1. Joeann's Musings:  Experience The Extraordinary
2. Sponsor Message:eMailaCard
3. Advantage Thinking: Do You Have Focus?
4. Create an Extraordinary 2005
5. Book of the Month: Getting Things Done

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“Concentration, in its truest, unadulterated form, means the ability to focus the mind on one single solitary thing.” -Komar

 Goethe said, "The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least."

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Joeann's Musing: Experience The Extraordinary

I shared last month that I had chosen Experience the Extraordinary as my personal theme for 2005. I am challenging myself to make sure I have 365 EXTRAORDINARY days this year.  So each day, I am consciously enjoying and appreciating each day.

Sometimes, it is easy to see how to make the day extraordinary, like get on the plane to Hawaii or take my 85 year old Dad out to lunch, but, now, the other days that are filled with work and busyness are now getting upgraded. Can I make each call with a client not just sufficient, but extraordinary? Can I delight that my husband made the coffee and vacuumed rather than just thinking he owed it to me :>)  Can I see the ordinary miracles that happen all the time (like green lights all the way across town)  and take delight in them, instead of being unaware and unappreciative? Can I let time go by without guilt and just play with Lily?

My journey of late seems to continually surprise me. While I am getting everything I need, it, often, doesn’t come when and how I think it should. Sometimes that will lead me to conclude I’m not successful, especially if I haven’t hit the goals I’ve set or I am not getting what I planned. So, in 2005, I will consciously appreciate and notice the good and accept there are good lessons to be learned from that which I might otherwise have designated “bad.” I will accept what is and say, “how interesting” when it isn’t what I had in the great master plan!

A few ways I will Experience The Extraordinary this year:

·         I will take at least 30 days off and spend them truly relaxing and enjoying Bub!

·         I will see my friends more and make new friends

·         I will write more thank you notes and tell more people I appreciate them and what they provide in my life

·         I will get more massages

·         I will expect miracles every day after I have consciously created a vision for that day

·         I will focus on what’s needed- do work when I am working and be fully present with family and friends when I am with them.

·         I will listen to the sound of my granddaughter, Lily’s laughter each day.

·         I will be grateful for my father’s health and our wonderful extended family from NY, NE, & FL to AZ and keep connected to everyone!

·         I will give back a minimum of 10% of what I make to causes I believe in. I will keep building this until I can give away $5000 each month

So…that’s the beginning of my list. What’s on your list for 2005? It’s going to go by anyway…..so what do you REALLY want to have in your life this year? Expecting a miracle is begins the flow. Thanks for being part of my world and giving me a place to share this.

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Motivational Speaker, Brian Tracy says, “You Are Already Overwhelmed…….The fact is that the average person today is working at 110% to 130% of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up. Everyone has stacks of reading material they still have to go through. One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400 hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office.”

Yep, there’s plenty to do every day to stay busy. Is it making you go numb or are you using your time to the best advantage? Do you jump from one crisis to another or start something and get distracted by something else? Do you try to keep up by multi-tasking, only to end up making mistakes and being stretched to your limits?

If this sounds familiar, here are some, just-in-time, tips to increase productivity and stay more focused:

1. Use the Pareto Principle: 20% of your activities create 80% of your results. Identify a Peak Performance Day each week and focus that day on DOLLAR PRODUCTIVE activities (the 20%). Know what they are. Be ruthless in setting this time as sacred. By increasing the time you spend on these activities, you can increase your results without having to significantly increase the hours you work. Ask yourself frequently, “Is this the highest and best use of my time, right now?”

2. Keep a time log. There is one you can download and/or print at www.joeann.com/timelog.htm  Do this for 4-5 days and note every 15 minutes what you just did. DO NOT fill it in at the end of the day from memory. Review to see where the time leaks are and where and how you sabotage yourself.

I have seldom spoken with anyone who did this who did not find it enlightening. You’ll see right away an hour or two where you can be more productive each week.

3. Know WHY you are doing what you have as your goals. Picture the outcome rather than the process (putting a check in the bank vs. picking up the phone to call a FSBO or even a friend). Doing the things others won’t do can yield big payoffs. It’s not about the momentary discomfort for those people-it is about the end result. If you really want something, you will endure what it takes. 

4. Have a Plan As the Cheshire Cat told Alice when she asked which road to take but didn’t know where she wanted to go.…any road will do. If you know where you want to go on the other hand, a plan  will enable you to know what you need to do. Then your priorities become obvious. As the day or week unfold, the plan gives you focus.

If you have not created your plan, my Awesome Year Plan is $12 and will give you a structure. It still isn’t too late to get in gear for 2005. www.joeann.com/ayp.htm

5. Get A System  In his book Getting Things Done, productivity guru, David Allen shares his 5 Steps for Focus:

It all begins with getting everything OUT of your HEAD!!!!

1.      Collect- List every item that is incomplete. Make a placeholder for every open loop

2.      Process-Make decisions about exactly what to do. Three choices are: Trash, Incubate or Make Actionable

3.      Organize-Sort into appropriate categories or lists. Put things where they will appear when the next action is needed or the next time you assess what your next set of priorities are. You could have 30-100 projects going on at any given time.

4.      Review-1 hour per week. Sunday night is best. The Care and Feeding of the system happens here where you look at your lists and update and decide on the actions an priorities for the next week.

5.      Act-Use the system to make good choices about what actions will give you the highest payoff.

Your focus will naturally increase when you have emptied your mind as the place where you store all of this and when you have implemented a system to support all of your open loops.

A coaching distinction I find helps my clients is complete vs. finished. For each thing you do, ask yourself, “is this complete for now and what or when is the next step?” Then use your existence systems (your calendar, or one of your lists) to capture the next action. Then you mind is free until it is the right time to take action or think about this item again.

You will notice a feeling of calm and increased energy and ability to then focus on just one item until completion when you don’t have dozens of incomplete gremlins racing around in your head. You will get more done in less time and be more relaxed!!!!

Author Debbie Ford says “the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the word "organize" as follows:  To form into a coherent unity or functioning whole; to arrange by systematic planning and united effort. This is the time for you to prepare and create a rock solid foundation, to organize your projects and affairs so that you are set up to accomplish all the things you envision for your best year. This is the time to put into place the systems, structures and practices that will support you in fulfilling your hearts' desires. Committing these first few weeks of the year to  becoming radically organized will ensure that you have the physical, mental and emotional space to create the things that are most important to you.”  I couldn’t agree more!

COACHES CHALLENGE:
Get Organized. Throw out the old- I challenge you to fill at least 6 big green garbage bags!

Get everything out of your head into a system that will let you relax.

List everything you are tolerating and quit letting that stuff drain energy. Do something about each item, even if what you do is accept it. But quit letting it take your precious life energy.

Commit to raise a standard to be the best that you can be this year so it will be the best year of your life!

LIVE ON PURPOSE & CREATE RESULTS

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Book of the Month

Getting Things Done