Success Nuggets by Coach Tommy Newberry
Hey guys,
Starting today we will be posting short articles and devotionals from some of the leaders of the men's movement. This article is the first in a series called, "Success Nuggets," by Coach Tommy Newberry. Newberry is a popular writer and speaker on the topics of entrepreneurial effectiveness and marketplace integrity.
The Power of Focus
The key to high performance is plain and simple…FOCUS!
Well–meaning individuals routinely bury their potential when they busy themselves in lots of frenetic activity, most of which does not lead directly to the accomplishment of a worthwhile and written goal. To stay super-focused, be aware of these fundamentals:
1. Always think in terms of results. Never start a week without knowing the precise results that must be achieved.
2. Clarify in writing the high-return activities that qualify for your participation. These are the most necessary things that lead directly to important results. These are the activities that must be done during business hours (usually) by you and no one else. Try to schedule other necessary, but non-crucial tasks to before or after work hours. If you can, schedule a Prep Day, designated for clearing clutter and taking care of low-payback activity.
3. Identify your temptations (low-return habit patterns) in writing and post them where you can seem them constantly. If you don’t know what yours are, ask someone that works or lives with you. Trust me, they know. Write down any activity that you have previously gravitated toward or may gravitate toward in the future that won’t produce important results.
4. Gauge how well you sleep each evening. No pillow is quite as soft as the pillow of peace of mind. When you know you’ve invested your time wisely in results-producing activity (not stuff), you’re subconscious allows you to sleep soundly. On the other hand, a night of anxious tossing and turning is frequently a plea from your subconscious to get your act together and do what you know you should be doing in the first place.
5. Throughout each day, repeatedly ask yourself, what is this activity leading me to?” Never accept the first answer without a degree of skepticism. This is part of coaching yourself to your “A-Game.” Ask again, what is this activity leading me to and could there be something more valuable that I should really be doing instead?” Imagine each 15 minutes of your day is overseen and reviewed by your personal board of directors. Would they be satisfied with how you have invested your time to this point in the day? In the week?
6. Watch out for the three “Focus Killers" during work hours:
The key to high performance is plain and simple…FOCUS!
Well–meaning individuals routinely bury their potential when they busy themselves in lots of frenetic activity, most of which does not lead directly to the accomplishment of a worthwhile and written goal. To stay super-focused, be aware of these fundamentals:
1. Always think in terms of results. Never start a week without knowing the precise results that must be achieved.
2. Clarify in writing the high-return activities that qualify for your participation. These are the most necessary things that lead directly to important results. These are the activities that must be done during business hours (usually) by you and no one else. Try to schedule other necessary, but non-crucial tasks to before or after work hours. If you can, schedule a Prep Day, designated for clearing clutter and taking care of low-payback activity.
3. Identify your temptations (low-return habit patterns) in writing and post them where you can seem them constantly. If you don’t know what yours are, ask someone that works or lives with you. Trust me, they know. Write down any activity that you have previously gravitated toward or may gravitate toward in the future that won’t produce important results.
4. Gauge how well you sleep each evening. No pillow is quite as soft as the pillow of peace of mind. When you know you’ve invested your time wisely in results-producing activity (not stuff), you’re subconscious allows you to sleep soundly. On the other hand, a night of anxious tossing and turning is frequently a plea from your subconscious to get your act together and do what you know you should be doing in the first place.
5. Throughout each day, repeatedly ask yourself, what is this activity leading me to?” Never accept the first answer without a degree of skepticism. This is part of coaching yourself to your “A-Game.” Ask again, what is this activity leading me to and could there be something more valuable that I should really be doing instead?” Imagine each 15 minutes of your day is overseen and reviewed by your personal board of directors. Would they be satisfied with how you have invested your time to this point in the day? In the week?
6. Watch out for the three “Focus Killers" during work hours:
- Distractions & Interruptions-personal business, personal e-mails at work, personal phone calls at work, errands during work hours. Too many accept these as normal.
- Procrastination- Postponing high payback activity in favor of low or medium activity. Procrastination is always rationalized to make us feel better.
- Fatigue- Typically a last ditch effort by your subconscious to keep your “performance ceiling” set at the current level and lead you to procrastinate. Ever notice how tired you get when faced with an important but unappealing task?
Tommy Newberry is Head Coach of the 1% Club and author of Success is not an Accident www.1percentclub.com
posted by Drew Dyck at 10:03 AM
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