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Why Average is Good Enough

What are you not trying because you don’t feel qualified or ready?

I love this quote from Bruce Lee because it calls it perfectly…greatness is present in everyone, even the average person, but it requires effort to achieve.

With all the opportunity for distraction available to us…literally in the palm of your hand…we often fall prey to Distraction Over Action. We know that the next task or project is going to be taxing, stressful, or lengthy so we opt for a “quick” distraction. That quick distraction turns into a long one, the BAM…off your game.

One of the best ways I’ve found to defeat DOA is with block scheduling. Schedule a block of time, say 20 minutes, to focus on one task. Turn off all your notifications, don’t check email or answer the phone…just focus. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short period of time.

How do you avoid DOA and get that To Do list knocked out? Leave your best tip in the comments!

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So You’re Too Busy?

So, how have you been? How’s the business?

I find myself asking this question a lot at networking or other meetings where I’m running into people I know. It’s a pretty common greeting. Do you know what answer I get frequently? “Well, I’ve been pretty busy!” (or some variant of that)

While we’re taking a little break from the daily grind this week at the beach, I wanted to remind you that busy does not equal effective. In fact, it is a terrible measure of how things are going. The hamster is busy, and not moving an inch.

In my live workshop Making Time for Success, one of the key concepts addresses the mistaken idea that time management is about efficiency. The efficient use of time is to get more done is the same amount of time. This is wrong.

What you really want is the more effective use of your time…getting the right things done in the allotted time. This requires some hard decisions!

Right now, how many items are on your to-do list? I want you to take an honest inventory and identify everything on that list that, if you NEVER did them, nothing adverse would happen. You are probably like a lot of people that use a lengthy to-do list as a crutch to help you feel better about not getting anything done…but you’re busy!

I want you to go through your list and pick the five most important things on your list. The items you pick should all take less than a day to complete (if they are bigger than one day, break them down into day-sized chunks).

Now, armed with your next five moves…pick the one item that will have the greatest impact on your life if you do it today. That item is now your priority. Get that done first, then knock out the other four. Then tomorrow…rinse and repeat.

This is the P+4F method at work. You can find a video explaining it in more detail on my website (link in bio). Use it and it will change your life. Keep doing what you’ve been doing…and you’ll keep getting what you already have!

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It’s Okay to Have Some Fun

Do you have fun while you’re working?

Building a business or expanding your career is hard work…and serious business. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while you’re doing it! In fact, you SHOULD have fun…it will make it a lot more enjoyable while you’re doing the hard stuff!

Now I’m not saying that if you don’t have a ping-pong table or foosball table you’re doing it wrong. You can have fun without all the toys or games…in fact, it may even be better that way. When you lean on the games to bring the fun, then you’re not really putting in the effort to find the fun in the business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr5goKcfG2Q

I really love this quote from Einstein, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” It really emphasizes that it’s the process we should focus on and not rely on making it to the “finish line” before we get to enjoy ourself.

If you’re not having fun with the work you’re doing, take a quick time out and think about ways you can make it more fun and enjoyable. Can you make a game out of the work, maybe even pull your whole team into the brainstorming process!

How are you making your work fun? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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When Limits Win

How do you know when it’s time to cut bait?

Yesterday we talked about boundaries… and I’m also a fan of pushing your limits. So how do you reconcile those? It’s really not as hard as it sounds When you start with personal responsibility!

As an individual, you are only responsible for your decisions and outcomes, then there are modifiers. Parents take on responsibility for their kids, entrepreneurs take on some of the burdens for their employees and customers…but there’s a limit.

About 18 months ago, my adult son died from the effects of alcoholism. In spite of our best efforts, he still made the choices that led to his demise.

You only have responsibility for others to the point of their freewill choice. You can’t make the decision for them, that is where you have to let them beat the weight of their own burden.

Focus on what you can control, make the decisions that are within your purvue, and do everything you can to let the rest go.

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Good Fences Make For Good Neighbors

It’s easy to talk about your neighbor violating boundaries, but what about you? Today let’s talk about how boundaries help YOU stay focused and in your lane!

Especially as a business owner or leader, it’s super easy to drift…to “expand” the business into new areas where there seems to be a need. But what happens when you do that too early or with faulty research. Suddenly you find yourself in unfamiliar territory and, perhaps worst of all, the original business can fall on hard times due to your lack of attention.

Having and abiding by boundaries lets you focus your time, energy, and attention to create a result!

Establish boundaries early on. Create mechanisms to check yourself when you begin to drift and exercise the discipline to stay inside the lines!

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Two Keys to Control: Know and No

How often do you say no to requests that don’t lead to your success or help you meet your goals?

Saying no is easier for some than others, but if you have any hope of living the life you crave, you must become a master of culling the invaluable. And THAT begins with knowing what you want.

So how do you KNOW what you want? Is it possible to be sure? To have no doubts?

I’m just going to go ahead and say it, you WILL have doubts along the way! It’s a long road full of hard work. Of course, you’re going to questions your choices. And that’s not the point! Questioning doesn’t derail you…quitting derails you. When you have doubts, that’s the most important time to say NO!

Saying no to others is always easier than saying no to yourself! Why? Well basically because you can rationalize anything to yourself…it is not until you have to say it out loud…to someone else, that you get slapped in the face with how weak it really sounds.

This is one of the three key values to working with a coach to achieve your results. You are uniquely gifted and talented and so was Michael Jordan…and he needed Phil Jackson to help him win!

If you have been considering working with a coach, or maybe you just have a difficult time getting the results you’ve been longing for, send me a DM. I will be happy to have a no-cost, no-obligation chat with you to help you find the best path forward!

Remember, your path to success will be a winding one. No one gets to walk a direct route. So stay the course, keep your eyes on the prize, and ask for help when you need it. THESE are the keys to taking back control and living the life you crave!

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The Tree And the Fence

Quick, name one thing that is preventing your success or keeping you from reaching a goal.

Don’t dwell on the answer, just blurt it out! Now ask, is this something within my power to change?

Regardless of what your blocker is, the answer is YES, you can change your circumstances and remove any obstacle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Jh-uRZb6g

All too often we allow negative self-talk to rule out day. And when that’s not giving us the excuse we want, we turn to comparison shopping for progress. You know, “THEY are farther along than me…”. And don’t even get me started on believing in the “shoulds.”

You are a unique combination of gifts and talents and you are positioned in time and place to make a difference. And the reality is you are making a difference, the only question is, is it a positive or a negative one.

Just because you are talented and gifted doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in effort toward the outcome though. Pick any great athlete, they still had to put in the work to achieve greatness, and so do you!

Just like the tree in this picture, don’t let any fence stop you from following your path to success. Yeah, you might have to go under or around and it might not be the prettiest…but it will be yours!

You may look at a fence or a wall and see an obstacle, something that will influence you to change your course. Instead, see it as an opportunity to overcome something that would stop a lesser person, someone who will have to settle for mediocre while you enjoy the fruits of your effort.

When you get stuck and need a hand seeing past your next fence or wall, DM me. I can help. And join me for a bit of daily inspiration, watch or listen to my daily video podcast (link in bio).

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When To Flex and When to Focus

Why do plans always fail?

When I was growing up, the A-Team was all the rage on TV. One of the characters in that show had a saying, “I love it when a plan comes together!” Why is that such a great thing? Maybe because it is such a rare thing!

One of the most frustrating things to me as a business coach is to see people put so much time and effort into a business plan only to file it away and never look at it again. Is THAT why so many businesses fail? I don’t believe it is.

A business plan, any plan for that matter, is just a set of intended actions and expected outcomes. It’s not cast in stone and there’s no guarantee that the expected outcomes will happen. So why do we hold so tightly to plans if they’re not going to work out? IDK…THAT’s a great question!

Many a business owner and entrepreneur have had to cut their dreams short not because of lack of planning … most do a pretty good job of that. No, I believe they fail because once the plan is done, they hold more tightly to the plan than they do the desired outcome! In fact, I’ve probably read hundreds of business plans that didn’t describe ANY desired outcome!

How do you make decisions if you don’t know the outcome you’re trying to create?

As Kathryn says in our quote of the day today, “…[be] focused on the goal but flexible in your execution.” You may think a pop-up shop is THE way to go, so you struggle and suffer for two years… when all along you could have been posting your products online!

Take a minute right now and try to articulate your goal, out loud, in one sentence. If you can’t do that, then you don’t have a firm grasp on what you’re trying to accomplish. Don’t do any more planning till you know what you’re building…your odds of creating a successful plan will go way up!

If you need help with your plan, DM me or follow me on my website at www.ThomRigsby.com (link in bio).

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It’s Your Call

Business (and life) is a contact sport! What do you do when it gets to be too much?

Let’s face it, it happens to everybody! Sometimes all the moving pieces of your success and fulfillment seem to be moving in opposite directions! UGH! The answer though is pretty simple…

The more complicated things become, the more aggressively you have to simplify!

Overwhelm, and the feeling of lost control that accompanies it can be debilitating if you let it…but it doesn’t have to be.

Most people believe when they are experiencing overwhelm that the pathway out is planning or studying or some other distraction. The reality is, there’s only one way to dig out from overwhelm…simplify!

In the short term, find one thing you can control, that you can make an unimpeded decision about and make it. For Mel Robbins, author of the 5-second Rule, that was the snooze button on her alarm clock. It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, just something YOU control.

Now that you have some confidence taking control of your ‘alarm clock’ take on that giant pile of decisions that are overwhelming you. Simplify the decision point all the way down to, “which choice moves me closer to my goal.”

Take Jocko’s advice (slightly modified by Thom), “Relax, [take a breath], look around, and make a decision.” Those decisions are the reins of control in your business and your life…start deciding and take back control!

If you need help finding your clarity or simplifying your decision matrix, DM me or connect with me on my website (link in bio) at www.ThomRigsby.com.

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When Confidence Wins

Do you have what it takes to become an overnight success and turn everything you touch into a win? Are you sure?

Sometimes when I’m having a conversation with someone looking for a business and life coach I will ask them this question. Often they seem genuinely surprised that I’d ask such a question. But it’s a necessary question.

If you’re going to win in business, you have to have confidence in yourself! No one else is going to do it for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzmeMQcmFU

Confidence is the residue of execution. The more you execute, the more your confidence builds. And as your confidence builds, so will the success of your business. There is a direct relationship!

Think about it, would you rather go with the doctor that “thinks” they can solve the problem or the one that “knows what the problem is and what to do?” You’re customers feel the same way!

So what if you don’t have the confidence yet? Well, this is where fear and courage make their appearance. Your lack of confidence will create fear, and fear is a good thing. It gives you an opportunity to step out in faith and demonstrate your courage!

All other things equal, when you’re in the heard and everyone is huddled up, afraid and unsure what to do next, they will follow the first person to step out front and say, “follow me.” It might as well be you!

If you are not sure what steps to take next, don’t know how to execute to achieve your goals, or just need some help putting together a plan, I can help. DM me or find me on my website at www.ThomRigsby.com.