If you’re a Facebook friend, you know that the great guys over at ShapeShifterBlog.com ran a 3-part guest series written by me. If you’re a desk jockey, you’ll definitely want to check them out for tips that can give you relief right now.
Is The Life You Want Possible For You?
During the Lemons vs. Turds series, I mentioned something Steven Covey calls our Circle of Influence. It comes down to this: there are lots of things you want to do, but the reality is that there’s a limited number of things you can accomplish right now. Similar to a credit limit, we each have an influence limit.
Don’t be discouraged. It’s possible to increase your knowledge, skill, finances, influence, etc. so you can accomplish more things in the future. Your influence limit can be raised. And knowing your current limits allows you to focus on things that will really make a difference.
Let’s take Covey’s circle of influence one step further. There are a limited number of things you can accomplish right now, and out of that list, there’s a sub-list of things that are far more worth your time than others. Items on the sub-list can be completed faster with less effort and more reward.
Sounds good, right? It is good. And if you can learn to identify the things that give you greater rewards faster and with less effort, you’re well on your way to building the life of your dreams.
How Do I Know Where To Focus?
That’s a great question. After all, it doesn’t do you much good to know about a list that can help rocket you to your dreams if you can’t access that list.
The answer comes down to a few key questions:
1) What do I want? (This could be rephrased to: what are my goals?)
2) What gets me what I want fastest?
3) Does this item on my list fit into both of those categories?
4) What’s stopping me?
5) What can I do that will get rid of what’s stopping me fastest?
Let’s dig a little deeper.
What Do I Want?
It’s such a simple question, but do you know your answer? I’m not talking about what your parents, teachers, or friends have pounded into you as what you should want. What do YOU want? This is your life and it’s short. Having talked to elderly people about to die, I can assure you that all of them still knew what they’d do if only they had more time.
So, take some time to define what it is that you want with your life. It’s important because if you don’t know what you want, how are you ever going to get it? And if you never get the things you want in life, what’s that going to do to your happiness?
What Gets Me What I Want Fastest?
Anything that moves you toward fulfilling your dreams is great, but if you want to pad your chances of getting there, focus on the things that will get you there fastest.
Say you want to increase your financial wealth. Putting a penny in a jar each day and investing that money into higher interest returns every $1000 is an action that will move you toward your goal. However, putting $5 in a jar each day and investing it into higher interest returns every $1000 will get you there faster.
Exercising regularly can help you lose fat. Exercising in a style that maximizes the calories you burn from a diet tailored to help you feel satisfied despite the calorie deficit will melt the fat faster.
Does This Item On My List Fit Into Both Of Those Categories?
A lot of people miss this question. They define their goals and life dreams, and they pick things to do that get fast results. But the things they pick to take action with have nothing to do with achieving their goals and dreams.
Losing fat faster isn’t going to increase your financial wealth. (If you’re seriously overweight, losing excess fat can eventually save you lots of money in healthcare expenses. But for the sake of our example, you can see how it isn’t the same as doing something that increases your current financial wealth.)
More To Come…
We’re talking about important stuff and I’m sure you want to take the time to go through the questions mentioned above. Besides, most people find the last two questions more challenging. Because of that, I want to go into more detail with them. So, let’s break this article into two parts.
See you soon!
(And in case you don’t use Facebook, here’s a link to the first of the three desk jockey articles: Banish Lower Back Pain—A Desk Jockey’s Solution
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