Now that we know how to strengthen our self-discipline, we must understand where we should focus our discipline to achieve the greatest results.
How many people have you asked, "How are you?" and they respond with, "So busy!" It seems to be a badge of honor in America. We are supposed to think, "She must be so important since she is so busy."
Over time, I have learned that anyone can be busy. We can even be busy and not actually accomplish anything of value. We can be disciplined to get a lot done and be busy, but none of it will matter if we focus on the wrong tasks.
The truly successful and fulfilled individuals are taking action on the tasks that will greatly impact progressing their business forward. What is the value of a disciplined sales professional if they spend an entire day writing emails to the wrong decision-makers? Sure, we might get lucky and get in touch with the right person, but imagine how much more success we would have if we did the research to find the correct DM and spent a few minutes on their LinkedIn profile. Then, using the information you found, beginning your email with something that will make you stand out from every other salesperson. I promise this will be worth the time investment.
I am sure you know a CEO who spends all day doing tasks that customer service, sales, or marketing should handle. Delegation is key to achieving great results at this level.
Now, the question is, how do we understand what yields the highest results? Early on, we need to:
Reflect - do a time study to understand how you are currently spending time
Understand what we are trying to achieve
Make a plan of action
Talk through your plan with a mentor or coach
Constantly re-evaluate the plan
Once we have success, we can learn what brings us the best results and focus our attention on these tasks to open more space in our lives. This will allow us to move away from "busy" and experience fulfillment and gratifying production. A few ways you can understand the patterns and learn what to focus on are:
Use data from your CRM
Ask for feedback from your team
Survey your customers
Figure out what 20% of your actions are bringing you 80% of your success (The Pareto Principle)
All of this takes time, and I look forward to a day when we give more praise to the people who achieve great things while having time to do what they love.
If you want a refresher on how to improve your own self-discipline, you can check out these tips https://www.lasting-leadership.com/post/the-squats-to-strengthen-self-discipline
I work with clients who want to go further, faster while living a fulfilled life. The first step to doing this is to understand your current situation and implement new techniques. Please contact me if you want to create space in your life to achieve more and enjoy it!