Be More Effective By Being Less Busy
This Week's Simple Tip
Ever wonder why some people become world-class leaders, performers, and change-makers, while most settle for less? Ironic as it sounds, top performers make time to invest in personal growth activities that pay off over the long-term. So while they may achieve less in a day in the beginning, over the course of their lives, they have greater knowledge, creativity, energy and success. These growth activities have many forms:
Oprah Winfrey starts each day with her gratitude journal, noting five things for which she’s thankful
Leonardo Da Vinci took up to a dozen 10-minute recharge naps a day
Warren Buffett estimates he has spent 80 percent of his entire career reading and thinking (check out the insightful video below)
Steve Jobs took a long walk whenever he had a serious talk
Mark Cuban reads 3+ hours a day; Arthur Blank 2+ hours each day; and Jeff Bezos read hundreds of science fiction novels by the time he was 13
Chris Rock tries out new material in small clubs for instant audience feedback on what works before incorporating the tried and tested bits into any new big stage routine
The classic 'work model' was designed for the industrial era. In today's knowledge economy where creativity and thinking are key, work schedules and mindsets do not enable people to stop and think and create." Creativity is unleashed by working less, not more. Differentiate yourself! Stop and make time to invest in activities that pay off over the long-term.
This Week's Focus
This week, try the personal investment 5-hour rule. Step away from your to-do list, and invest an hour each day in your future. Read a book, take a power nap, enjoy a thinking walk! You might feel you are 'wasting' time or even feel guilty. Get over it. It has worked for some of the world’s greatest minds!
Click on the serenity sticky to print, cut and post on your bathroom mirror to remind you of this week's focus. Good luck!
A Little Helpful Hint
Enjoy this enlightening and funny minute and a half clip of Bill Gates sharing the biggest lesson he learned from Warren Buffet: how to value your time so you waste less of it and invest more of it. Keep in mind that Warren has practiced this throughout his life, even way before he became the Warren Buffett we know today.
