Sometimes I would plan my day out in advance that morning. Once in a while, I’d have an idea of what I’d do the next few days. But rarely, if ever, did I have my entire work week planned out in advance. I certainly never had an entire year planned out! What’s been most surprising is: Let me prove it.
The Difference Between Focusing And Worrying
Planning ahead and worrying about the future can sometimes sound similar, but the truth is they are worlds apart. How different they are shows up in the results. One allows you to focus and live fully in the present, doing what needs to get done while simultaneously setting yourself up for future success. The other one has you constantly thinking about the future that hasn’t happened yet. Creating stress and anxiety. Lowering your self esteem. Taking you out of the present moment and preventing you from enjoying your life. How similar do they sound now? The same way that worrying about the future creates tension and anxiety, not knowing what the future holds can create a feeling of being lost — that feeling of being in limbo. Without a clear goal and specific steps on how to reach it, everything you do can feel like walking in place.
Wake Up With Purpose
I used to wake up every day and just lay in bed, trying to figure out what I’d do that day. There was no sense of urgency to get anywhere or get anything done. There was no looking forward to the next work day because I had nothing planned. With nothing planned, it was all too easy to procrastinate, get distracted and waste an entire day doing things that were not all that important. Goals and stepping stones are crucial to the growth and life of your business. They serve as markers and sign posts, letting you know you’re going the right way. Driving cross country from California to Boston, you’d have a map. You’d have your destination set in your GPS. If you’re old school, you’d have a paper map and printed directions at the very least. If you started veering off course, you would know very quickly. You wouldn’t wait till you hit the Canadian border near Vancouver to discover you got off on the wrong exit. The thing about that example, is that it’s not even the worst case scenario. If you wasted all that time driving north to Vancouver, you could at least then ask for directions on how to go east towards Boston. Because you had a final destination to start. Without a final destination? Without an ultimate goal? Then what does it matter, you can spend your days driving around in circles, doing busy work, procrastinating, whatever. Your destination is nowhere and there are thousands of ways to get there. So what I want to show you is how to plan your work schedule the same way you would plan a road trip. You’re going to have a starting point, a final destination, and pit stops along the way. Each day, you have a certain number of miles that you aim to drive before stopping and taking a break. Rinse, repeat. Simple and effective.
Create Urgency In Advance
It’s important to have a sense of urgency when you’re working for yourself. Urgency creates productivity, which creates momentum. Momentum is what we want. How do you create urgency? Here’s one way: (You can do this for anything, by the way — not just work) This is called drilling down. You literally take your big goal and drill it down until you have bite-sized, daily, actionable steps. The 1, 3, and 6-month number serve as your stepping stones — your markers, so that you know you’re on the right path. So how do you create urgency? Take that 12-month goal and make it your 6-month goal, and drill down from there. Take your goal and give yourself half the time to accomplish it. Don’t freak out! Just try it. You’ll find that once you drill it down to daily actions, it will look very doable. Are you going to be busy? Well, yeah. Absolutely. Don’t tell me that’s a problem. Planning each week becomes the golden nugget here. Everything will depend on how well you plan out your daily tasks for each week. Your commitment is to sit down every Sunday or Monday morning, and plan your week out in advance. Featured photo credit: From Chaos To Order via flickr.com
