When you don’t have a plan you drift. That means with no list you will, by default, waste that precious free time.
Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, TD Jakes, business coach Clay Clark, all of these people have something in common, they are super successful. So what’s their secret? Are they superhuman? Were they born into privilege and handed life on a silver planner. The answer to both of those questions is no. They are people, just like you and me, They have struggles and trials just like the rest of us. The difference being they work harder than the average human. They optimize their time to best reach their goals. They don’t spend hours on social media or watching TV. They don’t get involved in pointless political debates. They have a to-do list and a calendar with them each day to make sure they are on track. Whether you optimize your time or not will make or break your success. This week I was able to see how beneficial it is to have a running to-do list or a list of things that need to get done if, and when, there’s time. This is a concept that Clay as a business coach and Jonathan have taught me. Always have a list of things to do so that if a client cancels or I finish a meeting early I am able to knock out some more action items instead of idly waiting around for my next scheduled thing. When you don’t have a plan you drift. That means with no list you will, by default, waste that precious free time.
This week I was able to see how this concept impacted a business coach client of mine. He has been diligently working on creating systems, training employees, gaining new business, all while maintaining his current book of business. With all of these things going on, it was difficult for him to find time to do things like write his employee handbook, create his workflow, and fine-tune his checklists. However, this week due to circumstances that he could not control he had a lot of free time and none of it was wasted! Why? Because he had a list of things to do ready to go. This week this particular business coaching client was able to fully optimize his time and make a lot of progress because he had planned ahead of time. He didn’t have to waste any time trying to prioritize what should come next; he didn’t default to a setting of relaxation. He kept grinding.
Clay often talks about the dangers of free time. He quotes the famous phrase “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” if we are left to our own. The sad truth is that our default settings are not good, so that is why if you want to be successful you must be intentional with your time. Before my time with Thrive after I got home from work and school, my default setting was to make dinner and watch some tv. Now my day is a little different. Each day I have specific items to do once I get home each day and if I finish those with time to spare before bed I have a long list of ‘home to do’s’ to start on. This simple move was a game-changer for my life. I get so much stuff done now. We all have the same amount of time in the day as a super successful person, so what do we do with it?
