In the constant swirl of activity and demands in life and work today, do you ever lose track of what really matters most?
One of the biggest challenges for the leaders, top professionals, and senior executives that I work with is keeping their focus and efforts on their most important priorities and outcomes.
The first question to start every meeting should be: “What are the most important results we’re here to accomplish?”
The ability to have consistent clarity, focus, and impact on your top priorities is one of the signs of a highly successful leader – and a person who is far more likely to be fulfilled in their work.
One of the most powerful keys to success in doing this is having consistent, regular “thinking time.” You need a minimum of 15 minutes per day for real “thinking time.” This is where you reflect on critically important questions that take you to a higher – and better – level of decision-making. After all, the quality of your decision-making determines how successful and influential you are going to be!
How well and frequently are you reflecting on and answering these questions:
How clear am I about where we are and where we are going, including:
– What am I most grateful for that is happening now?
– What is working best – that could be leveraged more?
– What are the biggest challenges – that need to be mitigated?
How do these influence the choice of my priorities for today, this week, and this month?
What are the top 3 priorities I am going to focus on and advance for:
– This year
– This quarter
– This month
– This week
– Today
What decisions need to be made today to achieve my priorities for this week?
This practice, simple as it is, is one of the absolutely most important and valuable prioritizing processes that will make you clearer, sharper, more effective, and successful.
Try it for four weeks and experience the level of results that will amaze you when you do this well.
You might notice that the very first question in thinking time is “What am I most grateful for.” Gratitude is one of the most essential states of mind – and being – to have consistently and often. I know that gratitude is the precursor to joy (which is very important to me).
We all owe it to ourselves to be able to experience gratitude internally and to be able to show it to those around us who are important in our life and work as well.
