Leaders with a Mentor Mindset know the importance of prioritization when it comes to making progress in life. They schedule their time and energy so they can advance toward the important things in their life. They show those they lead how to progress as well.
The concept of prioritizing our work and the to do lists of project and action items is nothing new. However, are you prioritizing correctly? If you are checking off ongoing chunks of chatter and not feeling a sense of real progress at the end of your day, then you may be priority inept.
Truth be told, many people are nibbling away at nonsense instead of whacking a way at the wonderful. In other words, they are playing small and not putting themselves out there to play a bigger game and make a real impact.
If you are caught in the trap of doing busy work with no evidence of doing your life’s work, here are four M’s to help you play a bigger game and really start to create something wonderful in your life.
Make it Matter – What are the two or three areas in your life you want to start seeing significant progress? If it matters, write it down. Write down what the ideal looks like in each of those areas. If it is having more money. How much more money specifically and by when? If it is having an improved physique or figure what are the measurements, you seek to experience? If whatever is most important to you in your life is not getting onto your calendar things will never change. As Goethe said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” ~ Goethe
Make the fundamentals fun. The word fun is right there inside the word fundamentals. It’s up to you whether you think something is fun or not. That’s the mental part. FUN-da-MENTALs! Become brilliant at the basics which will yield you the evidence of growth and expansion in your life. If you need to make more sales, make prospecting calls fun. If you want more energy, make exercising and eating right fun. If you want more respect or a deeper relationship, make being curious and getting to know more about others more fun.
FUN-da-MENTALs
Make saying “No” easy. We tend to say “yes” to too many things because we have time and energy not accounted for since we are not committed to a cause or purpose for which we are passionate, or we make up by saying “yes,” we can please others… or both. First off, it’s not our job to please others. That’s their own job. Second, if we don’t have a clear purpose toward which we are advancing, we will gravitate toward the simple, easy and even mindless activities that may provide a sense of being in control, but never amount to anything. By the way, those are usually not the ones that build a great life. We must find our way to feel OK saying, “NO” to that which pulls us away from our purpose and progress.
Make yourself be proactive rather than allowing yourself to be reactive. Proactive is about advancing forward i.e., progress. Reactive is about going backwards i.e., reverse. Making “No” easy is a tremendous start. Next is to identify that action or project that scares you the most. You know the one. That’s right. That’s the one. Do that. Keep doing it. There will surely be failure along the way and remember failure is just a data point. As you keep doing it you will learn, grow and become the person that encompasses the goal which was once outside your reach.
Mastering the 4 Ms will set you up for the success you seek. They are the foundation on which all successful people have ever built their success. Now you know and can build your success as well.
