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Life
is short. Unfortunately, most of us are content to settle for the mundane and
ordinary - mainly because we don't know how to effect powerful and lasting changes
in our lives. Here are seven steps calculated to help us take control or our lives
and replace boredom and mediocrity with meaning and satisfaction. 1.
Develop a Compelling Personal Vision "I
am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't
be done." Henry Ford Outlandish
dreams often provide the foundation for great accomplishments. Mundane visions
spawn mediocrity. A mundane vision simply will not do for a world-class life.
A world-class life requires a world-class vision of what can be.
But
a vision - no matter how powerful and compelling, is of no value until it is documented,
communicated and internalized into the very fiber of your daily life. For
most of us, there is ample opportunity to inject enthusiasm into our lives - and
it starts with a well-defined and forcefully articulated vision. 2.
Make Time in Your Life for Yourself
This is
probably the single hardest thing to do. These are busy times. Crazy times, almost.
Everyone is extremely busy. The challenge is trying to balance all of the many
responsibilities we have and still find time to do some of the things that we
want to do. I have found that most jobs are giant
black holes. A job or business will take everything you can possibly give it and
more. In my job I get a lot of people coming to me requesting that I participate
in projects or produce information or help analyze problems. Sometimes we fall
into the same trap in our personal lives. Well meaning friends will continually
"drop by" to chat or make seemingly small requests or demands on our
time and resources. This is particularly true for home based employees. Many people
automatically assume that if you are at home you are available to visit, run errands,
or serve as a babysitter. Unfortunately, our natural first response is often "Oh,
why not. It's a small thing after all." But as we give in to that attitude,
we begin to slowly see our lives slipping out of control. We begin to live our
lives on someone elses agenda instead of controlling our own destiny. For the
longest time I tried to live my life by pleasing everyone else. I also tried to
do everything myself - but it quickly became overwhelming. And it didn't take
me long to realize that I was doing a lot of things that really should have been
and could have been done by others. So I developed
a small decision matrix, which has served to guide my decisions in these matters.
I am still not very good at adhering to it, but it has helped me immensely to
balance my life. It's really a screening mechanism.
I mentally pass each request that comes to me through three screening option before
agreeing to accept it. a. Decline b.
Refer c. Delegate d. Do In
that order. "The best way to keep your
word is not to give it."
Napolean Bonaparte Decline
Your
first mental reaction to almost any request by anyone should be to politely decline.
Busy work projects, "nice to do" projects and requests that have no
relationship to your area of responsibility are often best stopped right here.
This will require that you develop your capacity
to "just say no". Obviously, there are
certain requests from certain people (like your boss) that may not lend themselves
to this option. There are also requests that come with such an urgency that you
will automatically bypass this option. And then, of course there are the requests
that are just too good to pass up. All of those things are fine. They are part
of life. The important point is that you begin to filter out inane and irrelevant
requests and take charge of the decision making process. Refer If
the request is important and/or relates indirectly to your area of responsibility
then you should consider whether there is someone else that is better suited to
handle this request. If so then you should provide the name and number of that
person to the requesting party. Avoid acting as
an intermediary. It is best to have the requester deal directly with the other
person. This keeps you out of it and avoids continuous back and forth discussions
and clarifications. Delegate If
the request obviously pertains directly to your area of responsibility and if
you are the person best suited to accomplish it then your next step should be
to determine if there is someone you can delegate the project to. Delegating it
within your organization is one possibility. If it is a personal matter, you may
consider delegating it to a child or dare I say
spouse, (this, of course,
must be done with a great deal of finesse). If this is not possible you may consider
discussing the project requirements with your supervisor or the person that requested
it to see if he or she is able to allocate additional resources from other areas
of the organization to assist you in accomplishing the task. Do Once
you have processed all requests through this filtering mechanism, you should be
left only with the most critical tasks - those which pertain directly to your
area of responsibility, or those which you personally feel are important for YOU
to do. By adhering to this small decision hierarchy, you will be able to prioritize
requests that come your way, decline or divert those tasks that don't fit into
your agenda, and free yourself up to focus on those items that will advance your
personal goals. Which leads us to the next point. 3.
Focus on the Critical Few
Begin to identify
the activities and tasks that will give you the most bang for the buck - then
do them first and do them well. Come to understand your time and resource limitations
and focus your efforts on high impact areas - "The Critical Few". For
example, as a Medical Transcriptionist your primary focus should be on maximizing
the number of lines you transcribe each day. This should be a top priority. If
you are fiddling around with a lot of busy work, helping someone else fill in
blanks in their reports, organizing your paperwork, tuning in and out of a favorite
television program, etc. then you are by definition not focusing on the critical
few. You are allowing non-critical items to interfere with what is most important.
Dr. Stephen Covey refers to this as "first things first." This means
that you attend first to the thing that is most important. Once it is done, then
you can attend to other things - maybe even treat yourself to a hot bath or a
leisurely perusal of the newspaper, feeling confident that you have met your daily
productivity targets. 4. Understand and Develop
Your Resource Base Spend the time to develop
productivity enhancements that will ultimately make you more efficient By making
a judicious investment up front, you will be able to maximize your income while
simultaneously minimizing your effort. This will ultimately leave you more time
to pursue the other important (non-work) items on your personal agenda. If
you are involved in an organization - whether it be professional or volunteer,
learn the value of delegation. Proper delegation serves two important purposes: a.
It frees you up as a leader to focus on the overall direction of the organization
and focus on strategic decisions. b. It unleashes the creativity and
develops the leadership potential of those who work or serve with you. 5.
Plan, Prepare and Calendar 2-3 months in Advance
By
disciplining yourself to develop and follow a calendar, you will be surprised
at how much free time you really do have to attend to all of the things you want
and need to do. A calendar is also a great tool to allow you to prioritize and
graciously decline unwanted requests and activities. Make sure that you always
tell people that you must consult your calendar before making any commitments.
This ensures that you don't inadvertently double up on a commitment and create
more stress in your life (who needs it, right?). It also gives you a great out
if you need one. If you manage a department or organization, you should begin
now to instill in your organization an understanding of the importance of planning
and preparation. This will be critical to the successful realization of your vision. Lead
by example in this area. Hold consistent planning and correlation meetings. Set
the tone for others to follow. If necessary, get training for yourself and/or
your organization on how to conduct meetings, how assignments are made, the art
of delegation and the importance of planning ahead. 6.
Clearly Communicate Expectations - then Provide Opportunities to Report on Progress
Whether
you are working with your kids, peers, subordinates at work, or in a volunteer
organization, you should begin to develop strength and discipline in your family
or organization by providing opportunities for others to accept and fulfill specific
assignments. Then give them opportunities to return and report on their progress. Allow
them to learn from their mistakes and take advantage of teaching opportunities
in the process. Avoid the temptation to micro-manage
or do things yourself so that they are done "right'. By
developing the talents, abilities and decision making capacities of others who
you rely on, you will simplify your life and achieve your objectives more rapidly. 7.
Create Some Excitement and Make it Fun
By prioritizing
and stripping away the less important activities and focusing on the critical
few, we can create excitement in our own lives and energize our organizations.
Then by harnessing that creative energy, we can begin to accomplish things that
once seemed beyond our reach.
Free Info on our recommended Medical Transcription Program leading to an exciting home based medical transcription career
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