Feeling Overwhelmed?

Have you ever looked ahead in your calendar and been overwhelmed with your future schedule?

Or maybe you’re a minimalist and you don’t have anything in your calendar because you think you can shoot from the hip and figure things out as your go along?

Either way, if you want to accomplish more, better utilize your time, and be more successful, here are three ways to better use your calendar.

1. Architect Your Schedule

Make a list of all the things you want to accomplish.

Then start placing them on your calendar. Think both short and long term. Place items to reflect your daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals.

Whether it’s going for walks, exercise, eating, setting up evening routines, reading, working, collaborating with your partner.

Whatever it is, architect your ideal day, week, and month.

2. If It Goes On Your Calendar, Then It Goes On!

This is what I mean: If you put it on your calendar, commit to doing it!

Or...

Lose the Battle, Win the War

You keep asking yourself the question: How can I be successful?

We imagine all the trappings of success. The clothes. The cars. The house.

We imagine what success feels like. Security. Comfort. Abundance.

It seems like success could only be a step away. Maybe a reeeally long step. Over a very deep chasm. With a turbulent river filled with sharp rocks and crocodiles below.

And all those self help gurus are out there yelling at us to make the running leap. Telling us that we shouldn’t have a safety net. That we shouldn’t have a Plan B. That we should put all of our eggs in one basket.

Ummm…. Say what?

That’s all fine and good to tell people in a video. Especially ones followed by a message “We cannot guarantee results” at the end.

I’ve found that real life doesn’t work like that. In real life, there can be disastrous consequences for betting all of our resources on one number like it’s some kind of...

“How do I say no?”

A friend came to me recently with a problem. Someone had asked her to crash at her house for a few days. No real reason given. No explanation. Just wanted to crash and stay at her place.

Normally, my friend might have said yes, but her gut response was to say no.

The potential house crasher wasn’t a really close friend. Plus my friend is healing from a concussion and has to be very careful about her environment or run the risk of re-triggering her concussion symptoms.

Even taking that into account, my friend felt bad about saying no.

The Trouble with Saying No

We’ve all been there before. We’ve all had to ask for help. We can empathize precisely because we want to receive help if we ask for it.

Saying “no” can make us feel like a villain. And who wants to feel that way?

However, the best help we can give is the help that doesn’t over-extend us.

The focus then shifts from “How do I say no?” to “Is it...

It's great to lay down the thought foundation into being successful. After all, it's been shown that thoughts are the bedrock upon which actions are built.

You want to win. You've been celebrating your wins. You've been building momentum. Now let's take it to the next level.

Let's talk about real world, achievable tactics. 

Here's a little thing I made called "Tomorrow's Habit Today."

Habits are a repetition of actions. But how can we build up our habits? How can we have the motivation to get started on seemingly daunting goals?

Start tomorrow's habit today.

I'm a very competitive person. I'm always chasing that high score. Just like games, you can construct some high scores in your life.

For example, journaling. 

Journaling is a great way to learn about yourself, identify and refine habits, and ground yourself. 

In the past, I've gone in and out of the habit of journaling. I want to get started again.

Because I want tomorrow to be Day Two of...

Have you ever wanted to have continued success? I know that I used to dream about this. 

I felt like I was stuck in a rut and that my wins were far and few between. It was like being stuck in a perpetual cycle of suck. 

I hated it. 

So I threw myself into research and found the answer to break the pattern of defeat. And it was easier and more enjoyable than I ever thought!

I covered in my last two blogs the first two steps on how to continue to fuel your success.

How to Accelerate Your Success:

1. Observe Your Win
2. Celebrate Your Win
3. Accelerate Your Win

This a very deliberate and conscientious process, which is why it's so effective!

Once you observe and celebrate your win, now it's time to use that energy to accelerate your win!

The way you accelerate your win is through laser-like focus.

For example, I will often want to focus on my business. Now, this is a wide net. Definitely not narrow enough.

Work on my marketing? Better, but still not focused enough.

...

Who doesn't want to be more successful? 

As we all know, success begets success.

But have you ever wondered how the world's highest performers get the drive to fuel further successes?  How they get over the rough patches? How they are able maintain a high level of performance?

I love exploring this. And when I found out the answer, it was so simple that it floored me.

Winners celebrate their wins in order to win more!

I talked about the first part of this in my last blog. Start with an observation that you had a win!

From there, move on to your next step: CELEBRATE!!!

You can start by celebrating the simplest things. Like making your bed. It might seem silly. It might seem like too much.

It's not!

Celebrating the small things has helped me build the momentum I needed in order to make substantial changes in my life.

It has been the single most important thing on how to become successful.

There are so many different ways you can celebrate. You don't have to...

We've all been there before. Feeling stuck.

Whether you're stuck on implementing your schedule, committing to that project. Completing that task. Or even getting started. 

The way to get unstuck is the same no matter the reason.

This is the number one thing that my clients have said have worked for them.

The secret?

The key to getting unstuck is by celebrating your wins!

It starts off with an observation. Recognize that you did something. I want you to think about this as recognizing that you learned something. 

Take, for example, brushing your teeth. It might seem like a little thing. We don't treat it like a little thing!

If we don't take the time for the "little" task of brushing our teeth every day, then when you get to that job interview or that public speaking gig, brushing your teeth for ten minutes won't undo months of neglect.

Celebrate!

Celebrate the consistent practice. Brushing your teeth. Making your bed. Eating healthy. Getting rest.

Don't use...

Weeds happen.

Anyone who has planted a garden understands this. The same fecund patch of soil you meticulously prepared to grow your vegetables, herbs, or flowers is a perfect environment for weeds. 

You can control what you can control. And we can't always control what seeds fall into our plot of soil. But you can control what you do when the weed appears.

"What would you do if you died tomorrow?" 

This is the question from a story that greatly influenced my life. Check out the full story here. The cliffnotes: this question was posed to a man named Frankie. 

He replied, "I'd hoe my garden." 

Once we look at this through the lens of assessment, his seemingly offball answer becomes extremely profound.

Frankie can't control when he dies. Just like we can't always control when weeds appear. But he can control what he does on a day-to-day basis. 

Just like we can control our reponses.

(And here's a quick primer about the differences between reactions and...

I hope you've been following my recent blogs as I've been talking about the 5 R's of Assessment.

This is an amazing tool to greatly improve your quality of life. It can be used to advance your career, improve your relationships, and help you achieve your dreams.

Here's a little recap of the 5 R's of Assessment:

1. Recognize
2. Rejoice
3. Reset
4. Research
5. Re-engage

After you've researched your options, pick ONE option to put into practice.

Now, you may implement one piece and then later, you bring in another piece. However, get started with that one piece immediately!

That way, you build momentum! And, if you've been reading my blogs, you know that building momentum is the key to achieving your dreams!

You might be tempted to implement more than one at the start. DON'T.

There is this whole concept these days of multi-tasking. It seems to be a concept pushed by makers of cell phones and other electronic devices. 

Multi-tasking might be great in theory, but in reality, the...

How To Be More Successful

Let's take a minute and remind ourselves of our goals: to be more successful.

Whether you mean success in your job, your careers, your relationships, or finally achieving your dreams, the process is the same! 

That's why we spend so much time laying the foundation. You might have a fast car, but speeding on a gravel road will most likely leave you in the ditch!

The Foundation of Success

The foundation for achievement is through the 5 R's of Assessment.

1. Recognize
2. Rejoice
3. Reset
4. Research
5. Re-engage

In my last blog, we went over resetting, which included coming up with 3-5 different options to help you live into your best life. 

This creative process is absolutely vital since it breaks you free from the mentality of "my only choice." (When you use this phrase, start implementing the 5 R's of Assessment!)

Once you have your choices, start researching them. 

Do your best to research, within your limits. Explore your options. Start...