The ability to get things done effectively and efficiently is the foundation for accomplishing everything else you want in your life and business.
- The ability of an entrepreneur to be able to conceive an idea… then make that idea happen.
- The ability to stay organized.
- The ability to not let things slip through the cracks.
- The ability to delegate an assignment to someone on your team and know with certainty that it’s going to get done.
Let me paint a clearer picture for you…
- Have you ever dealt with feeling overwhelmed by the number of things you need to keep track of
- Maybe some of you consistently worry about forgetting small details
- Maybe you’re someone that wears lots of hats in you’re job and you’re life
- Maybe you start lots of projects but have trouble finishing them
- You’re able to conceive a lot of ideas but aren’t able to complete ideas.
Can you relate to any of this?
Yeah, totally.
This is the world many of us live in, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
This is the world many of us live in, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Recently, I was leading a staff meeting with my team recently, and during that time, our company was going through a lot of changes.
I asked everyone to rate their stress level on a scale of 1-10, with 10 representing a high level of stress and 1 representing a low level.
I then asked who among them was feeling stressed out, and two people raised their hands.
“is there anything I can do to help”
the two responded, "Ummm, no. I think I just need to do it, and then I'll feel better."
Some time had passed that day, and I approached them again one-on-one, asking the same question: "Is there anything I can do to help you reduce your stress level to below 5?”
They replied that they couldn't think of anything I could do to help.
so I said, "Okay, let me try something... If you're anything like me, this may be why you're stressed... when I was younger, I used to panic when I would suddenly remember a task I needed to get done or a project I needed to work on... I used to always have this nagging feeling that I was missing something.
What I realized over time is that I used stress as my system to help me remember things I needed to do... I used stress to help me remember something that I said I wanted to focus on or remember.
What I realized over time is that I used stress as my system to help me remember things I needed to do... I used stress to help me remember something that I said I wanted to focus on or remember.
I told them that my stress reminder system was like an alarm going off in my body reminding me I needed to focus on a project, and every time it went off I just pressed snooze.
Every day, I rang the alarm, and every day, the snooze button was pressed.
I lived like this for years.
Snoozing alarms but always feeling the pain of constant stress
Then I found a better way…. Because I found a better system.
When you don't have a reliable elevated system you trust, you resort to using one that you use by default
Your default system is the process you use if all hell breaks loose.
- Some of us write on our arms
- Some of us hang sticky notes covering our entire desks
- Some of us stress ourselves out and snooze the alarms.
I found that it’s usually the system we created in 6th grade when we were told that there would be consequences if we didn’t turn in our homework on time.
So, here’s the good news, bad news, good news.
- The good news is, you already know what it's like to have a system you trust. You've been doing it for years, and it has become your default.
- The bad news is, your sixth-grade self probably wasn't the best at engineering systems. If you've never been intentional about how you get things done, chances are you have a subpar system.
- But here's the second piece of good news: no matter what your default system is, you can always upgrade it!
And that’s what this first blog series is all about.
The principles and methods I am going to teach you are instantly usable and applicable to everything you need to do in both your personal and professional life.
This system works no matter how complex your life gets.
And here’s what I’ve learned…. A person can have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control.
Let me introduce you to this framework.
THE 4-STEP EXECUTION WORKFLOW
- WHAT should I do with the things that pop into my head?
- WHERE should they land?
- WHEN should I see them again?
- HOW can I prevent things from slipping through the cracks?
Let’s dig in.
See you tomorrow.
Hunter