, while point B represents where you want to be; take note of the gap between the two points. The gap represents different things for different persons; it could be time (which may be years), skills, network, money or a combination of these. List all the resources that are currently at your disposal under point A; take into account how old you are right now and how many more active years you believe you have to accomplish your mission.????????????????

Under point B, list all the resources you currently do not have but require to accomplish your mission. This gives you a clearer picture of the gap between where you are and where you want to be. To close this gap, begin with a clearly written Personal Mission Statement (PMS). Your PMS includes your mission and the steps you would take to get from point A to point B while paying careful attention to the values that matter to you. Your PMS should be very simple and clear. Then, set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to get started in the right direction.

For instance, if you need to build a new network or expand your current network to include people who are already accomplished in the area of your mission or an area that is similar to your mission, do not just say I want to make new connections; a SMART goal would read something like: I would expand my network to include 5 new connections that have already done or have A, B, C, by the end of Q3, 2021. This way, you know that within the specified period, you would have researched, and connected with 5 new persons whom you would have spoken to about mentorship or requested a time with to share your dream and have them advise you on how to get ahead.

Got fears?

Take a moment and write down that thing you are scared will hinder you from accomplishing your mission. Then, think carefully and deeply, and write down what you have that you can leverage right now to confront your fear –make it bold and let it be your main focus.

To gain mastery of your life is to have a comprehensive knowledge about yourself, the way you think, what triggers certain emotions, for example, what energizes you and what makes you sad, and being able to leverage this knowledge to make advancements even in difficult situations. So, to be effective in your personal life, you need to maximize everything you have at your disposal to move from where you are now to where you want to be. Here are a few tips to help you:

1.???Take care of yourself: in order to accomplish your mission, amongst others, you need your body to be in good shape, so take care of yourself, eat well, eat healthy, rest well, exercise and stay fit, practice personal hygiene, smell fresh, stay clean, these things have a way of boosting your confidence. Declutter so you can think clearly and also receive fresh ideas. Stay away from everything that stirs negative emotions.

2.???Do not focus on what you do not have now: remember, the idea is to leverage what you already have to get what you don’t have, not to worry about what you don’t have. So, practice intentional gratitude, be grateful for what you already have and stay focused on your journey to abundance.

3.???Stay disciplined: hold yourself accountable; no one has ever won any medal by being slothful, trust me, you will not break that record! So, get to work and be deliberate about it.

4.???Stay focused: do not be distracted by what others are doing; all the people you know who are doing amazing things are all working towards their own mission, celebrate them, but stay focused and pursue your own mission in your own unique way.

5.???Learn to prioritize: identify what really matters and focus on it; remember how much time you have and don’t forget that every minute counts, so spend your time on things that are really worth your time.

6.???Don’t be hard on yourself: I did say hold yourself accountable, but do not be critical of your efforts. Celebrate small wins. You alone know where you are right now, so when you make progress, be your own loudest cheerleader and stay in high spirit as much as possible. Finally,

7.???Do not give up: this may sound trite, but I tell you, it can never be overemphasised. If you miss the mark, do not stay there, try again and keep moving. Never give up on yourself.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

-Albert Einstein

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Amidst, the brouhaha, endeavour to take decisive and deliberate steps towards your goal, do not be discouraged!

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