Stop Starting and Start Finishing!

Confession time, my friends. For many years, I have coached my clients to minimize the number of things they’re doing at the same time.?I preached that the Scrum value of #focus would help them to deliver at a record-setting pace. And, yet, I had a dark secret. I was not managing my own Work In Progress (WIP) well. In fact, I managed it badly!

My excessive workload through the years led me to abandon the #Agile value of running at a?#SustainablePace while also not meeting my personal and corporate goals. This excessive workload often came at the expense of being away from my family altogether or, even when I was "with the family" physically, I was a distracted husband and father. As my loving family would sometimes share with me, "You're here in body, but not in mind!" Ouch.

Focusing is so haaaard!

Here's one simple example of how #WIP can get out of control. How many times has this scenario played out in your own life: A colleague excitedly asks you “Have you heard of the latest book called (fill in the blank)?”?Answer: “No, I haven’t, but I’m going to check it out right now!” Wow, can't tell you how many audiobooks I’ve bought over the years, only to abandon them! Ugh!

This specific example went on for me for many years until one day a dear friend of mine, Michael Barone, told me he read 50 books per year! I knew that was a lot and then it struck me that was almost one per week! I knew that this was #Focus and #WIPLimits in action and was inspired to change things.?Of course, he had a couple book recommendations for me, too. This time, though, I intently listened to them … one-at-a-time!

It Would Take a Miracle

Sadly, the curse of not focusing on finishing what I already purchased slowly crept back into my routine.?That's like life, though, right? It's filled with fits and starts. I really wanted things to be different. Not just different, though. Better. I wanted better. Better for myself. Better for my family. Better for my businesses, too. I tried having a coach for several months. I remember having weekly checkins with her during that time and even made measurable progress for fourteen weeks in a row. She said that she, in all her years of practice, had never seen fourteen weeks of unbroken progress! While that was super encouraging, I ultimately fell back into my old ways. Yeah, I felt like breaking out of this rut was like the scene out of The Princess Bride when Miracle Max said, "It would take a miracle!" Well, that break-out opportunity came when I noticed one of the long-forgotten books in my audiobook queue: The Miracle Morning! The author, Hal Elrod, talked about how reading just a little bit of a book every day would easily lead you to read quite a few books in a year.

This second round of encouraging to “push through” on just one book at a time was just the nudge that I needed.?I was so tired of starting and not finishing that I've started setting my alarm clock to routinely go off at 5am. Sometimes I’m up naturally now even before the alarm goes off – I love that!?The change is so radical that I look at my mirror in the morning and, just like Inigo Montoya asked the Dread Pirate Roberts, I ask myself ...

Who are you?!?

In addition to TMM, I have completed two wonderful coaching books in the last nine days! As a result, I now get to share with you some book recommendations! I’ll start with three books that I strongly recommend: The Coaching Habit, Humble Inquiry, and, of course, The Miracle Morning.?

Oh, yeah, and as Steve Jobs used to say, “One more thing …”?The most important book that my friend recommended is called Indistractable. It is chock full of wonderful ideas on #Focus and I, daily, use its lessons for my smartphone usage. Hint: Turn off all but the most critical notifications if you want to read a book per week!

In summary, here are three things to consider for your own self-improvement …

1. Read (or listen to) a few minutes of a book every day
2. Get up earlier than usual to have time for #1 (and so much more!)
3. Turn off notifications to enable you to be successful in doing #1

Has this article been helpful to you? What was the most valuable takeaway for you? Your feedback is important to me and will inspire me in the direction to write my next article.

Till then, stay safe, stay agile … and Make a Difference in this World that we share together!

In His Service,

Brian Wills

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