Abandoning Balance

Achieving balance in your life sounds great. The way it’s talked about, you’d think that if you could perfectly balance your time you’d experience peace like never before. I’m no different. I envision a life where I get everything done, make everyone happy and never feel stressed or hurried because I’ve got this time management thing down. And just like you, I’m never going to get there. It’s just like the stories I read to my son each night, a fantasy that will never come true. A perfectly balanced schedule is impossible. 

Abandon balance as a goal. It’s not going to help either of us get more done. 

One glance at the pages of any history book tells the story in full. They're filled with story after story of meaningful lives rarely characterized by balance. Look carefully and you’ll see men and women who tackled the challenges before them with passion. They didn’t expend their energy trying to balance forty different things, instead, they gave their all to each part of their life. 

What are the things you’re passionate about? You wife? The kids? A project you’re working on? A side hustle you’re building? What would it look like if you allowed your passions to drive you instead of the mythical creature called balance? 

I’ll confess, I don’t have all the answers. This is still a new concept for me, and I’m working to understand it more fully. What I want to share with you today, however, are a few things I’ve learned through this process.  

1. You have to decide how you’ll spend your time before other people do it for you. 
2. Time management is life management. 
3. Every time you want to make progress, you’re met with some form of resistance.  
4. Balance is a bad pursuit - it doesn’t feel like an advance, it feels like a retreat.
5. People who accomplish significant things aren’t balanced people, they’re passionate people.
6. The passion you bring to your work, brings glory to God regardless of what you do. 
7. You have the same amount of time as every other person in history. 
8. Not all hours feel equal. Energy levels wax and wane throughout the day. 
9. Do what you’re best at when you’re at your best. 
10. Schedules are a good thing.  

I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking the answer to getting more done, is working harder. It’s my default setting. Whenever I meet resistance, I put my head down and push harder. It rarely if ever ends well. Burnout and breakdown are usually its side effects. Hard work isn’t a bad thing, but it can’t be all you have. You’ve got to plug into passion.  

How would it transform your life to pursue everything you do with passion? 

Let’s stop playing defense by pursuing balance and go on offense by engaging in every area of our life with passion. I’m still learning how to do this, but love the shift in mindset it brings. Going on offense is so much more fun than sitting back and playing defense. 
 

Quick, I Need More Time Stat!

We are almost to the weekend and if you are anything like me, you're looking at your "to do" list and feeling like you just don't have enough time in the day. Can I get an amen on that one? Someone needs to invent a time machine, like yesterday!!

You might have missed it while your nose was to grind stone but someone finally figured it out for us and it could change everything about how we get things done.

It's called an alarm clock.

Before you get mad and leave, which can be oh so tempting when someone shares news you don't want to hear, hear me out. I promise it'll be worth it. Hey if its not, you can delete this tab. So win, win?

Think about it, what is one sure fire way to create more time in your schedule to get things done? If you said, getting up earlier you're exactly right.

We all know this, but how many of us take action on it?

We love our sleep like a fat kid loves sugar donuts and the thought of sacrificing any of it is painful. Most of that pain however comes from regret. The regret that comes from knowing that if we got up earlier we could change our lives.

I'm not going to waste your time making a case for why we all could benefit from getting up earlier. I'm just going to assume you agree with me and want to make some changes to your life. Isn't that why you’re here? 

So you want to get up earlier? Today I've got one ultra simple way for you to add one hour to your day in just one week with minimal suffering. We've all tried, and failed, to get up earlier through the years. We do really good for a few days, ok maybe we do good for like 2 days and give up, but for whatever reason we can't make the change.

So how do you make it stick this time?

Set multiple alarms on your smart phone.  

The introduction of technology into our lives has many benefits, especially in helping us create habits. No other device has been more impactful on us than the "smart" phone, specifically the iPhone. That little device in your pocket has enormous power and potential to help you change your life.

Sit down for one minute and set five alarms for the upcoming week, one for each day. Each day you will set the alarm for 15 mins earlier than the day before. You'll hardly notice getting up 15 mins earlier.

Your alarms should look like this:

Now that your all set. Don't give it another thought until next Friday when you set your alarms for the following week. If you want to keep rolling back the clock feel free to do so, or you can simply enjoy having an extra hour each day next week. 

Developing a "Stop Doing" List

Most lead lives full of activity and lacking discipline. "To do" lists are overwhelming and ever growing. They are filled with wasteful activities, "we just have to do", that drain us of energy, steal our time and keep us from chasing truly great opportunities. 

Enter the idea of the "Stop Doing" list. 

A "stop doing" list in its most basic form is a list of the things that you and / or your team are going to stop doing.  

The solution to your crazy schedule and consequently a crazy task list isn't just another list but the process of evaluating exactly what you are doing each day. A "stop doing" list helps you take a cold hard look at what you are doing and literally stop doing those things that are not the most fruitful for you and your team.  

Like much of life, the power is in the process. 

How do you determine which activities are worth doing? Putting together a "stop doing" list begins by taking a hard look at your task list and asking yourself a series of questions.

1. What is the purpose of this task? It is always helpful to begin with the end in mind. To ask yourself the five year old's favorite question, why? Why is this item even on your "to do" list? What was it's origional purpose? Why are you doing each particular task? Purpose matters especially when it comes to the tasks that cosume your time. If the ultimate purpose of a task isn't worth the time, energy and resources it consumes ditch it. 

2. What outcomes does this task produce? Every task you perform produces an outcome. What is the result of doing each item on your list? What fuit does it produce? Make note of the outcomes your work produces. If what you are doing isn't producing good results that are helping you achieve your goals, it is probably something wasting your time.    

3. If I did not already do this, would I do it? Thinking about starting over often helps provide clarity. There are any number of things you do each day that were once great and needed items but whose time has passed. Honestly evaluate each and every item as if it were a new idea even if you've been doing it for years. Just because its the way things have always been done isn't a good enough reason to keep something on your to do list. You have too much going on for wasteful tasks born of tradition.  

4. Does it fall in my area of strength? Focus on what you do best. A stop doing list allows you to focus on your strengths. Stop doing things you're not best equipped to do. Chances are that even if the task is worth doing, someone else around you might be better suited to perform it.

Developing a Reading Habit

I love to read. There are few things I enjoy more than kicking back with cold glass of sweet tea in one hand and a book in the other. Reading shapes who we become by opening our minds to new thoughts, to new ideas and to a whole new world.

Last week I mentioned how important reading is to our personal growth. While personal growth encompasses many things the foundation is often a good book. With so much riding on our commitment to read here are three steps to help you in developing a reading habit.   

1. Determine what you will read

Reading for personal growth requires a degree of intentionality. Wondering aimlessly down the aisle of your local book store or public library most likely won't get you where you want to go. No, you must make decisions about what you will read with a direction and purpose in mind. One great way to go about this is by establishing some categories in which you want to read and then selecting books within each category. 

For example, you may choose to read leadership, marketing, spiritual growth and fiction. While there may be some overlap in categories and you may add books to your list throughout the year, try to determine what you will read at the beginning of the year. The beginning of your new reading year can be right now if you let it. Simply pick a few categories in which you want to learn and grow, establish a list of books in each category you think would be helpful and get after it. 

2.  Determine when you will read

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day yet some achieve amazing results many can only dream of. Maybe they read two books a week or a hundred in a year. Whatever the remarkable accomplishment they achieve, you have the same number of hours each day as they do. These hours will be swallowed up by anything and everything other than reading if you let it. Often that time thief is our TV. So turn it off, pick up your next book and read 10 pages per day.

3. Involve others

Involving other people can be extremely helpful. When you have other people you know are going to hold us accountable, you tend to show up and do the things you commit to doing. Start a book club or simply share your reading plan with a friend and ask them to check in on you.

4 Steps to Personal Growth

As the great Tony Robbins says,"For things to change, you gotta change." 

The truth is your team and your business are dependent on your growth. It can't grow if your not. So own it. Draw a line in the sand today and commit to growing and developing yourself. If you are growing you can lead and today I have a simple four step plan to help transform you over the next year. 

1. Read

You hear this one all the time because it is true. Leaders are readers & readers are leaders. Reading helps sharpen your mind and helps you grow as a communicator. It is not just the content of what you read that shapes you, you learn how to think and communicate in an articulate and coherent fashion.

If the thought of reading has you overwhelmed or you just don't think you have time, start small. Commit to reading a minimum of 10 pages per day. That's 3,650 pages in a year! 

2. Redeem Your Commute

Instead of listening to the radio, dial up a podcast or audio book while you drive. This simple step will transform your commute from simply getting from A to B into one that transforms your mind. 

3. Replace TV

One common habit of the extremely successful that I have seen in interview after interview is that they turn off the TV. Instead of spending the 30 minutes before bed on the couch watching the next episode of your favorite show on Netflix, pull out your laptop or iPad and spend that time putting good things in your mind. Listen / watch videos of the top personal growth leaders as you prepare for bed.   

4. Lock Arms with Winners

It is said that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. I couldn't agree more. Increase your time with good people who are running the same direction and encourage one another. 

None of these steps requires much more of you than a commitment to do a few things differently over a period of time but what a difference they could make!