The question I’m asked most is “how do I find the time to do all the things I need to do?” I like to think that I’m pretty productive, I manage to get all the things done for my clients that I promise to do and am constantly taking the systems in my business to the next level. I also spend a considerable amount of time ‘learning’ and developing myself to enable me to deliver more value to my clients and those that follow me.
So, how do I have time for all that?
Sure If you were to ask my wife, she would say it’s because she does all the housework, which to be honest is part of the truth. She doesn’t do all the housework, we divide it unevenly, but it’s true if I needed to take care of all that, I would have less time.
Having a great relationship and co-operation with your wife, or husband, is an important factor not just in productivity, but in success and I’m not even joking on this one, I’m deadly serious. It’s not possible to build a successful business or career without the help and support of those around you.
People are always saying that they don’t have enough time, but there is always time. Time is available everywhere. I don’t have more time than you. In fact, have the exact same 1440 minutes every day as you do, as does Richard Branson or any of the other Billionaires you can think of. I’m probably not faster than you and unlikely more clever than you! It’s how you choose to use the time you have that’s important. Your life has time, but more than time, it has excuses and waste. “I’m so busy” is the most common and probably the oldest excuse ever.
When I hear someone saying “I’m so busy”. I start thinking .. Ok, that person is busy. Let’s see what they have accomplished and let’s think all of the concrete things they have done. Guess what, the people who complain about being too busy rarely have concrete achievements and they’re never entrepreneurs.
Then I meet people who are extremely busy but not complaining, the thing is that they always have a smile on their face, and their hair is pointing backwards because of the speed they’re going. Moreover they never say they’re busy! they’re just getting on and accomplishing.
Sure, as a rule you can’t do the ‘do’ (whatever the ‘Do’ is, that your business does) or concentrate on your business, if you have small kids under your feet, and you shouldn’t do it! Spend the time with your kids, value that time and give your attention to them. But when they’re asleep or are out with friends, forget the dishes and get on with building your business.
The important thing is to do the tasks that take you and your business in the direction where you need to go. Use the time you have to do the important things. Don’t let it waste away. Success is a succession of small actions, as actions drive results. When you take action, some of them will be hits and some will be missed. However the more actions you take, the closer to success you’ll get. It’s just a timeline of actions. Getting to success takes time, but it does not mean it won’t happen.
Imagine that you’re practicing your basketball skills, standing there and throwing the ball. Sometimes it will go in and sometimes it will miss. Probably some mathematician can develop a formula to predict how often it is that you will hit or miss based on your skills. But I don’t need maths for that. It’s a fact that if you throw the ball once without experience, It can be a hit or it can miss. If you throw 100 times I would be surprised if you didn’t improve. If you throw 10,000 times you will be a lot better. Talent, skill and experience play a role in this, but you will get better. Or you may find a new way to do it. Success has no rules. Perhaps you’d realise that you could move closer to the basket and you can drop the ball directly into it.
Every throw you do, improves your skills, gives you more experience and moves you closer to your target. The important point here is that, if you learn from the experience of when you’re throwing the ball. You will learn what kind of throws are useless and what you should and shouldn’t do. The fact is that if you don’t throw the ball. It’ll never go to the basket! As one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time said (Wayne Gretzky) “I Miss 100% of the shots I don’t take”. You don’t learn, if you don’t do. You don’t gain experience. You don’t move forward. That’s exactly what I believe success is. It’s just a succession of actions that move you forward. Some day you have done right number of actions and you are successful.
I know that I’ll receive some comments or emails saying that the number of actions is irrelevant, if you do wrong actions. That’s exactly true! But you are not stupid. If you do ten actions. You will learn what actions out of those ten worked, and which were complete failures, if you have the right feedback processes in place. You would be stupid to repeat the failures you have done. Next time you will do more those actions that work, and try again, with a few new ones. “I don’t have time”, is just an excuse, as I wrote before. So use the 1440 minutes you have everyday just like a ‘Billionaire’, and remember you can always get more money but never more time. The poor person spends time to save money, the rich one spends money to get more time..
Twelve intensive half-day meetings.
