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September 4th, 2009TOP 10 ‘REDEFINE YOURSELF’ TIPS FOR INCREASING YOUR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
July 10th, 20091. Set Goals: Have a clearly formulated goal that you can write down, print out and connect with on a daily basis. Please ensure this is not only SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) but also truly inspirational so that it motivates you when you say it aloud.
2. Create a Strategic Business Plan: A lot of people may have a vague goal and also work with daily to-do lists. However, to be really effective you need to bridge the divide between the overall goal and the daily actions. Approaching your goal like a business project and creating a strategic business plan on how to achieve it will give you direction in your daily activities. Think of the broad steps or strategies you need to take in order to get you to your goal. Do you need to focus on “doing research”, “exploring marketing opportunities”, “networking”, “making a decision”, “implementing the plan”, etc? Once you have considered your broad steps put them in chronological order to create your plan. It is from these individual steps or strategies that your daily actions will spring. This will provide you with a clear roadmap to achieving your goal.
3. Create a Daily Action Plan: Following your strategies one by one, write a list of all the actions you need to take to fulfil your first strategy. Be as specific as you can to ensure maximum success: rather than “contact old colleagues” write “call John and arrange meeting” or “email Mary to ask about…”. This will clarify for yourself what you need to do and what you are hoping to achieve by doing it. Make sure you set yourself realistic tasks and decide when you will work on what task. Endless to-do lists are de-motivating and counter-productive if you do not have the time to tick off your tasks. It is preferable to use a timetable or diary and allocate tasks to individual time slots. If you have a clear structure in place you are more likely to achieve what you set out to do.
4. Plan Ahead: Decide the night before what you would like the next day to be about and what specifically you would like to accomplish. This will ensure that you always have an overview of the day ahead and are less likely to get embroiled in last-minute fire-fighting. It will also help you get the work done as your subconscious will be stewing over some of these issues overnight.
5. Prioritise: Effective time management is about dealing with what is important, not what is urgent. Tackling apparently “urgent” issues that come up is a major factor in delaying the achievement of your goal. Be aware of this distinction when you embark on an activity that may actually detract you from your goal.
6. Maintain discipline and focus: Just do it! Stick to your plan rather than get distracted by answering incoming emails or phone calls! The best goals and plans are useless if you allow yourself to lose focus. Make sure you are constantly visually reminded of your Daily Action Plan as well as your Strategic Business Plan and your Goals so you do not lose sight of what you are working towards.
7. Less is more: do not fill up every minute of spare time with tasks and chores but allow 20% of your time to be used at your discretion, allowing for spontaneity and relaxation. This ensures that you keep your energy levels up and do not get de-motivated by overwhelming demands on yourself.
8. Delegate: If you have a team or work with other people, delegate projects or tasks to appropriate colleagues. This demonstrates trust and confidence in their abilities and will ensure they remain motivated while allowing you to concentrate on the key projects you are working on.
9. Acknowledge Yourself: Many of us tend to be quite hard on ourselves and keep focusing on what has not yet been achieved. Get into the habit of acknowledging yourself for all the things you have accomplished during the day. Set aside a couple of minutes at the end of your working day to remind yourself of all your successes. These could range from completing your set tasks to keeping your cool in the face of stress and pressure or making a difference to somebody else.
10. Embark on a self-coaching programme: Make a clear commitment to work on yourself by embarking on a self-coaching programme. Make yourself accountable and use the discipline and power of daily writing to make your goals, actions and insights really stick. You can choose a comprehensive life coaching programme or one of my dedicated packages on Career, Wealth, Relationship, Weight or Spirituality.
SIX ‘REDEFINE YOURSELF’ STRATEGIES FOR CAREER CROSSROADS
June 5th, 2009The pressure is on in many sectors and whatever your specific circumstances it is useful to have some strategies up your sleeve for dealing effectively with professional crossroads so that you keep your sanity and remain in control, driving the process rather than finding yourself at the mercy of external circumstances. As so often in life, the biggest challenge is the way you think about and respond to your situation rather than the facts themselves, whatever they may be. Once you have retrained your mind and got a grip on your perception of the circumstances you will automatically be empowered to take the right steps to change them as you please. The actions you then decide to take may be diametrically opposed to the ones you might initially have considered and they are bound to reflect what you really want rather than what you think you ought to strive for. Rather than simply going through the motions of churning out endless applications for similar jobs you will set the wheel in motion to redefine your professional future as you would like it to be.
1. STRATEGY : REDEFINE CHANGE
‘Nothing endures but change’ (Heraclitus). Change is constant and ubiquitous, yet we humans are creatures of habit and most of us resist change as we see it as something to be avoided, a hassle and an inconvenience at best, a real threat to our equilibrium at worst. Yet change can be an incredibly liberating and cathartic force, opening the door to new and better horizons. Be prepared for change as it will inevitably happen. Redefine change as your ally, empowering you to achieve your potential, even if you do not yet know precisely how.
ACTION: To take the fear out of change, practise letting go of the familiar in your mind and prepare yourself for change by writing down several different scenarios of how this can occur for your particular circumstances.
2. STRATEGY: REDEFINE YOUR ‘LOSS’ AS AN OPPORTUNITY
It may seem trite but ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. If you look hard enough you will see that even a seemingly bleak situation bears within it the potential for learning, growth, development, a new career path. You might even argue that it is precisely such challenging situations that bear the biggest opportunity for such learning. Start focusing on what you can gain from your new situation rather than on what you have lost. Look to the future and liberate yourself from the past. This may be the chance of a lifetime to do what you have always dreamed of doing but had given up on.
ACTION: Make a list of all the things you have gained from your new situation, whether it is time to focus on yourself or your friends and family, a sum of money, a clean professional slate to start afresh, etc. Start thinking about how you could make the most of these things and start making a plan to implement them!
3. STRATEGY: REDEFINE YOUR TIME
Allow yourself some down-time. Do not rush into things and frantically churn out job applications, bombarding head-hunters with your CV etc. Take a little time out to reflect and distance yourself both physically and emotionally from the experience. This is not escapism - critical distance will allow greater clarity of thought and a fresh perspective on things.
ACTION: Make some time in your day to do things you enjoy and have been longing to do, e.g. read a book, lie in the sun, go for a swim, do some cooking, take up dancing, meditation, etc.
4. STRATEGY: REDEFINE YOUR PARAMETERS
Maybe your last/current job never suited you fully anyway, maybe it clashed with your life-style, your family circumstances, your values, your real interests. Maybe you simply never felt excited about it. This is your chance to connect with what you are really looking for in a new job or career.
ACTION: Start reflecting on what kind of parameters a new job or career will need to fulfil to match your requirements: working hours, salary, geographical considerations, working environment, employment vs freelance, job description, personal values and interests, creative aspect, performance-related pay, entrepreneurial dimension, team set-up, etc. Don’t be surprised if this list turns out to be very different from your last/current job!
5. STRATEGY: REDEFINE NETWORKING
Do not shy away from networking out of pride or fear of being mistaken for one of these pushy and insincere people who give the activity its sometimes negative connotations. Networking can and should be a mutually helpful and fruitful experience if done with sincerity and style. It also needs to be proactive and explicit: don’t expect people to guess and know what you are up to and be forthcoming with suggestions, introductions, contacts, relevant info. You need to tell them what you are looking for and how specifically they may be able to help. You will find that most people will be genuinely more responsive and helpful than you expected.
ACTIONS: Focus on your current contacts: get in touch with them and let them know what you are up to, what you are looking for right now and ask for specific help/advice/support. You could use the full range of media available for this: in addition to face to face meetings you can call, text, or connect via social networking sites. If your immediate circle cannot help, get them to pass on your question or request to their circle and so on. Sign up to a number of social networking sites and spend some time building your profile, joining relevant discussion groups, uploading your CV and expanding your network. Then use these fora to pose specific questions, requests for information or advice, ask for recommendations or introductions to other contacts who may be relevant.
6. STRATEGY: REDEFINE YOURSELF
In difficult situations when our self-esteem may be low and our circumstances overwhelming we often forget that we ourselves are in the driving seat and we are the ultimate authority on ourselves and our lives. Stop looking for the answers to your questions outside as it is only you who has the ultimate solutions. As it says in the Brecht story quoted in my June newsletter, you are the boat who will enable you to swim. Start concentrating on what you really want rather than what you think you need or ought to do, on who you are, rather than what you have or what you do.
ACTIONS: Make a list of the five
unique skills and strengths you possess
most important things/people in your life
things you want your future to be about
things that make you happy.
Make this last list to be mainly about you, i.e. what is it about YOUR actions, feelings, behaviours, experiences that engenders a feeling of happiness. Make this as independent of external factors as possible. Now let this strengthened feeling of self inform your future career path.
