Thursday, February 04, 2016

Thursday, 4 FEB 2016 :: What to do FIRST !!

I have been reading "success" materials for too many years...and listening to audio presentations... and watching video presentations... etc.  The same themes run through all of them because the same details are needed for achieving your goals.  The presenters are the difference, and the times they are created in.  When I first became aware of this kind of information, I think it was Nightingale-Conant that was the main player (and is still available online  :-).  Then I think I discovered Zig Ziglar (also still available online).  I think Brian Tracy was the last one I knew about (also still available online).  I don't know who the guru is for this generation... it may depend on the topic.  PBS has its own version of guru, Christians have Focus on the Family, Crown Ministries, Dave Ramsey, and others.  You have to listen to the presentations with their theologies in mind, because what we believe affects how we say thing, what we share as truth, and the results we are looking for.

Today I am sharing something by Brian Tracy that I found through a YouTube video review of "Eat That Frog" -- which is a book about ending our procrastinating, I am told.  I was impressed by the reviewers comment that the audio version of this book is a repeat activity... that he wanted to listen to is once a year to see how he evolved in his process and what would rise to the top each year.

The main focus of this book is the A-B-C-D-E method of setting your priorities.  Brian Tracy shared it this way in a printout I have from somewhere...possibly linked to this page ::  http://www.briantracy.com/blog/category/personal-success ).

  • A stands for VERY IMPORTANT - something you must do.  There can be serious negative consequences if you don't do it.
  • B stands for IMPORTANT - something you should do.  This is not as important as your A tasks.  There are only minor negative consequences if it is not completed.
  • C stands for NICE TO DO - but not as important as A and B tasks.  There are no negative consequences for not completing it.
  • D stands for DELEGATE - you can assign this task to someone else who can do the job instead of you.
  • E stands for ELIMINATE - whenever possible, you should eliminate every single activity you possibly can, to free up your time.

The key to life is how we spend our TIME !!  It is the only resource none of us can increase... we all have the same 24-hours to spend, and how we spend them creates our life.

Another theme of Brian Tracy's writings is the idea of focusing on one thing until it is done, then moving on to the next thing.  I liked the way he put it in this statement ::

Once you can clearly determine the one or two things that you should be doing, above all others, just say no to all diversions and distraction and focus single-mindedly on accomplishing those priorities.


It is really hard for me to not be distracted by all the little things that need to get done...  sometimes just clearing my desk space is required to THINK about getting anything done.  I have this habit of creating "piles" that have to be sorted later, and then I get distracted by the things I am going through in my piles.  :-)  It is a problem I keep hoping a larger living space will solve.

The pages I printed from the internet have 3 ACTION STEPS from Brian Tracy that I wanted to share with you, too.  They might put your efforts into a clearer order.  I hope so.

  • First, take the time to be clear about your goals and objectives so that the priorities you set are moving you in the direction of something that is of real value to you.
  • Second, remember that what counts is not the amount of time that you put in overall; rather, it's the amount of time that you spend working on high-priority tasks.
  • Third, understand that the most important factor in setting priorities is you ability to make wise choices.  You are always free to choose to engage in one activity or another.

Deciding what your goals are helps you to find the way through all your choices.  If FAMILY is your goal, the choices you make will be different than if your goal is MONEY... and there will be limits to some of your choices.

You can't have everything,
decide what matters most to you.




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