Treasure Your Dreams

Consistency: Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.

Prioritize: To put things in order of importance.

 I have a very hard time consistently prioritizing. By this, I mean consistently doing the things I KNOW will have the most impact on my day. Sometimes, I wish I could just wind myself up and I would automatically go through the day’s actions without having to constantly motivate myself to do the things I know need to be done.

Now, don’t get me wrong — I don’t spend my day lounging around on the couch with a TV remote in my hand, or sleeping in until noon, or shopping online. No — I truly do feel as if I am busy for most of the day, every day.

My only question is, busy doing what?

In this business, it is SO easy to get busy doing busy work. In other words, doing things that make you “feel” busy but don’t ever really accomplish much.

This goes back to the 80/20 rule — that 80% of the work we do accounts for 20% of our results, while 20% of the work we do accounts for 80% of our results.

My next question is; if we KNOW this, then why do we continue to waste our time on the 80%?

I know from talking with team members (downline, crossline AND upline), that I am not the only one who suffers from this “disease” — the 80% disease, I mean. Knowing this makes me all the more insistent that we find a vaccine of some kind.

Surely, there must be something.

My advice, is this (and believe me, when I say advice I mean advice to myself as much as to anyone else!):

Look at each day, as a new day; completely separate from the day before, or the day after. It’s so easy to say to ourselves “Well, I made 60 calls yesterday, so today I can take it easy.” — this kind of thinking will only hold you back.

If you look at every day individually, you won’t have the success (or in some cases, the failure) of the day before to hold you back. You become responsible for achieving success THAT day, and that day only. Then, when that day is at an end, you can ask yourself that all-important question that any of us who listen to Michael Clouse have heard over and over — “Did I keep the main thing, the main thing?”

In truth, everyone has a “main thing” — whether you are an entrepreneur, a student, an employee, a stay-at-home mom… everyone has a “main thing” that they need to do, every day, in order to be successful.

Take each day, and focus that day on keeping your main thing, the main thing.

Tonight, I had the privilege of listening to a great call by Michael Clouse — he talked about hearing something at a Brian Tracy event that completely shifted his focus, and had an immense impact on his life.

Tonight, I heard something from Michael that I believe will have an immense impact on mine; he said that if you get up every day, and do the #1 most important thing you could possibly do that day, you will look up at the end of the year and be able to say to yourself “This year, I did the 365 most important things I could have done.”

Wow — in all the books I’ve read, and the tapes I’ve listened to on prioritizing, time management, etc, that one sentence put things more into perspective for me than anything else has.

I want to be able to look back at the end of 2009 and say to myself “Yes, I did the 365 most important things I could have done this year.”

He went on to say that those things don’t necessarily have to be related to work– they can be something with your family, something with your friends, something for yourself. But the bottom line is it has to be something that, on that particular day, is the most important thing you could possibly do.

So, my challenge to you (and to myself) is this: Go out tomorrow, and do the most important thing. Keep your main thing the main thing. Then, go out the next day and do it again, and again, and again and again. Before you know it, you will have an entire year to look back on and say, “I did the 365 most important things I could have done.” — and that, is all you can do!

 The quote I leave you with is this — by none other than Michael Clouse:

“Keep the main thing, the main thing!”

The 80/20 rule is no secret. It is a formula that can be applied to almost any area of life — 80% of what you do, accounts for 20% of the work you get done; in the same way, 20% of what you do, accounts for 80% of the work you get done.

In other words — when looking at a ‘To Do’ list, you can generally assess that in completing 20% of the items on that list, you will complete 80% of the most important tasks.

The key, is choosing the RIGHT 20%.

So many people spend their time working on the wrong end of this equation. They spend all day being “busy”, and then look up at 5:00 only to realize that there is still “so much to be done”.

Of course, you will never have enough time in the day to finish EVERYTHING you could possibly need and/or want to accomplish — but you CAN make sure you accomplish the most important things for that day; the 20% of your tasks that will make up for 80% of your productivity.

So what about people? Does the 80/20 rule apply here? Of course it does.

80% of the people in an organization account for 20% of the work done; just as 20% of the people account for 80% of the work.

Both roles are important; both are needed — but the question you should ask yourself is, “Am I a 20%er?”

In my industry I am always on the hunt for 20%ers. Those are the people who will buid my business — who will make a significant difference in my organization, and as a result, in my paycheck.

These people will light my business on fire with growth — they will help me take it to a new level of success.

So how do I go about looking for 20%ers? Well, the best place to start is within myself — to strive daily to BE a 20%er.

Remember, we attract what we are. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “You are what you eat” — well, we also “are what we think”

Our world on the outside is a direct reflection of who we are on the inside. In order to attract 20%ers on the outside, I must BE a 20% on the inside.

It is my daily aim to wake up and spend my day acting as a 20%er acts — accomplishing the tasks that are most important (prioritizing), using effective time management, going the extra mile, staying in the office that one extra hour.

Now remember, I said this is my “aim” — meaning I am nowhere near perfect at this yet. It is a daily task to remind myself that I WANT to be a 20%er. That I will be [and already am, in my mind] a 20%er — not only in my business life, but in all other areas as well.

So what about those who stand out even among the 20%ers? The best of the best — who are they?

Those people, those very, very rare people, are 20% of the 20%ers.

Those people are 4%ers. And as rare as it is to find a 20%er, as effective as it is to have a 20%er in your organization, and to become a 20%er yourself, a 4%er is THAT MUCH MORE RARE.

In an organization of 10,000 people,
2000 of them are 20%ers.
2000 of them will account for 80% of your growth, and your success.
400 of them will be at the very, very top of that growth.
400 of them will be 4%ers.
400 of them will account for 64% of your growth, and your success.

So my question to you, is this; who are you?
Are you an 80%er? That person who is content to go through life without ever doing any real moving and shaking? Or are you a 20%er, or better yet, a 4%er? Are you a person who wants to make a difference, no matter what area you choose to pursue.

I know who I am — I am not content to be an 80%er. I don’t even want to be a 20%er.
I want to be known as a 4%er — as a true leader and inspiration to those around me.

Your decision is up to you! Remember what I said earlier; all parts are necessary, for it is the parts that make up the whole. It’s up to you to decide what your role will be.

The quote I leave you with is this, by Ted Turner;

“Do something… Either lead, follow, or get out of the way.”