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Time Maximization Skills: “Small Wins”
- February 4, 2023
- Posted by: Marcel Sanchez
- Category: Building Teams and Developing Leaders Soft Skills Training Time Maximization
You’ve probably been there at least once in your life.
I would dare to say, that you’ve probably been there more than once.
I know that I have on more than one occasion.
It’s part of the blessing and the pain of thinking BIGGER.
It’s not for the timid, but it is certainly for the adventurous.
It starts as an audacious dream.
Some might call it an uncommon pioneering skill.
Others say it’s a great vision.
At the heart of the matter, it’s a goal, wrapped with hopeful enthusiasm and endless possibilities.
There’s just one problem.
Since this audacious vision is so BIG, you try to execute the totality of this dream—with all its many complexities—at the same time.
And that my friend is where you find the problem.
You see, the problem is NOT in envisioning something bold, innovative, or extraordinary.
If you don’t have big dreams, goals, or plans to move you, you often do what’s comfortable and convenient.
And when that becomes your philosophy of life, you remain stuck, wandering in the wilderness of inactivity, and left painfully unfulfilled.
How does the adventurous visionary move forward when their vision is so large?
Establishing “small wins” is the answer.
If you’ve ever read the famous book Atomic Habits, by James Clear, you’re already familiarized with the importance of establishing small goals or “small wins” to help you drive greater consistency in your life.
“Small wins” are achievable mini goals that can be reached with diligent effort; “small wins” move you forward to reach your desired destination.
Let’s be honest, there’s always one area of your life that needs more attention.
And when this area has to do with one of your core values, the significance of addressing this area generates greater focus and energy.
Oftentimes you beat yourself up for not performing as you should.
You allow other things to get in the way.
Don’t beat yourself up; it happens to all of us.
I’ve been there many times.
Today, what’s getting in the way of your progress?
What’s stopping you from reaching your BIG goals and dreams?
What’s keeping you from reaching new possibilities in your relationships?
What prevents you from breaking through personal growth barriers?
Don’t be discouraged. It happens to all of us at one time or another.
Therefore, it’s so important for you to develop “small wins” in the areas you value, but consistently struggle to perform as you should.
Not reaching your goals—regardless of their size— is not failure; quitting on your goals is how you define failure.
Why would you quit?
You get tired, frustrated, and overwhelmed to name just three.
As a result, your dream gets blurry, and the vision you once established with great enthusiasm, loses its momentum.
Sometimes, what happens when you miss the mark—your goal—may follow a pattern such as this one.
Let’s use having coffee every day with a different team member at work as our example.
Your goal in this example is to build healthy relationships at work.
This is both your goal and your motivation. All good so far.
Nothing wrong here, but there’s an inevitable problem.
At least three out of five workdays are subject to change without notice.
And this disruptive change is very consistent.
Instead of getting upset about what you can’t control, ask yourself, “What days can I control in my schedule with greater consistency?”
Stop getting upset and focusing on what you can’t control.
Hyper focus on what you can control and commit your best to do what needs to get done.
Confirm your meetings on those two days—since they’re predictable—rather than spending countless energy on the days you’re likely to cancel anyways.
Committing to this one step alone will likely reduce your stress as you build sustainable habits which flow from your values.
“Small wins” lives in the world of what you can control.
What you can’t control will always frustrate you.
Do you focus more of your time, energy, and other resources on what’s controllable or on what’s uncontrollable?
Consistency over time develops habits for success
When I worked a corporate job, I remember having to be highly intentional about connecting with some of my partners during the week.
This meant practicing an uncommon consistency in my words, mindset, plans, and actions.
Honestly, the task was increasingly overwhelming at times.
Many customer requests, proposals, and meetings got in the way.
My partners generously interacted with my clients daily.
There was no way I could see all my clients every day, but they could.
My “small win” was to connect with at least three partners every morning.
Even though I couldn’t meet with all my partners daily—that would’ve been the ideal—I blocked at least two days on the calendar to make sure I would.
I can tell you one thing. It was worth the effort.
My clients benefitted, my partners benefited, my operations team benefitted, and I benefited as well.
And my consistency—although it did not start out very well—over time, it allowed me to develop great relationships with my partners.
Think about how you can increase your consistency by leveraging “small wins” or consistent steps to serve as the framework for your success.
You might be surprised by how much you could accomplish when you’re hyper-focused on doing fewer things well over time.
This is at the heart of our Time Maximization Skill.
It’s not about adding another twenty-five tasks to your calendar.
It’s about deciding on what’s most important in your life and doing what’s needed to get you there.
This requires an undivided commitment on your part.
And how do you get from where you are to where you want to be in life?
You identify three things, by using the following three questions:
1. Where you are right now? This is the present reality, the facts of the situation. Here is where you describe what’s happening—or not happening—right now in a particular area of your life.
2. Where do you want to be? This involves identifying the desired destination. What does it look like to arrive at your destination? Here you describe the outcomes or the product you expect to realize.
3. What gap do you need to bridge to get you there? At this point you begin to assess and to plan the steps required to get you from where you are to where you want to be.
And how exactly does our “small wins” Time Maximization Skill help you?
This skill serves to reduce the steps required into hyper-focused and attainable goals.
Each time you accomplish one of these goals, you build confidence and momentum to get you closer to where you want to be.
What may not appear to be ambitious may be what helps you the most
Our Time Maximization Skill is appropriately called, “small wins.”
Most people might overlook this skill.
They may say that it’s not ambitious enough for their personality.
And that’s fine.
Not everyone will appreciate the “small wins” skill,
but that doesn’t mean it’s not highly effective.
Someone may think that Artificial Intelligence won’t effectively change the way we conduct business.
But that thinking doesn’t change our present reality today.
Whether you realize it or not, Artificial Intelligence is already changing the way you make purchases, scan websites, and avoid accidents.
And here’s the amazing part. It’s just getting started and the results are huge.
Integrating “small wins” into your daily habits has the potential
to radically change your life and the lives of those around you.
In my Time Maximization Course, I’m not trying to increase your “Likes” or gain more friends and followers.
My goal is to increase your effectiveness—in life, in your faith, at work, in business, and in your family—as you learn new skills to maximize your time.
If there are three areas in your life that you truly value, but for some reason you’re not growing—or maximizing—these areas, something needs to change.
You can’t set overly ambitious goals in all three areas and expect to make exponential progress from one week to the next.
At some point you’ll burnout, miss something important, or get discouraged along the way.
Life will most certainly throw you a curveball along the way and totally disrupt the execution of your plans in the process.
However, if in each of these key areas you decide to establish specific attainable goals—“small wins”—you can make measurable gains in all three areas simultaneously over the next 30-days.
What you measure consistently gets maximized consistently.
As you continue to conquer your “small wins”, build new habits, and gain greater confidence, you will move your life forward—maybe not dramatically or with a lot of noise—but even better—consistently.
One of the core essentials to maximize your time—and realize the life of your dreams—is to establish a predictable pattern of uncompromising consistency in your daily commitments and habits.
Today’s Challenge
Now it’s your turn. Think about one goal in each of the three areas below.
Write down the goal and one “small win” for you to execute over the next 30-days to arrive at your desired destination—your goal.
Relationships
· What is the 30-day goal or desired destination?
· What one “small win” will I commit to do consistently?
· What is the daily or weekly frequency of this goal or action step?
Health
· What is the 30-day goal or desired destination?
· What one “small win” will I commit to do consistently?
· What is the daily or weekly frequency of this goal or action step?
Work, Business, or Education
· What is the 30-day goal or desired destination?
· What one “small win” will I commit to do consistently?
· What is the daily or weekly frequency of this goal or action step?
Imagine the possibilities of developing resilient consistency in the execution of your “small wins” over the course of the next 30-days.
What could happen?
What goals will you reach?
What will you learn in the process?
Are You Ready to Maximize Your Time?
Is the Time Maximization Online Course a good fit for you and your team?
Do you need coaching to help you maximize your time?
Are you ready to get better, faster?
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