One Sure Fire Way to Accomplish More in 2016

As we bring 2015 to a close and stand ready to welcome 2016 with open arms, I want to share one small tip that can help you achieve more next year. 

Don't wait until the calendar changes to start working on your goals.

Get a head start on them now.

The momentum you build these next few days before we turn the page on a new year can propel you into achieving more than you ever thought you could.

We often over estimate what we can accomplish in the short term, but rarely do we realize fully what we can achieve over the long term. 

Go into the new year energized and excited to tackle all you hope to accomplish. And while your at it give yourself a head start while you can.

I started attacking my 2016 reading list this past weekend and have been over joyed to have already completed my first book on the list.

What are your big goals for 2016 and who said you had to wait until then to start working on them? 

Templates Are Your Friend

While we all have a ton going on and can barely keep it all straight in our heads, one trick continues to help me get it all done and keep everything straight. And it can transform your life as well! 

What is it?

Templates.

From emails to journal entries to conversations I template as much as possible. I've spent some time designing how I want to handle many of the regular tasks I face. This keeps me from making unnecessary decisions and reinventing the wheel each time. It also ensures that I don't miss or forget things.

How will you benefit from creating templates for just about everything in your life?

The obvious answer is that you will save time.

However saving time is useless if you don't utilize that time in a productive manner. Templates allow you to be intentional with the most valuable aspects of each task. Instead of worrying about all aspects of the email, or conversation you can focus only on the most important. 

Do you have an email that you write all the time? Create a template for answering it.

Do you keep a daily journal? Consider creating a template of daily questions or prompts.

Are there important regular conversations you need to have? Create templates for what you want to say and resources you want to point to.

Whatever it is you do on a regular basis there is most likely a way to create a template to help you do it not just efficiently but more intentionally.

Be Intentional

It feels as if someone is grabing me by the head, shaking it side to side and trying desperatly to get my attention. I must be slow to catch on because the idea of being intentional is everywhere, and I mean everywhere, for me lately. And I can understand why. 

Being intentional is key. If you want good relationships or anything else in life you have to be intentional. 

People tend to live rather unintentional lives. They just go with the flow and take what comes their way. 

This is never more true than in the area of habits. Recent studies have shown that upwards of 40% of the actions people perform each day are habits rather than actual decisions. That means that nearly half of what you do today will be a result of habits you've formed. Many of these habits have been passively allowed rather than intentionally cultivated. If there is a habit you want in your life, you have to be intentional about cultivating it in your life.  

Intentionality sets you up to lead your life, not just accept your life. Being intentional puts you in an active rather than a passive mindset as you face your day. You will be looking for how you can help, love, serve and add value to the lives of others. 

Growth doesn't just happen, you have to be intentional. You can't just throw a goal out there and expect to accomplish it, you have to be intentional about how you pursue it. Not all roads lead to the same destination. Intentional action is required.     

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Weekly Experiment: Intentional Living 7 Day Experiment with John Maxwell

John Maxwell released his most recent book entitled Intentional Living this month and I immediately placed it on my reading list. In conjunction, John also released a great 7 day experiment to help you get in the habit of living intentionally. I just completed my 7 day experiment and it was truly life changing. I loved the active mindset this series got me in so much that I added a new question to my daily journal questions to ensure that I keep working to live intentionally long after my experiment has ended. Click the link above and sign up for the 7 day experiment. You'll be glad you did!

Ask good questions

As I have previously shared, some topics come up over and over again. Sometimes you just can't seem to shake certain topics. They just chase you down and pop up everywhere you go.

My most recent hound has been the importance of asking great questions.

It seems that no matter where I go, what I read or what I listen to it keeps cropping up in new and fresh ways. However it appears, the truth remains. 

Asking good questions is perhaps the most important habit / skill you can develop.

Why is asking good questions important? Asking good questions is important for at least three reasons:

1. Cultivating a learning mentality. A learning mentality is humbling because you have to admit that you don't know it all. However, it can be the first step towards unlocking new doors in your life. Everyone has something they can teach you, and asking good questions is how you figure out what it is. Ask questions that not only help you learn more about a particular person, but that also help you grow. Are you facing a major issue in your life? Is there a particular situation you're just not sure how to handle? Ask good questions of those around you.

2. Improves your relationships. Developing the habit of asking people really good questions shows people that they matter to you. One of the best ways you can show someone their value to you, is to ask their opinion. Dig deep in to who they are, what makes them tick, and what's going on deep inside their heart. It's quite difficult to dislike someone you've spent the time truly getting to know. Inevitably you will find common ground and something to appreciate about them. When you being to hold others in esteem and take a true interest in them, they will return the favor and take a deeper interest in you. As you esteem others, your value in their life will increase as well. There is no better example of this than marriage. Want to know one of the best secrets to having a great marriage? Ask your spouse intentional questions that help you learn more about them, and that communicate to them that you value your relationship. There isn't a relationship in your life that couldn't benefit from this type of intentional questioning.

3. Separates you from the crowd. You don't stand out from the crowd by being the guy with all the answers. Everyone knows that guy is a fake, and quite honestly no one wants to be around them. No, you stand out by the quality of the questions you ask. Ask really good questions at work, and then actually listen to the responses people give. Do that and you'll stand out just fine.

As I am growing in this area I also want to help you develop the habit of asking good questions. Below are 30 questions that can help you get started. Pick one or two questions and ask them over dinner tonight with your family, friends or roommates.  

1. What's the best advice you've received, who gave it to you & how did it help you.
2. What's the best advice you've ever given someone else?
3. If you could do one thing for everyone in the world what would it be?
4. What single event in your life had the greatest impact on you?
5. What advice would you give your 20 year old self?
6. You walk into a bar, what do your order from the bartender?
7. Who are you reading?
8. Who are you learning from?
9. What have you learned in the past year that has impacted your life the most?
10. What historical figure do you resonate with most?
11. What is one thing that you've learned in your life that you feel most people overlook?
12. How do you lead your family?
13. What single person has had the biggest impact on you?
14. What single person has had the biggest impact on your leadership?
15. What single person has had the biggest impact on how you lead your family?
16. How do you set goals? What are you currently working to achieve?
17. What is the most impactful book you have ever read?
18. What book do you most often give as a gift?
19. In what areas are you currently working to improve?
20. When you think of the word successful, who is the first person to come to mind?
21. What are your daily rituals?
22. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life?
23. What are you best at?
24. Something people would be surprised to learn about you?
25. What one book would you recommend everyone read?
26. Do you have a morning routine? If so, what is the most important thing you do to start each day?
27. The Pareto Principle states, that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts, what is your 20%?
28.  What gets you out of bed in the morning? What are you most passionate about?
29. What rejuvenates your soul? What places or activities help you recharge?
30. When do you feel most productive? 

One Thing You Must Add To Your Daily Routine

As we head into a new week, I want to share a little nugget I've stumbled upon over the last few weeks. 

Journaling.

Ok, I'm late to the party. People have been journaling for hundreds of years, especially 13 year old girls. 

Like me you might have given journaling a try here and there over the years only to drop the habit after a few days each time. Maybe you lacked will power to commit, didn't have the time or see the return on your investment, or perhaps you simply didn't know what to write when you sat down. I've run into each of these hurtles over the years and each has prevented me from developing the habit of journaling, until now. 

What changed? In short, I addressed the three major challenges that prevent you from establishing any routine, especially one like journaling.

But first, why is journaling worth all the fuss?

Much of what we know of the great men of ages past comes from private journals. Though great in their time and busy as you are, these men elevated the practice of daily journaling to one of great import. At some point each day they would sit with pen in hand to move thoughts out of their heads and onto the page. Often journaling was the activity they used to jump start their day. 

Over the last several weeks I have become convinced there are three main benefits to establishing this daily habit that could change your world in relative short order. 

1. Journaling draws your attention to patterns in your life.

Over time you'll recognize patterns in your life that would have otherwise gone unnoticed or would have only been so when they made a wreck of things. Your mind can't hold everything, or if it does you're unable to access every part of it. Journaling is a great help in organizing your thoughts, feelings, lessons learned, and major events. As time goes on you will be able to look back and reference things you'd otherwise miss.   

2. Journaling helps you clear your mind. 

I can't overstate the value of a clear mind to getting things done. Every day you have a million things swimming around in your head that distract and take a way from your day. Why not trap those thoughts, feelings and worries on the page of your journal? You will immediately feel free. Your mind will be less cluttered and you will be able to focus instead on getting stuff done. 

3. Journaling helps you cultivate intentionality

Daily writing and processing your thoughts helps you approach the day with an active mindset. You begin to think about what you will do, how you will do it and form a clear picture of exactly what must be accomplished. Daily journaling helps you lead your day instead of simply accepting your day. People live most of their life in a passive state. They simply accept what happens each day, instead of actively trying to shape it. Another way to say this is that most people live unintentionally. Journaling is one key practice that helps you cultivate a habit of intentionality. Cultivating this habit more than any other helps you get more done, and improves every other area of your life. If for no other reason, cultivating an intentional mindset alone is worth keeping a daily journal.