Workaholic to Game-changer
Changing from a workaholic style of life to where you master getting everything done, and even better! having a fuller life and able to spend that valuable time balanced with business, family and health. This may be for you.?
Jennifer Kelly
Look around you at this very time. What might you be doing that needs attention? Wouldn’t this be an ideal time to examine your need for a new discipline / Habit?
Perhaps you are on the brink of giving up or starting over, or starting out? The only missing ingredient is a new and self-imposed discipline that will make you stay longer and try harder and work more intensely than you ever thought you could.
Working hard, burning the midnight oil, working nonstop, never taking a holiday, never having any fun, never spending quality time with the people you love, working day after day, month after month and never taking a break is bad!
If you have got your nose to the grindstone all the time, how are you ever going to spot new opportunities? consider new ideas? it doesn’t work that way. You have to stop and ponder where you have been and where you are going. You must reflect to know even if you are on the right track or not. The typical old fashion belief of success – work hard and you will always be successful .. NOOO it doesn’t work that way! for workaholics there is never enough work. They can work around the clock; the only satisfaction is fighting off sleep and denying life’s pleasures and getting more tasks done. Some people are impressed with this type of behavior BUT just because a workaholic spends too much time working, that doesn’t mean they end up with the most money or the most success! These people are generally more task orientated then results orientated. They are busy being busy. Not busy being productive. Workaholics generally alienating their families, losing their health, facing a crisis of values, now wouldn’t you prefer a life of productivity rather than a life of tasks? of course you would.
When you schedule your time and take advantage of your time you can work smarter rather than longer. You will probably end up getting more done than the workaholic and still have time for other things in life.
Visual Chain thinking.
Here is a key technique that you can use in your life that will keep you on the right track. The technique is called Visual Chain thinking. I have seen first-hand throughout my career how many Vice Presidents; CEOs use this technique which is what makes them successful. Did you ever hear the quote “Success Leaves Clues”? (Credits to Jim Rohn)
The trick to this is that ambitious people don’t see each step toward their goals as a single step. Each discipline has a singular discipline. Each project has a singular project. Each sale has a singular sale. With everything they do and every discipline they adhere to, they see it all as part of a chain. A link in the chain of events and actions that will lead them to their destination. Every action and every discipline is a link, every action and every discipline in the future is a link. When you can see that every link in the chain will eventually lead you to what you want most out of life, you won’t become discouraged or impatient with today. When you can see where you are going with visual chain thinking, even on the toughest days, you will keep building your ambition by knowing where you are going. Part of this visual change thinking is built when you decide on your direction, when you can see where you will end up before you get there. Building your visual chain of thought starts when you have well defined plans for your career, your family activities, your investments, and your health, for your business, for your life.
Your plans and goals are your visual chain knowing where you are going before you get there. Develop a game plan. It’s ironic how we all understand the importance of mapping out a strategy for a business, sports (football game or Rugby game), not one professional team in the world begins a game without a complete strategy, but few of us take the time to map out a strategy for our lives.
The important elements of the game plan:
1. Don’t start your day until you have it finished. Don’t begin your activities of your day until you know what you plan to accomplish. Don’t start your day until you have it planned and do this every day. I know all this planning takes time and effort but remember that value is the fruitful return for discipline and not hope. Once you are a master at planning your day, you are ready for next level
2. Don’t start your week until you have the whole week mapped out and finished. Don’t start your activities for your week until you have planned what you need to accomplish. Don’t start your week until you have it planned. Just imagine what life would be like if you took time out of your Sunday or early Monday morning to plan your week. Once Friday comes you won’t be saying “wow” didn’t this week fly by. You will be saying “wow” look at how much I have accomplished.
3. If you learn to plan your days as the overall game plan for the week, the parts will fit much better, your days will be better, more effective, you will be working smarter, not harder, and when you learn to plan your week, guess what, you must plan your month. Don’t start your month until its finished.
4. By developing a game plan for your days, your weeks, and your months and by developing and following your game plan all become part of a bigger plan, a bigger design, a long-term view of your life. A visual chain. You will start gaining a greater perspective of it all because you are planning. It takes great discipline on your part, but it will soon lead to a new habit. A habit of mastering your time. A habit of discipline that will lead you to the good life.
My name is Jennifer Kelly. I am a business strategy and productivity consultant who helps CEOs and management take their company to the next level. The reason I wanted to share this post was because I have first-hand experience of being a workaholic in my career and the negative trade-offs of working that way. There are some leaders that promote this way of working and some individuals who just think by working all the hours there is available, that they will get results faster. This is NOT TRUE. The key to success is to be more output focused. Before you take on anything. Ask yourself- What is the outcome of this task? What is the most efficient way to get the best outcome possible to overdeliver? I hope you can take something away from this and it makes you at the very least THINK about how you are structured, and your daily habits, to get the best possible outcome to help you be successful, no matter what level you are at.
Thanks for reading
Jennifer Kelly