Consistency is Key

Being relentlessly consistent in your actions will enable significant results. Just like compound interest, your continual and focused effort towards your professional and personal goals will reap considerable results.

It is so easy to get distracted from working on what is important. We all walk a tightrope of responsibilities that cross over between our busy professional and personal lives, and the following are some of the most common challenges that are shared with me:

• Since COVID, I am working remotely; however, I now feel like I am on 24/7. I am exhausted and have no time for myself.
• I don’t have the time to work on what matters. I know I have to; however, my day-to-day responsibilities and leading my team take up every waking hour.
• I am overwhelmed. Everything has become more complex, and I know I need to simplify, but I am just too tired even to start.

These challenges are real, and without intentional action to make a change, it won’t miraculously occur. I can honestly share with you that I want to make a significant impact, be effective and productive, demonstrate innovation, be creative, continually grow, attain stretch results, and all while enjoying what I love to do. Do you?

Do you need a reboot?

It can be done. You need to decide to make the changes necessary, schedule time to focus on the action required and… simply start. Given the climate that we are working and living in today, getting back on track and doing so quickly will benefit you in so many ways. You do not need to struggle with stressors, complexity, ambiguity or uncertainty in your professional or personal life. So let’s get back on track to enable you to be the best person you can be, and while doing so, enjoy yourself. If you decide to raise your game, guess what, you will do so. When you raise your game, others will notice, and you will then be more impactful to your team. Think of this as an expansionary action. You will need to be motivated to work on what matters, be consistent in your action and be dedicated to carving time in your schedule to make things happen.

Review your processes

Daily routines, scheduled blocked off uninterrupted time to work on goals and identified processes in all aspects of your work to streamline what you do and how you do it are all key. Processes help you stay on track, provide consistent levels of service, take away the complexity of task management, save you time and enhance your performance.

Stick with a system

Whether you use Trello, Asana, Evernote, a paper day timer, or a CRM, commit to a system to keep yourself organized. Keeping on top of what needs to be done by when ideas and scheduled follow up will help you stay focused and productive. In my system, I keep track of my quarterly goals and actions, weekly focus points and a running ideas list of ideas to ensure I remain innovative in my approach to work. You may have to play around with multiple systems initially; however, limit the time you will give yourself to find the right one for you. If you have a system, yet have not been using it, now is the time to go back to the basics. Commit to your system (new or current) for the next 90 days and then circle back to me and let me know your results.

Raise your game

You want to be the best you can be, so rather than thinking about it, start acting that way. Step up your game, practice the Golden Rule of treating others how you wish to be treated. Be true to what you need to focus on, and do not let other priorities take over from the time you need to work on your goals. When you focus on how you work, how you want to be perceived and lean into the changes that you know you need to make to improve your ‘presence’ factor, it will occur. Listen intently, be aware of your posture and body language (yes even if you are only in front of a computer screen on a zoom call – it matters), choose words carefully, smile often and look for the joy in what you are doing, it will be acknowledged and is contagious to others. How successful are you in meeting your daily, weekly or monthly targets? It is so easy to get bogged down with the day to day and fall into busy, rather than strategic work. Focusing on the right thing, and being consistent in daily action to move forward is the key to success.

Get comfortable with saying ‘No’ more than ‘Yes.’

Allocate 30 minutes to look closely at your schedule for the next three weeks. If there are any meetings or activities that are in your schedule that you do not need to attend, send your regrets, and either have someone else attend on your behalf or advise why you do not need to be involved. Compare your schedule against your goals. If you have time blocked off to work on items that are not in your top 7-10 goal areas, then determine if this is the right way to be spending your time. For every new request, before automatically saying ‘yes’ really think about your answer, it is just as easy to say ‘no,’ I promise!

Batch tasks

Create a checklist of tasks that can be batched and schedule them in your weekly calendar.

I have a running list of quick 2 minutes jobs that I schedule in an hour block daily. I use the hour after lunch, where my energy is a little waned, and I need a kickstart to the afternoon. I batch social media postings and also writing time, whether it be for blog posts or project proposals.

Track your outputs

Your outputs are in your control – you will see that tracking them and being relentlessly consistent in your action will expedite your ability to move your work forward.

Delegate when you can

The answer is not to do more. Life does not have to be lived in a constant state of emergency, nor do you have to do everything alone to feel that the task at hand is done in the right way. Delegate when you can, you do not have to do it all. There is no merit in continuously pushing items onto the ‘I have to do this later’ mile-long list. Focus on where you add value. Work out how your time is best utilized and as other tasks arise that are not in your superpower zone, then move them on.

Contact Me

So many tips, so much to do but really – the first step is the most critical, and that is STARTING.

If you would feel like you would be a good candidate for my Executive Coaching Program, please book a time through my Calendly link, and I would be happy to have a 15-minute introductory connection with you.