Unable to complete tasks due to outside forces?

Chris and Gina discuss ways in which we invite distractions (often without realising it) into our lives and the impact this has personally and professionally.

Find out how you can acknowledge your distractions and take practical steps to minimise their impact.

All done in an attempt to get the smaller, mundane (or urgent) things off your plate so you can settle down into your day and finally get to the important stuff.

It’s a strategy most of us use on a regular basis – but for most of us, it’s flawed. And usually painfully so.

While this approach often feels like the best thing to do, how often do you actually get to the most important items? Chances are, it’s rare and often at a cost.

The time cost of sacrificing our evenings with family or friends because you need to work a bit later as more little things came up during the day and you didn’t finish what you wanted to.

The attention cost of being distracted with other people’s demands or urgent problems which never allow you to be fully engaged and focused when you finally get the space to do the really valuable things.

The energy cost of being tired, drained or completely exhausted by the time you get to what matters most, causing you to put it off to another day.

And all these costs add up to a dramatic reduction in your productivity and performance.

So what is the alternative?

It’s a standard approach of the top performers, a key strategy of the world’s most productive leaders…and a simple enough idea that everyone can do.

For a rapid boost in your personal performance do the “first things first”.

Popularised in many books, including Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy and Be Excellent at Anything by Tony Swartz and Jean Gomes, the ‘first’ is the task, project, or issue that has the highest value and impact for you. This could be related to your professional or personal life.

How you define highest value and impact will be unique to you and will vary from week to week but there will always be one, two or three items that deserve the greatest care since they will give you (and your team or family) the biggest return.

At work, it’s often the things that require the most thinking time and full engagement for you to properly work through it.

Commonly, it’s the items that will give you the greatest long-term rewards and success, and doesn’t have short-term urgencies.

Usually, these will be the items you consistently neglect….since you “never have time to do what’s important”.

Hmmm…sound familiar?

Doing it “first” means to proactively and decisively commit to the first 30, 60 or 90 minutes of your day to focusing on nothing but the most important things.

Write a few pages of your book. Develop a long-term strategy for growing your business this year. Spend time on the looming performance appraisal of your key team members. Make that appointment or call an out-of-touch friend. Exercise.

Don’t turn your computer on if you don’t have to and certainly don’t open your email.

Complete focus.

How productive would that be?

How invigorating would that be?

How rewarding and fulfilling would that be?

If this is a scary thought for you, start small. Try it out just one day this week. Tell others you’re only available after a certain time.

I’m sure you’ll quickly notice the benefits you get and will be encouraged to do this more often and for longer periods.

Are you willing to give it a try? Are you willing to add more value, create more enjoyment and experience a boost in your performance?

Let us know how this worked for you and share other ideas to boost your performance.

In this podcast Paul and Gina discuss ways you can actually start getting motivated, what you can focus on to maintain momentum – and reach your intended goals. As both coaches have recently started back at the gym themselves, they will be posting weekly accountability blogs on our Action Podcast Facebook page – in an effort to keep their own momentum going!

Are you looking for new direction and new inspiration this year? Instead of asking others for advice, how about asking yourself these 10 power questions. They’ll give you insights and guidance towards creating the life that you really want.

1.  If tomorrow was your last day on Earth, what would you wish you’d done in your life (but haven’t).

2. Do you have a recurring vision or dream about a particular place, job, activity, people?

3. What do you feel you were put on this Earth to do?

4. What do you care deeply about?

5. Name 5 things you are really good at.

6. Ask 5 people what they think you’re good at.

7. If you had a week all to yourself without any responsibilities, what would you do?

8. What’s the most important decision you are facing right now? What stops you from making it?

9. If I told you that you had unlimited time and resources and that you could do anything you want in life, what would that be?

10. What are the first steps you can take towards doing the work or leading the life you’d love?

Inside your heart is a dream that may yet be unfulfilled. By focusing on what you love, rather than what you feel you should be doing will give you greater energy and insight. One easy way to start is to write non-stop for about 20 minutes, listing all the things you love doing. I did this recently and it was very revealing! Begin using your imagination to create, rather than clinging to a belief system that holds you back. Every single thing you see in the world today was created initially by someone’s imagination. As Lennon himself said: “Imagine…”

The January focus on resolutions and new goals almost comes with a sense that if we want to change anything, we’ve got this narrow window of the 1st month of the year in which to make it happen. We might decide to lose weight, clean-out our house, get the garden ready for spring and take on more responsibility at work. We pick a handful of big goals for different areas of our lives that we want to improve, and think we’ll be able to tackle them all at once…

Aside from putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on ourselves, this approach is also ineffectual! Change can be challenging at the best of times, and if we try to do too much at once we may find we are setting ourselves up for failure. It is one thing to pick yourself up & get back on the horse after you’ve taken a fall, but if you’ve fallen off a chair, a motorbike and a cliff in that same week, then you’re unlikely to bounce back up again as easily.

And seriously – falling off the horse is inevitable (no matter what your goal)!

But it is our ability to get ourselves back on-track again that is the difference between success and failure.

So if you leave yourself (and your confidence) feeling so battered and bruised from the falls of multiple challenges, then chances are by March you’ll have abandoned all of them. Disappointed and disheartened, how likely are you to feel enthusiastic about tackling a new change any time soon?

This is definitely a case of (starting with) Less is More.

If you focus on just one or two goals instead, you’ll not only be much clearer about what it is you want to achieve, but you’ll find your confidence is much more resilient, and your efforts much more sustainable in the longer term.

So whilst you might want to save the world, start a new business, write 6 books, get healthy and have a social life in 2011, I’d encourage you to think about one (or two) key goals that you can really focus on this year. But how do you choose which ones are key?

1. Ask yourself: “If I get to the end of 2011 and I have (or have not) achieved this, how will I feel?”
2. Think about the reason why you want each goal, and explore the potential consequences & benefits of achieving them. Which one or two mean the most to you?
3. Remind yourself that it doesn’t mean you’ll NEVER do the other things – this is not a “No”, its just a “No, for now”.

You can always add another goal to your list later in the year – once you’ve got a few months of proof and confidence in the progress you’ve made with your original one.

P.S. If you are determined that 2011 is going to be different, and want it to be your best year yet – then we’re about to announce a really exciting new training event that you definitely won’t want to miss!

Not only will you have quadrupled your chances of staying on-track with your goals, but you’ll also be a lot clearer about your priorities and will make decisions much more easily.

Even if we only pick one or two things to focus on at the start of the year, we are bombarded with new ideas, new changes, new hurdles, new distractions almost constantly. And it is much easier to say no to extra things, and stay focused on what is most important, when you are really clear about what your top priorities are.

Leave a comment and let us know what one or two things you are choosing to focus on this year. Declaring it publicly is a great way to build power, momentum and motivation for YOUR top priority!

True team work!

It is such a joy to be part of the AP team, and I think this has been a vital factor in our success because we all truly love what we’re creating together. But it has very much been a roller-coaster ride, rather than smooth sailing – so I’m inspired to share some top tips for team work at this fortuitous time.

• Acknowledge & Accept Uniqueness: Chris, Gina, Paul and I are totally different people! We have different strengths, different passions and different foibles! Every team is filled with individuals, and when this is recognised and appreciated – everyone has the chance to feel that they belong and can find their own place within the group.
• Seek Other Perspectives: Not only are we unique, but we also have different opinions! Instead of arguing or simply agreeing about an idea, we always try to explore the reasons behind why we each feel the way we do. Having four (or more) perspectives means that your team are more likely to be better prepared, and to have considered most alternatives before deciding on the option that best suits the team’s objectives.
• Regularly Re-Clarify Objectives: The times we’ve nearly ‘slipped off the rails’ have been times when we lost sight of our joint objectives. By re-clarifying what our team focus is every month or two, we are much more aligned on everything we do. Checking regularly that everyone understands the reason why the team exists and what the group’s priorities are will ensure that issues or confusion are raised and resolved much sooner, and acts as a rudder to keep the team on track.
• Ask For Help: There are times when each of us needs to step back a pace, and the others naturally step forward to pick up the slack. The attention and effort we can each commit to ActionPodcast varies week to week, and we cope best as a team when we know where the others stand. When individuals feel safe to ask for help, or admit that they need to step back slightly, it not only gives the rest of the team a chance to keep things running smoothly but also lets people stretch their wings and feel helpful.
• Agree to Disagree: Not every decision we make is unanimous, and there are times when we have to go with a majority vote. We are often guided by what our group mission and objectives are, so that we consistently move in the best direction. In a team it is important to respect each person’s opinion, and also the fact that a decision ultimately needs to be made – so agreeing to disagree allows the team to move forwards without people taking it personally or getting upset.
• No right or wrong: The 4 of us have different ways of approaching things from where to start, what type of plan is needed, what we most enjoy or dislike, to how we communicate or receive information. We got off to a great start with a new project when we realised we don’t all need to start at the same point. In a race, runners have staggered starting points but all understand that they are running in the same direction around the same track – operating in this way as a team can allow everyone to find their own rhythm and contribution – without needing to have a single starting point.

Which of these 6 tips would make the biggest difference to a team you are part of just now?

Being a member of a team can bring many complications, personality-clashes and emotions, yet I can emphatically say that being part of the AP team has taught me so much about myself and how I interact with others – and I wouldn’t change it for anything! I am very capable on my own, but I thrive within the group and truly feel I add as much value to the team as I receive from being part of it. In fact, to borrow a cliche – the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts!

On behalf of the AP team we would also like to send heartfelt thanks to you and all our listeners for your support, comments and questions – we couldn’t do this without you!

We would love to hear from you – so please leave us a comment below or contact one of the AP team directly. If you haven’t already – then Sign up to receive our podcasts directly to your inbox with an additional weekly blog post! You’ll also be the first to receive a copy of our new e-Book – launching soon!

What are your two magic words?

If you have downloaded the podcast from iTunes remember to post a review and visit our website at ActionPodcast.com to leave a comment or contact one of the presenters directly. Sign up to receive the podcast directly to your inbox, plus an additional weekly blog post! You’ll also be the first to receive a copy of our new e-Book.

There’s a long-term rivalry in my household, with my little brother and I referring to the sport as soccer, and my other half staunchly calling it football. Whilst it is fun to wind Cam up about the name, it was really moot point as I had absolutely no interest in the game and even less chance of watching it. So I’ve really been happily oblivious to the last few weeks of World Cup Fever.

Before I continue, I’d like to apologise to our ActionPodcast fans and the AP team for being late with my blog post this week. My reminder system clearly wasn’t foolproof and when I read Paul’s reminder email late last night I was horrified that I’d missed my deadline; and equally shocked because the reason I received Paul’s message so late was that I was watching the England vs Algeria game instead of being online! I need not say more about that game… but it did get me thinking about the fact that you should never say never:- and it can be quite an experience to do something you would normally actively avoid.

Watching the game last night, and today’s Australia vs Ghana match (which I secretly enjoyed!), have taught me a few things:

• I watch soccer like my dad! (ie. jumping forward in my seat, calling out at the screen, emotionally sharing the excitement and disappointment of the players and fans).
• I can tune out even the most incessantly annoying noise (ie. the vuvuzela football horns) when I’m focused intently on something – which is quite a feat given my sensitive hearing!
• I’m a genuine good sport, and it is more important to me how a game is played rather than just the end result.

What is interesting is that I always teased my dad about his sport-watching behaviour, that I kept asking Cam to turn the TV down when he was watching other football matches because of the whine of vuvuzela, and I was opposed to soccer because they always seemed to fall to the ground pretending to be hurt like extremely overpaid sissies when ‘real’ footballers (rugby players) take full body contact in their stride!

However, in the last 24 hours I’ve discovered that ‘active’ sports watching can be fun and compelling, that my mind and attention are more powerful than even my near-perfect hearing, and that good football doesn’t have to involve people diving for penalties, but players can still get accidentally hurt and even the best guys sometimes pull on a shirt or tackle late when under pressure.

I’ll even confess to being interested in watching some more of the World Cup games… Perhaps all the things we try to avoid could teach us as much?

May wonders never cease!

Our minds are much like our homes.  They both get cluttered. They fill up with bits and bobs we no longer want or need. Both benefit from a regular cleaning out of stuff that we collected for one reason, and are holding onto out of habit, neglect, or just delusion it’s still the right thing to do.

Getting rid of old habits, procrastination or negative emotions, and replacing them with a fresh perspective and renewed optimism, is a great way to re-energise yourself and put a bounce in your step.

Here are simple suggestions to spring clean your life and mind.

Mind

Most clutter of the mind comes from a) losing sight of what is most important b) trying to mentally juggle too much. If you find yourself distracted on a regular basis and doing lots of things but not getting much accomplished, take a 30 to 60-minute time out to reset your inner compass on what is most important to you.

Action: Reflect on your goals for the year or what outcomes you really want to create in your life for the next week or month. Eliminate or delegate anything that isn’t a top priority.

Action: If you find your mind overloaded with too many things to remember, start each day with a pen and paper. Our brains are incredibly powerful, but very poor at organisation. Get back to basics and once you see all the items on paper you can make better choices on where to put your focus, attention and appreciation.

Relationships

What relationship have you neglected the past few months? Give it a polish and freshen the air around it. Is it a friendship you’ve gone too long without being in touch? A partner you haven’t spent enough positive and loving time with? Don’t worry if it’s been too long, now is the time to revive it and they will greatly appreciate the gesture.

Action: Decide to get in touch or make extra special plans to add shine to your relationship once again.

Emotions

What negative emotion have you been clinging to for too long now? What fear, stress, anxiety, worry, frustration, hatred is no longer serving you? We adopt these emotions because in some way they helped us. Perhaps to protect us from an illusion of greater pain ahead. But time has passed and it’s no longer contributing to your life and is likely contaminating it.

Action: Choose one negative emotion that is polluting your mind and body and decide to let it go. Replace that with something positive and make more room for happiness.

We’d love to hear your additional tips and ideas for spring cleaning your mind and body. Please leave a comment to share with other readers, and let us know what you will do to freshen up this spring.

It could be that point in the rollercoaster ride where we are faced with a journey that looks entirely up-hill.

Are you really being lazy? Could it be that you are just progressing towards your goal REALLY slowly? Have you overlooked what you’ve actually completed? Or even worse, are you actually moving in the opposite direction (away from what you want)?

Join Paul & Sam as they explore how to tell which direction you’re facing, whether you’re moving or not, and some ways that you can start to measure & track your progress so that you are always clear on the action that is needed.

Borders Bookstore in Charing Cross Road London once ran a writing competition – accepting entries in any format on the theme of ‘Elsewhere’. Since poetry is one of my preferred creative outlets, I decided to have a bit of fun with it, which resulted (fairly quickly & tongue-in-cheek) in:

Elsewhere
Elsewhere, is wherever
My mind chooses to be –
In a place, in a thought
Or caught up in a dream.
Elsewhere, is everywhere
And nowhere at once –
All around us, inside us,
Of us, or simply not.
Elsewhere, is anything
Limited only by fear –
It can be wonderful, magical,
Or scary and unseen.
Elsewhere, is nothing
Except where we are not –
It’s not here, so is it there?
But when we look, it is not.

SJSF, 19/5/02

Part of life’s plethora of paradox is that when we are wishing we are elsewhere, we are not really ‘present’ where we are… and when we journey to elsewhere, we end up right where we actually are.
What are you missing, when your focus is elsewhere? What could you notice about right here and now, that would change your view, your perspectives and your horizon?

So why do we so often eschew the idea of a road map for our lives? It’s very easy to drift from job to job, location to location, relationship to relationship, without a clear plan of action. Back in my twenties, I did just that. My life fell very much into the… “Well, I’ll see what comes up’ category. I had no grand plan of action, no specific goals (other than to earn enough cash to pay my mortgage, buy clothes, eat out, travel and have fun). It was fun, but somewhat precarious. And often I felt like I was going nowhere – fast!

Set your course
The million-dollar question: how can you reach your destination, if you don’t know where you’re going? Having direction doesn’t mean you can’t change your destination whenever you want. Or revise your goals. Allow yourself to be flexible. A great starting place is to make a list of your short term (1 week to 6 months), medium term (6 months to a year) and long term (1 to 5 years) goals for each of the following areas of your life: Career, Family, Environment, Spiritual Life, Relationships, Creativity, Friendships. Then look at each area again and mark each one from 1 (least satisfied) to 10 (most satisfied). This will instantly tell you the areas that require your immediate attention.

Realistic plan of action
Once you’ve established the area(s) you’d most like to change, then set yourself weekly, realistic and achievable goals to take yourself to your final destination. It’s important that you keep these ‘journey’ goals achievable. Baby steps. This will keep you motivated. For some, their goal may to become fit. Even joining a gym can be a major deal for many, so don’t run before you can walk! Take your time to build up to that half-marathon. But do nudge yourself out of your comfort zone. Regularly.

Resources and options
What resources do you already have that can help you achieve your goals? Do you have friends who can help you? Are there colleagues at work who can supportively nudge you in the direction you’re headed? What have you done in previous jobs that you can take with you as a skill set into your next position? Take a look at all your options for success. Brainstorm. Then pick an action point that’s the easiest for you to achieve that week. Then another one… and so on.. Challenge yourself. And reward yourself with each success.

Values and beliefs
Goals are great. But you won’t achieve them unless your values are in alignment with your beliefs. Values are the things that we get out of bed for. The things that motivate us. This could be family, money, recognition… Make a list of your top 10 values. Things you will do anything to achieve. Then put them in order of hierarchy. Then make a list of 10 things you’d do anything to avoid: this could be loneliness, embarrassment, recognition. If you see a clash between your goals and your values, then redefine your goals. For example, if one ‘going to’ value is recognition, but you’d do anything to avoid rejection, then you are unlikely to put yourself into career or job position where you will be held up and judged on your performance. No matter how hard you try, it simply won’t work. Another example: an employee who is given a promotion involving regular international travel will have a values collision if his main priority is his family, whom he will rarely see as a result. There will be tension and a lack of happiness.

Results
The key to succeeding in reaching your goals is to firstly identify them – what do you love? What would you love to do? Where would you love to live? What kind of relationship would you love to be in? Then take regular, committed action towards achieving them. Daily, weekly, monthly… Small, achievable steps taken regularly will give you the confidence and motivation to change every area of your life – successfully. You will begin to trust in your own innate ability to make the right choices in life. As a result, your dreams most certainly will become reality. Focus with laser-like intensity and commitment on your desired results, and your subconscious will do all it can to bring that goal to you. It really is as simple as that. Whatever you focus on, you will attract to you.

This is a universal law.

WHEN life gets challenging, do you find yourself ruminating regretfully on the past – searching for reasons to justify present dissatisfactions? The anxiety producing “If only… you’d taken that job, married that person, moved countries, bought that flat, had different parents, gone to a different college, taken less drugs, taken more drugs, had more fun, travelled more, had children, not had children… This ego-inspired reasoning, which keeps us in a state of disempowerment and impotence is endless. And endlessly demotivating. And it lures us away from the immense power of being fully conscious and fully present.
Right here, right now.

Or perhaps like many of us, you prefer to focus on the future to avoid feeling any present pain. Or taking action to move out of your current unease. The “What if…. line of anxiety producing self-enquiry… What if…. I get made redundant, make the wrong decision, my boyfriend/girlfriend leaves me, choose the wrong job, it all goes terribly wrong, lose all my money, feel lonely, etc. Projecting our fear into future events, which have yet to happen.

Resistance
We all, myself very much included, have constructed myriad ways of resisting the present moment. The Right Here. Right Now. The mind, ego, whatever you want to call it, invariably takes us away from true consciousness. It feeds off and promotes our fear. Controlling and self-denying, it loves the whip hand. And until we take charge of our thoughts, the CD of self-sabotage will continue to play into the sunset… like an interminable Groundhog Day (without the humour!).

Why do we avoid feeling present?
If you are a human being – and I’m assuming most of you reading this are of that persuasion – then you’ll probably find yourself taking more action to avoid pain, than taking positive action towards experiencing pleasure in life. Think about it. Sex addiction, work addiction, drug addiction – we self-medicate and self-anaesthetise to suppress painful emotions and feelings. But of course they simply go underground, emerging at inappropriate moments with the result that we often self-sabotage – in work and our personal life – the very relationships we hold most dear. Or we simply never invite them in in the first place. We avoid ‘being’.

Observe your emotions
One way I work with clients is to encourage them to feel their emotions. Not deny them. Look at the very word ‘emotion’. Motion = movement. They are simply passing through. They are not OF you. By refusing to  identify with the emotions, but by simply observing them as they move through, you will become less addicted to checking out. There are many ways of staying present, with presence. The most powerful way is to focus on your breath. Put all your attention on your in – and your out breath. Practise this daily for at least 5 minutes at a time. Then any time you feel overwhelmed by emotions and feel yourself checking out, use this technique to change your state. It’s the best way to be fully present. And surrender to the moment.

Ground yourself
Another way is to stay in your body – preferably 24/7. Use grounding exercises such as imagining heavy cords reaching from the soles of both feet down into the ground. As far as the earth’s core. Tie these cords or vines around large boulders. Then draw up that fabulous fire energy from the earth’s molten core. Visualise that energising orange, brown, red colour rising up your feet, ankles, and legs until it fills your whole body. You will feel energised and more powerfully in your body.

Pay attention
Give your full attention to whatever you are doing. Whether it’s watching soapsuds on a glass you’re washing up, to watching the trees on your way to work, to totally focusing on your work. Practise right here. Right now.

Give yourself permission to be increasingly creative… Write a stream of consciousness page every morning as soon as you get up. Start painting, drawing, learn a musical instrument… move your consciousness from your left to your right brain. The source of all inspiration. Play! Play! Play! Run around a field, scream and shout. Allow your inner child expression and let go! Laugh – and above all, don’t take yourself too seriously.

Results
Being fully present will enable you to draw on unlimited inspiration. You will be able to deal with your emotions in a constructive way, instead of diving in and becoming overwhelmed by them. Unfettered by the past or future, you will access all the energy, self-awareness and clarity you need for peace of mind and a more creative and fulfilling life. Enjoy your presence!

What lessons can we take from this extreme episode?

Calling this a miracle does not give enough credit to the pilot and crew. This was purely a case of hundreds of hours of training, preparation, quick decision and ok, a bit of luck with a calm river with no water traffic on the makeshift landing strip.  When something this unexpected happens, you don’t have time to go through your usual pace of planning, analysis, identifying and evaluation options, decide to take action, and execute. Of course, all that did happen but in an extraordinarily short time frame given the size of the situation and the implications. While pilots understand their machines can fail, even the best of the best will tell you they never expect it will happen to them.

While investigators try to find out what went wrong, they are also looking at what went right. And so many are pointing to pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III and how he controlled the situation. This is a fantastic reminder of how to overcome unexpected events that bring tremendous challenge to your life:

Manage your state. It is understandable that people can become overwhelmed with negative emotions when facing an extreme challenge such as a in-flight emergency….or a sudden illness, an unexpected financial challenge, or an unforeseen job loss. Yet progress and success come most rapidly from managing to turn or keep your state with empowering emotions and thoughts that give you focus, confidence and determination to make the right decisions. The greater the challenge, the greater the importance of managing your state.

Focus on what you can control. When a pilot’s equipment fails, his ‘mechanic controls’ can be eliminated or he’s left with limited tools of the aircraft. It would be unthinkable for the pilot to sit and complain about what’s not working or spend any time worrying about the problem. He must immediately turn to the solutions and use all his mental skills to remain calm, focused and determined. The most successful people tend to spend 5% of their time on the problem and 95% on the solution. Regardless of the tragedy or challenge in your life, your way out is to understand what you can control and turn those resources into the solution that you most desire. And with a bit of persistence, you will be successful.

Ask for help. While the pilot is truly the one to steer the plane, he needed total support from his crew and air traffic control. The result would have been totally different if Mr. Sullenberger tried to figure it out all himself or was ‘too embarrassed’ to seek help. His crew are additional resources to implement the solution and the air traffic control provides a different perspective to help guide him to success. Like in life, success comes from getting the right help at the right time. A life coach is an ideal partner providing a different perspective, additional resources and much needed encouragement to propel you out of a challenge and on to the landing strip you need to continue a happy, healthy and wise way forward.

Contact one of our Action Coaches today to find out how we can help you create miracles in your life.

Once you can tap into the Power of Now, you’ll be able to take control of your life.