Prioritize in 2005

Do you get overwhelmed? Are you running on cheap fuel of adrenaline? Do you get depressed because you make promises to yourself and others that you cannot keep because you run out of time? If so, and you would like to change your sense of defeat into a sense of control this coming year, read on.

There is a program taught in most coaching circles called "The Personal Foundation Program". This program helps us reconstruct underpinning of our lives by strengthening ourselves in a variety of ways and learning how to accomplish more with less effort. One of first things program recommends is choosing a personal theme for each year. I've been doing this every year since I entered coaching community. My theme for this year is "Prioritize in 2005" and here's why: I have a tendency to procrastinate whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by a task. I tell myself that I will tackle it some other time when I am feeling more courageous. The irony of this of course is that act of procrastinating increases my sense of being overwhelmed and further erodes my courage to roll up my sleeves and just go for it. As I began looking for ways to mitigate this reflexive habit, I found that if I took time to plan my day and prioritize my actions, I ended up being much more successful and productive. You see, most of us are (as one of my coach friends describes himself) "easily distracted by shiny objects!" It's very easy to get sidetracked from our goals. Choosing a theme helps up cut down on distraction time. It's a way to keep end in mind as described so clearly by Stephen Covey in his bestseller "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

Ingredients for success

INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS By Ophelia Sanchez President Management Resources, Inc. (MRI) http://www.managementresourcesinstitute.com (c)1997 Management Resources, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or copied by any means without written permission from Management Resources, Inc. Write MRI. Management by Objectives, strategic planning, quality, teams, re-engineering. Passing management fads? Consultants, more consultants. Training and more training. Businesses are littered by corpses of all these attempts at finding way to become better. What happened? What went wrong? How can simple and productive ideas like these have failed in some companies while succeeding in others? In some companies one finds employees sneering at management, not believing on anything, just letting days go by. In others one can see an uplifted employee force. They are committed to their work, they communicate with each other, they read company publications, they ask questions and hear answers. What is cause? What is difference? ATTITUDES. Attitude is one of those words that we have difficulty defining. It is a state of mind, a disposition, it reflects in our moods and personality, it molds our perspectives and preferences. It can result in laxity or negligence: an "It’s Not My Job" mentality; or in an open-minded "Can Do" behavior. Attitudes makes us who we are, how we think and act, how we respond to challenges, how we look at things. Attitudes are created and modified. We are not born with them. They are developed from early childhood. There is a direct link between way we think and way we behave. When people come in contact with us they are responding to our personality, which is outer expression of our inner attitudes. Our behavior (or personality) directly impacts our success. Since behavior is based on attitudes, attitude is one of key ingredients for success. Look at your favorite people in history. Why did they succeed? Was it their skills alone? There are millions with skills and knowledge who are not successful. In most cases winners have a driving attitude to succeed. Lincoln lost many elections before becoming president. John Paul II was shot and came close to death. Beethoven was deaf. Even in medical terms, positive attitude is a remarkable force. Positive thinking has been determined to be a "miracle drug" that you manufacture within yourself. As June Bierman, author of "Diabetes in News" says "this miracle drug has no side effects, doesn’t require a doctor’s prescription and doesn’t cost you a penny." What a powerful force! What are your attitudes? Do you live thinking that any situation is an opportunity for success? Or do you believe that sooner or later something bad is going to happen? Do you look at things as "too much trouble," "there is nothing I can do?" Or do you say "this is an opportunity for me," "this is my chance to shine"?