Have you ever had that day that just gets away from you? Maybe you were frustrated by not doing something. The results? The outcome? Maybe, just maybe, you have gotten to the point where you just “don’t have time” to do something.
I remember when I came to Southwestern there was one thing I told myself over and over again— I just didn’t have time. I let it consume me. It was not a great cycle to be in. The thing is, I didn’t know I had the ability to change that cycle.
However,YOU have the ability to change that. Only you. Everything you say YES to, you say NO to something else
Now, we have all heard we all have the same amount of time in the day. Ask yourself, are you doing everything you can to maximize that time? What does that even mean?
Really, let’s take a good hard look at this. Where are you wasting time? Be honest with yourself.
Whether it be in life, or it be in business, there are 3 things we can control each and every day. This is part of looking at your day and telling yourself, “I’m going to pack as much stuff into my day as humanly possible.” When we walk out at the end of the day, we don’t have to say…”that one got away from me.”
So what are these things?
Activity
We have the ability to control how hard we work. This can be at work. This can be a workout. This can be with the family. Whatever it is for you. We control that. At work, it could be phone calls, meetings, that project. Anything actively driving business. For kids, how much activity are we putting in with them? What are we doing? Allowing electronics to do the job or is it puzzles, sledding, coloring, going to games? Whatever it is in your family. You create that. We have the ability to create how hard we work.
A wise man once said, “You always get paid for how hard you work, sometimes now, often times later, but always eventually.” This can come in so many different forms.
Attitude
What’s the first thing you say to yourself when you wake up in the morning? For me, the phrase is, “It’s going to be a great day”. If you are the person that’s saying, here we go again, just another day, ugh, I don’t want to go to work, I HAVE to, or any variation of those, I hate to break this to you. This is on you. How do I know that? I used to do the same thing. We, and only we, have the ability to change that. No one else controls our happiness. No one else dictates how we feel. They can throw you off for a bit for sure, absolutely. But, what we say to ourselves, and how we say it, that’s in our control.
Put your attitude into your effort, your activity. Not your results. When you have the right attitude around it, you will go out and do it. The results will come. I promise you that.
Schedule
Contrary to popular belief, we are the only people that can control our schedule. If we say yes to something, we say yes. If we say no, we say no. It can really be that simple. Just because you say no doesn’t make you a bad person. It means that you are choosing to do something else with that time. Something that might be a higher priority. If you are staying late at work because you are trying to do too much, maybe you have kids at home you are saying no to.
We all have priorities in our life, every single one of us. No one is an exception to this rule. We all know what’s important to US. And that’s the key word, just because something is important to me doesn’t mean it’s important to you. If it’s on your calendar, you will do it. If it is not, you won’t. Don’t overthink this, don’t question it. Put it on your calendar and do it. If it’s not a priority, don’t do it.
If you need to say “No”, be okay with it. Control your schedule, your calendar, and you will start controlling your life as well. This is a habit you can create.
In some moments, these things aren’t always easy, but you can create this environment. You truly can. I only know because I speak from experience struggling with each and every one of these. It’s on us to decide to change it or make it happen. YOU have that ability.
IT’s a new year. Make the decision to stop running on the hamster wheel. If you aren’t where you want to be, YOU and only YOU can change that.
Brent Widman
Sales Coach
Southwestern Consulting