The following things are relatively easy to do, but also easy not to do. Do them consistently and they can change your career and life.
1. Follow up
How many interactions die after the first meeting? Not if you follow up.
It shows you’re interested (to be interesting, be interested – Carnegie), it keeps the momentum going, and it creates ongoing opportunities.
Keep nurturing your network, you never know where the next opportunity will come from.
2. Audit your time
How often you feel exhausted at the end of the day asking “where did my time go?”. Like money and calories, what gets measured gets managed (Drucker).
Be in control of your time, or somebody else inevitably will!
3. Control your mood
Willpower and positive energy are finite. Start your day early using an empowering ritual.
For me that is steps and listening to an inspiring podcast or audiobook.
It sets the tone and confidence of the day. Improving our morning routine has been a game changer for us this year.
4. Use the right tool
Mobiles are great but highly interruptive. Avoid email (social) first thing in the morning.
Flight mode is not only for airplanes, it can be your new best friend in the early morning, especially when you have to eat that ugly frog 🙂
Talking about the right tool for the job: calls can be great. Sometimes email is just not the right tool. It starts clean but people get cc’d and some people go off on a tangent resulting in long, unfocused email chains.
Break the pattern: host a 15 min call with a clear agenda and come out with follow up actions. Win/win: not only will you save a lot of time, people will see you as a leader.
5. Just ask
There are no dumb questions! (Unless you did not do your homework of course.)
There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck on a problem for hours while somebody else can guide you in the right direction in minutes.
Don’t let self imposed ceilings hold you back from asking for help.
You are not bothering the other person, you actually give him/her an opportunity to feel great by helping you!
Another reason to be assertive is to stay focused on your longer term goal. Without speaking up, your manager/team/audience does not know where you can be(come) more valuable and therefore risk getting stuck in a rut.
I hope this gives you some healthy inspiration to start off your week.
Now go crush it this week and comment below which of these tips boosted your productivity/ motivation/ moved you closer to your goal. See you next week.
— Bob