“All progress takes place outside your comfort zone.”
Michael John Bobak
Have you ever been on a lazy river ride? You know, you sit in the inner tube and the water just moves you around the “river.” That’s one of the only places I can imagine where it takes little to no effort on your part to make progress…that is, if you consider going around in circles progress.
The truth is that real progress (movement toward a goal) requires YOU to get outside your warm, comfy cocoon and make some new calluses. Of course, blisters come first and those blisters can be quite painful, but if you want to find success as an entrepreneur, business owner, or just in life…you need the blisters.
Situations like we’ve been going through for the past couple of months really emphasize the need for planning and stress testing the business, and that stuff is not fun. But if you don’t do it in planning and learn from the mistakes of preparation, then your only choices it to learn in real time…and THAT can be fatal to your business.
Take a few minutes right now and think about two or three things that you’ve been putting off till “tomorrow” and make completing them today a priority!
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless” ~Jamie Paolinetti
Have you ever seen a scary movie or had a nightmare? They use your imagination to create obstacles to your actions. And we don’t need the movies to do that, we’re plenty good on our own. Most people are pretty good at looking at a set of circumstances and letting the potential NEGATIVE outcomes prevent them from acting.
Well, let’s turn that on its head today. What if you use your imagination to see the potentially POSITIVE outcomes in a set of circumstances and use that vision of what could be to pull you into action?! What could you accomplish TODAY if you CHOSE to see the positive potential in every circumstance?
And if you get stuck, you’re in a circumstance that you just can’t see a positive in, remember the words of Chief Tecumseh, “When you rise in the morning, give thanks…for the joy of living. If you can find no reason to give thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”
Have you ever set a goal for yourself and then felt overwhelmed at the size of the goal? Maybe you’re really clear on what you want but not sure what to do first to make it a reality. Transforming dreams and goals into actions and why the small things matter is what we’re talking about today on 7 Minutes In the Morning. Stay tuned!
Business owners and entrepreneurs have big dreams and make big plans…it’s just what we do. But sometimes the end goal or outcome is much easier to see that the next three steps we should take.
The key to beating overwhelm and making your goals a reality is to keep breaking them down into smaller and small pieces. Goals become projects. Projects become tasks. Tasks get scheduled and done! And when you do the tasks that complete the projects…they accomplish your goals!
Don’t ever let the size or the scope of your dreams keep you from starting. And similarly, don’t ever scale down your dreams because they seem too big and unobtainable. The Wright brothers LEARNED TO FLY because they had a dream! Yes, that was a Big Hairy Audacious Goal and they crushed it! Did they stumble along the way? Have set-backs? Of course! But they made their dream a reality, and you can too…with a little bit of planning!
If you’d like to talk about your plans or maybe you need help putting your plans together, don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m here to help! Just go to https://www.ThomRigsby.com/coaching and sign up for a confidential, no-obligation call to see where you are, where you want to go, and the next steps you need to take to turn your dreams and goals into actions and reality!
Video Transcript
Hey there, everybody. Good morning. Welcome. It is time for another installment of seven minutes in the morning. Today, I wanna talk to you about doing the little things, doing them right and why they matter, State, tend.
We’re gonna hit that right after this.
[0:17] This is seven minutes in the morning where five days a week, You get tips and hacks dedicated to helping business owners and leaders just like you find and break through the one thing that is preventing your success.
And now, here’s the host of seven Minutes in the morning. And your results, Coach Tom Rigsby.
[0:43] Hey, look at that. We’re back. Good morning, everybody. My name is Tom, and this is seven minutes in the morning show where we talk about a start growing. Enjoy the benefits of business ownership. Do me a favor. When you get here. Go ahead and leave a comment. Say hi. Hello. Good morning.
Let me know that you are here.
Uh, just as Joe and Katherine have done already a glorious day love saying that little things do add up to big differences.
That’s what we’re going to talk about today. That’s one reason I was running a little bit late because I have graphics today, actually.
Yeah. Good. I did start with the right one.
This is a neck, sir. I’m just jump right into this because I’m a little excited to talk about this topic.
[1:25] Throughout the week. We’ve kind of been talking about gold setting, even back in the last. We were talking about goals, and, um.
[1:34] Some of the issues around an associate with setting goals.
Well, today I want to show you kind of line.
This is important. And this is ah, outcrop of, um, of this program have been talking about the outcomes based framework for success.
This is part of a modified part of what we talked about there.
So in the graphic, you can see if you’re listening.
I’m sorry you have to come watch the show, go to YouTube and look up, Tom Rigsby, Do the little things matter, But on the left, we have goals there.
The big things, the goals. Those are words. They are, um, how the the things we want to create.
We’ve talked about smart goals, specific, measurable aligned related are relevant.
And time box, those air. Our goals.
Well, sometimes those goals can be pretty big and daunting. And we look at him like, Oh, man, that’s yeah, especially, you know, for talking about a big, hairy, audacious goal, man, that’s at the lot.
[2:41] Um, I’ll start on that tomorrow and then tomorrow never comes. We never start on it. It doesn’t happen.
So this is a continuation of the process and has kind of been working through some things for, um, another project I’m working on.
Um, there’s this challenge that we face very often about transforming the ideas and the goals into daily activity.
So this is kind of the ideas is what got me on this topic today.
[3:16] So if you take the goal and you break it down into projects and then you break the projects down in the tasks,
like you, if you’re watching, there’s the light back there you can see on my white board behind me, those air, all tasks there, little sticky notes. They’re the things that need to happen.
So you break goals down into projects, projects down in the tasks that helps it seem less daunting. But that’s not why doing the little things right is important.
It’s important because of the next graphic I’m gonna share with you if I can get that work right.
Yep, There it goes, because when you finish those task, you complete projects and the projects complete your goals.
That’s why it’s important I can break it down into tasks and put it on little sticky notes on the white board all day long and not finish anything, not even start anything,
but alone create any kind of result.
[4:19] It’s on Lee, through the execution of those tasks that the projects get completed and the completion of the project’s lead to achievement of the goals.
That’s why the little things matter, right?
And when you’re when you’re when you’re talking about doing this stuff, those are the kinds of things that you look for in people that are going places and going to achieve things.
They’re they’re able not just to decompose the big goal into the daily activities that need to occur.
They’re also able and disciplined enough to execute on those things so that they actually accomplish or complete a project so that they can accomplish the goal.
[5:06] Joe says. One question. I always ask, Is this the right gold to achieve the outcome than I desire?
Absolutely. That’s the, um, or that’s the are in the smart goals acronym.
Is it relevant? If I finish this, does it even do anything right?
A. Is aligned with the outcome. The vision that I want to create so as we’re setting goals, is this goal aligned with that?
You know, is it is it in alignment? But then or I can be in alignment and still not move the ball, so that’s a great point.
Joe, you have to ask that question. Is this the right?
Is this not just the right goal? Because as um, well, it applies in projects here in the graphic we’re looking at, it might require multiple projects to achieve one goal.
That’s okay, but does does this work?
And look if the goal is aligned with the outcome and the projects are decomposition of the goal in the tasks or decomposition of the project? If you just do the task, you’re going to get the outcome.
[6:18] It’s it’s mathematically impossible not to.
[6:24] Uh, Katherine says, you have to find a way to break the gold down into bite sized little bit. She’ll never be able to do it all at once. Absolutely.
When I’m talking to people about using, let me hide that so you can see.
Actually, I’ll just go back over to this view when I’m talking to people about doing the sticky notes on the board or defining these tasks,
Um, they have to be one day or less worth of work.
[6:55] Preferably even less than that, Uh, half a day if we can get to that. But no more than one day.
If the task that you define as part of this goals to projects two tasks If the task is longer than a day or requires more effort than a day, it might take more than a day to finish.
That’s okay. But if it requires more effort than a day, you need to break it down into sub test. There’s a real possibility you don’t have it broken down. Finally enough.
But, you know, maybe it’s true. Maybe one step toward reaching a goal is to, you know, work out five days a week, or you need five. Task one for Monday, one for Tuesday, one for Wednesday.
So but yeah, you’re right. If you If you don’t break it down into small enough bites, then you still have the same problem, right?
It’s still too big the knockout.
But I can. Okay, I won’t go to the gym today.
All right, All right. I can drink a glass of water first thing today or I can call 10 people today.
Then tomorrow 10 people gets a little bit easier by the end of the week. Maybe you’re calling 15 or 20 Great.
I mean, that’s that’s kind of the idea.
[8:13] Taking the purposeful and intentional step is the fuel that ignites possibility up like that.
Saying the right goals is just is important to setting goals. Absolutely.
And one of the things that I work through with my client’s frequently. And if if you need help with your projects you’re planning, this is something that will d’oh!
[8:33] Is this task necessary? Is this task necessary? If we don’t do this, what happens if we don’t do that? What happens?
You gotta be relentless and pruning down the work to just the work that needs to get done because a lot of people will throw in.
Look, this happens all the time, so don’t feel bad if you’ve done this.
But a lot of people will throw work in that they feel comfortable doing so that they can have busy work to avoid the things that are uncomfortable.
[9:05] That’s why you have to be relentless and keeping this prune down to the minimum.
[9:10] Not really the M V p, but the minimum necessary task list.
[9:17] Yeah, so Catherine says I deal with a lot of mothers. Breaking them down to 15 minutes or less makes things manageable.
Yeah, whatever. Your unit of availability is one of the things that I talk about.
Ah, lot is using the Pomodoro method, which is 20 minute blocks.
Um, but yeah, whatever. Whatever your unit is, break it down into that.
And look for those people that you’re working with, Katherine, that that’s that’s a great plan, right? Because if that 15 minute block is what they have. But they’re tasking is at 30 minute levels.
Then they’re not going to see the progress that they need to maintain momentum and encouragement.
They need those tasked to be 15 minutes so we can see him being finished. I can see them being crossed off the list.
[10:06] Ah, Joe says I always ask, Do I have the resource is and knowledge that I need to accomplish this task.
If not, who or what do I need to move forward?
You know, that is a very insightful question to ask as well, Joe, Um, one of the things that I teach him a really strong advocate for is Do what you do best and hire the rest.
And there’s when you do that, you should spend roughly 85% of your time doing what you do best, right? So there is time in their toe, learn and grow and do do the things that only you can. D’oh.
But when you do that, when you adopt that as a philosophy, you will find that there are things that you just don’t know how to do, and it doesn’t make sense for you to learn how to do them.
For example, if you’re not starting an accounting practice, don’t teach yourself accounting.
I mean, learn management accounting. So you know how to read and interpret the documents. But you don’t have to, you know, sit for the c e. P es justo have a business.
[11:12] All right, so There are times where the resource you need, you know that some outcome needs to happen. We need to update the website, but I don’t know how to do that. I guess I’ll have to watch a bunch of YouTube videos and teach myself a sir.
Don’t do that. You know the outcome you need to create. Now’s a great time to hire a resource, to bring a resource and to help you.
Maybe that’s with marketing. Maybe it’s with H R. Maybe it’s frequently it’s with finances.
Maybe it’s just with the planning process, right? So whatever that resources, that’s what you need to go look for.
And conveniently, that’s what we’re working to put together for you.
A network of resource is that you can draw upon no matter what. The need is that you can get the help that you need, building the business that you need to have the life and lifestyle that you crave. All of that.
There’s exciting progress being made on that, and in fact, I’m gonna go ahead and tease it here a little bit today and tomorrow, and then we’ll get into some really good stuff about it next week.
If you have a business plan? All this stuff we’ve been talking about planning is useless if you don’t put it into into execution.
[12:28] If you have a business plan that you wrote at some point and you haven’t looked at it lately like I mean, it’s January. You should’ve You should’ve already rewritten the thing, right?
[12:40] For 2020. But if you haven’t looked at it lately, I’ve got something for you.
We’re gonna have a workshop where we go through your business plan, help you update it and and do this type of break down. We break down the plan into goals to projects, the tasks of it.
You know how to transform this idea that you have into tasks that you need to do on a daily basis in order to create that result.
As I said much more on that coming up next week. Do stay tuned for that.
I am pretty excited about that. Okay, that’s it for today. Way over on time. But I hope that that’s been helpful.
If it was helpful for you and you got any benefit today out of our conversation, I would appreciate the old heart. Stars thumbs up likes whatever is appropriate in the venue where you’re watching or listening.
If you’re listening, head over to YouTube, Dom rigs and just search for Tom Rigsby or Google. Tom Rigsby you to get, There’s only one.
I’ll get you to the right place and you can watch today shows. See all the graphics on kind of understand what we’re talking about.
[13:43] There’s also somebody in your network, maybe two or three people in your network that need to hear today’s storing today’s con description. Be sure and share. Click on the old share button that is underneath this video or audio.
Send it to them right now. Before you go and do anything else, they will appreciate it. I will. Do you guys have a fantastic Thursday?
We’ll be back with a red Friday installment of seven minutes in the morning tomorrow. Until then, you guys take care.
[14:14] Music.
What do you do when you’re faced with a difficult decision? Keep working (or work harder) on the business…or shut it down? Stick with this problem employee…or let them go? Sell the 30-year-old family business…or refinance?
These are just a few of the questions business owners and leaders face every day, and they’re tough! And if this is your first time in the entrepreneurial pool…then can be even tougher.
On today’s installment of 7 Minutes in the Morning, Thom will wrap up the week and talk about how to make difficult decisions!
Have you ever had that feeling that maybe this just wasn’t meant to be? Even though I’ve worked really hard at it, for a long time, I should just cut my losses now?
The good news is, everyone who has ever tried something new, difficult, and/or worthwhile has felt that way…so you’re in really good company. The BETTER news is…well, watch or listen to the podcast…I don’t want to give it ALL away here!
Are you ‘almost’ ready to start your business or next project…just as soon as you ___? That attitude will GUARANTEE your failure! There is one easy way to overcome that obstacle and it is required of EVERY successful project! Do you know what it is? Then stay tuned!
Every business owner and aspiring entrepreneur has a laundry list of things they ‘want’ to do. The difference between those that succeed and those that fail however is that the successful businesses START! “But Thom, you don’t understand, I just need to know ___!” Whatever words you choose to fill in that blank, I’ve heard them…and they’re all excuses! Stop making excuses and start taking action!
Now, of course, there are materials to gather, plans to make, intel to collect on the enemy, um, competition…so how do you deal with that AND start? Simple…you simplify on a timeline! (not guaranteed to be easy!)
First, you simplify with the MVP method. MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product…what is the least amount of product (or service) that my client will pay me for? That’s your MVP.
Second, you develop your MVP on a timeline. You don’t have an unlimited amount of time to figure out what your MVP is, you time-box your decision making then at the end of that time-box…you start…no matter what!
Will your decision be perfect? Unlikely. Will you have to modify or adapt your trajectory? Very likely! Will you be ahead of the competitors that are still reading books and watching videos? Definitely!
And as we talked about yesterday, being out front is PARAMOUNT! (Here’s the link in case you missed it: https://www.thomrigsby.com/thelatest/2020/01/leadership-as-a-business-strategy-confidence-to-go-first/
Look, I know this is scary, but the best way to gain confidence is to start! And with momentum, you can actually gain speed and make the work easier the faster you go.
And it all begins with starting!
If you’re stuck and not sure how to get started, I can help. Take 90 seconds right now and visit www.ThomRigsby.com/coaching to schedule a time for us to talk! Start the ball rolling RIGHT NOW!
Why do you work? Can you clearly articulate the end-state you are striving to achieve?
It’s a simple enough question but one that will probably stump you. I’ve asked this question to hundreds, maybe thousands of people and the most common answers they have given fall into one of two categories: 1) to pay bills, or 2) um, because I’m supposed to.
It is exactly this lack of goals, absence of vision, that lead over 70% of employees to be mentally and emotionally disengaged AT WORK! They just don’t care.
Among business owners it’s slightly better…but not much. In a recent Reddit thread the question was posed, “Why did you start your business?” and the majority of answers centered around what the job allowed them to escape, not what it was providing for them.
So whether you are an employee or a business owner, it’s really easy to get trapped in the “it’s what I’m supposed to do” way of thinking. That’s not intentional thinking and will NOT produce the results you’re looking for!
The reality is, if you don’t have a clear vision of what YOU call success, you will just wander around, doing whatever looks interesting and never really reaching your full potential!
So instead, why not give this thought experiment a try. Grab a piece of paper and finish this sentence, “I envision a time when…” What are the criteria you will use to decide if your journey has been successful?
Not only will this make answering the WHY question easier, but it also gives you a great decision-making tool! Use it when you face a choice and ask yourself which option moves me closer to my vision of success…then choose that one! Over time, you just might get there!
Question of the day: What do you want to do but believe you are unqualified or unable to do?
Have you ever known someone who constantly believed they were falling prey to the latest malady in the news? Cancer from styrofoam cups? Yep! Flesh-eating bacteria? You know…my arm has been itching a lot…!
There is a medical condition known as hypochondria where your mind convinces you that you have a condition…so your body begins to act like you have that condition! It becomes a self-reinforcing condition!
So here’s my thought…if you mind is powerful enough to make you sick…why can’t you mind be powerful enough to make you well? Or in the context of your work or business…if your mind can prevent you from being successful, why can’t your mind assist you in being successful!?!?
You’ve probably heard the old axiom “fake it till you make it,” right? Well, there’s definitely a bit of truth in that. In EVERY successful endeavor, the first person you have to convince that it’s going to work…is YOU!
How many times have you seen a great opportunity but passes on it because of {insert your weak excuse here}!
STOP Doing That!
Instead, find the reasons why you should jump head-long into that opportunity and make it a winner. Remember, there are a million reasons why not, only one great reason why!
Drop a comment below and let us know what opportunity you are going to move on today! Make a commitment then take action to make it real! It’s the only way to change your future!
Did you share your dream with the world yesterday (see yesterday’s podcast)? If you did I have one question for you…is it big enough?
Let’s just say I’ve been coaching and helping people unleash their pent up potential for well over a decade and in that time I’ve learned many truths about coaching and getting the best out of people. Here’s one of them…if you shared your big, hairy, audacious goal with the world yesterday…there’s a VERY GOOD chance that you held back! Yep, I said it…you held back! Here’s why!
Even if you feel like you put it all out on the table…walked through the food court at the mall in your underwear (sorry for that visual but it works!), fearful as you may have been…there’s still more. See even if you laid it all out on the table yesterday for the first time, you’ve had that dream stored up for so long that you’re just not used to talking about it!
And if you did share it all, your dream bucket is exposed to the world, what kind of coach would I be if I didn’t challenge you to stretch!
You’ve already come this far, you’ve exposed your hopes and dreams this much, WHY NOT think bigger! Want to make $1 million? Why not $2 million? 100 new customers, why not 200? Hire a new technician, why not 2?
See, once you’re over the hurdle of sharing at all, it is time to REALLY share what the REAL dream is! So go ahead, update your dreams and BHAG’s in the comments!
Are you living at your full potential? Is your business, your work, and your life as good as it could be? Even if the answer is “almost” then you still have work to do! Read on…
When energy is stored (like in a spring or a battery) and not used it is called POTENTIAL energy…potential because it is not being realized. You have the potential within you and it is stored in the form of a big, hairy, audacious goal…a BHAG…a dream that is so big and crazy that, until today, you have resisted even telling anyone else about it!
Well, today is the day you are going to share your big dream with the world. Here’s why…
Potential does nothing for anyone until it is released…but it can degrade. Over time an unused battery will lose its charge. A spring will be sprung (yep, that’s really what it’s called!) If you don’t begin releasing your potential TODAY you will begin losing it TODAY!
If you’ve been tracking with us all week, you know that Monday I challenged you to refine your BGAG into a clear concise sentence…Well, today is the day to share it with the world and what better place to start than right here!
Within the Thom Rigsby community you have people just like you, similarly situated to you, ready and willing to support YOU! Everybody here has a crazy, non-conformist dream, I just want you to be an UNASHAMED non-conformist!
So go ahead, drop that powerful sentence in the comments and let the rest of the community know what you will pursue and make a reality!
