“Do this for one month and I guarantee you will see a change.”
There is something I prescribe to myself, my clients, my staff, and actually, everyone I see or will listen, is to do one thing in three main areas of your life every day.
Maybe I should elaborate on that.
When I lost my business in 2007, I spent the next 3 years in the wilderness and my state of mind was not what it is today. I literally must have become double jointed, because I spent 3 years kicking my own backside every day. It became like Groundhog Day.
One way that I managed to extricate myself from that pit of self-pity was to instil daily positive habits into my routine.
There are a number of things that I do, but I feel this one has the most benefit to me, my business and to those around me I care about the most.
There are three main areas in my life that I like to impact every day. These are:
- My Relationships
- My Business
- Myself
When I talk about relationships it doesn’t just mean my wife, it could mean anybody. My business partner, my staff, my family, my friends.
Then my business. This is obviously a huge part of my life, and as it is for any entrepreneur or business owner, it’s more than a job, it’s my life. They do say that if you do something you love, you’ll never work another day in your life. I find myself constantly having to answer the critics who say things like, “put your phone down” or “why are you working on a Saturday”. I tell them that I don’t see it as work, although when the shit is hitting the fan somewhere, it does wear you down occasionally.
Finally, myself, that sounds a bit egocentric but you have to take care of your own well-being or there will be nobody left to take care of the other stuff.
When it comes to myself, that could mean anything. Switch the phone off at 7pm, a cinema date with my wife, a meal with the family, the gym, a new pair of shoes. It could be literally anything but it has to be categorised as “for me”.
All of the three things don’t need to be massive tasks or complicated, they just need to happen.
Perhaps if I give you an example of today.
Myself – I did a personal training session in the gym this morning. It made me feel great, I had a sense of accomplishment when I finished it and my exercise was done for the day.
My Business – I met with Dave Dean earlier today and recorded our latest Podcast. It’s a great thing to do and it will increase the awareness and credibility of our business.
My relationships – I’m taking my wife out for a quiet meal. We don’t do Valentine’s Day, our excuse is, it’s for unromantic couples who don’t do anything for the rest of the year!! A tad harsh maybe but at least it stops us having to fork out for overpriced cards and flowers.
I find these things really help me achieve a work life balance, all of them are equally important to me.
To elaborate a little more or give further context:
Relationships could be seeing my parents for 20 minutes, or calling one of the boys for a catch up. It could be having lunch with the guys in the office, or simply spending time with my wife over a glass of wine and the home dining table. It could be little deeds like cleaning the bathroom or hoovering the downstairs (I appreciate that these shouldn’t be classed as out of the norm but hey ho…) I class the time I spend coaching my sons under 16’s football team as relationships, as I get to spend time with the teenager in the car and watching him play sport.
Perhaps the simplest and best way to achieve this goal is to tell my wife I love her and how great she looks today. They shouldn’t be hard work, especially if you are going to do them every day. Look at them as little wins.
Make it as cheap and as cheerful as possible and make it a quick gain
The same goes for business. It could be doing a specific task that I have been putting off for a while, or something trivial like making that phone call. Perhaps writing that email or completing that blog entry. I may meet with one of the senior team or edit a video blog. It could be a big thing or a tiny little thing. Again, a quick win or something to look back on and say, I’m happy I did that today. Most of us will all know too well that the day just passes us, and we focus on the negatives, not the positive things we have accomplished during a day. I call it the entrepreneurs curse!!
For myself, it’s literally for myself. It could be a glass of wine, a biscuit, a gym session, a new book. I try to stay away from big ticket items like gadgets (I love gadgets) and away from spending money. If this becomes cost prohibitive you will give it up.
Make it as cheap and as cheerful as possible and make it a quick gain.
I would suggest you write them down in your diary, journal or notebook. Put them at the top of the page so you can keep a record of them, and monitor progress. When you look back on them you can see how easy they are to achieve and what effect they have on you and others.
Perhaps you can think into these questions this month: –
What are your three areas?
Can you commit to this for one month?
If you do, I can guarantee they will have a huge effect on your work and personal life.
It focuses the mind and they can be tiny.
Let me know what your three things are and get them on Twitter or Instagram.
#fromjob2biz Use #mythreethings
You can even #relationships #business #myself if you want to show everyone what you’ve done.
Let’s see what you’ve got!
