Business Mentoring for Those on A Mission
Priorities
If you don't know your values then you won't know what your priorities are.
If you don't know where you are going then you won't know what your priorities are.
Your priorities are the chunked down, daily action steps that will take you one step closer to your inspired vision, will take you one step closer to fulfilling your mission.
You have a mission a message and a vision.
Dr John Demartini says
"“When the voice and the vision on the inside is more profound, and more clear and loud than all opinions on the outside, you've begun to master your life”
Your true priorities are designated by your inner voice.
It's only work when you're doing shit you don't want to do, that's not aligned with your highest values.
The Priority Process
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
― Bruce Lee
“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”
― Marcus Aurelius
1. Get it out of your head
Start by getting everything on to paper that is taking up space and time in your mind. Write down everything that you feel needs to get done.
2. Do, Delegate, Dump
Read through the list and identify what you would truly love to do, what doesn't need to be done and what you can delegate
3. Do what you love
Focus on what you would love to do. What you would love to do is your guide to where you're going and what you're here to do
4. Delegate
Delegate away everything that you don't want to do. If you don't want to do it, chances are you're not very good at it anyway. Are you really the best person to be doing that task? Why not focus on what you love and delegate away other tasks to someone else who would love to do them
5. Ask for guidance
Every evening, focus on what you are grateful for until you feel light and present and inspired and asking your inner voice " What are my 7 highest priority action steps for tomorrow" think about and focus on these actions steps as you drift off to sleep and prepare yourself for the day ahead.
- Before you start your day follow the same process of focusing on what you're grateful for and asking for confirmation of what your highest priority action steps are for the day ahead.
6. Metric your inspired actions
At the end of the day highlight any actions steps that you completed in green and any you didn't in red.
- Keep your priority plan and monitor, weekly, monthly and annually to look for what patterns are emerging
-Your green actions are the ones that are aligned with your values. Your red actions are the ones to delegate.
Common Excuses For Not Delegating
"I cant afford it"
I was told once "consider that the only reason you can't afford to delegate is because you're not delegating" I took a leap of faith and found this to be true. I was doing so many tasks before that weren't my expertise. I was doing sales calls, answering emails, rostering, all kinds of things that not only was I not inspired to do, but I wasn't very good at. When I started delegating that out to people who were good at it and loved doing it, my productivity and results soared.
"I can't afford it right now"
Ok so sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you know something s need to be done, but you just feel you don't have the cash flow to hire someone else.
Well if you keep putting the task off it will be even longer, if ever that you will be able to afford it.
So to get into action, ask your self this question
'How specifically will completing x task, until I can delegate it, serve my value of (your highest value)
Write down 20-50 benefits until you see your actions change.
"It's quicker for me to do it"
Common excuse but completely false. Its only quicker for you to do it once or twice, but what about the life time of the task?
I used to use this excuse when I used to work as a chef. I would do all the stock counts as I thought it would take too long for me to show someone else how to do it.
It would have taken me 2-3 hours to train someone else to do it, but instead I did it every week for a year taking an hour a week. That's 50 hours work instead of 3..
"Only I can do it right"
This is also false. Every task can be broken down to a motor action. To delegate effectively you just need to break down all the specific action steps inside the tasks.
Delegation requires oversight. It's a process.
Spell out your expectations from the start
Communicate the specifics of how you want it done.
Hire experts not amateurs and ask them how they would do it.
Our own biases cloud our judgment. By delegating to experts we can increase the quality of our offering.
"I don't want people to see what kind of mess I'm in"
Well you're only in the mess because you haven't delegated and you aren't inspired to do the task, so end up either not doing it, doing it sporadically or not doing it very well.
I had this a few years ago. I had been trying to save money by doing my accounts and book keeping in house. We weren't experts and making a big mess of it.
When I finally bit the bullet and asked for help, it was a humbling experience, and yes the expert I got to sort it out criticised me..but I stopped criticising myself. The weight was lifted off my shoulders. I got to get back focused on my real highest priorities.