“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.”

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“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.”

– Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States (attrib.)

557Image from Flickr by Brett Jordan.

Procrastination is one of the primary reasons many people enter a coaching relationship. They just can’t seem to produce the professional and personal results they desire, and this pattern has been very familiar for years.

It’s common to think that coaching will break the habit of procrastination by bringing a level of accountability and a “just do it” perspective. Yet, while valuable, this support alone is rarely sufficient and is almost never sustainable. Instead, it’s important for each individual to gain a greater understanding for the reasons behind their painful and debilitating habit.

Exercise:

Explore the list below to see what may be the source(s) of procrastination for you:

1. Your circumstances are not optimal: the time and resources you need aren’t fully available.  The bad news is they rarely are.

2. You have no passion or desire for the activity, or no longer want to put in the effort to pursue what you may have wanted in the past.

3. You might even be sabotaging your own success because you feel unworthy of your dreams and aspirations.

4. You are afraid. This is perhaps the biggest reason people procrastinate. We are always simply afraid of the unknown, failure, and being vulnerable.

How can enhanced self-awareness, combined with your commitment to a better future, improve your orientation to action so that you don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today?

“Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”

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“Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”

– Stephen Colbert, American political satirist and comedian

556Image from Flickr by ljguitar.

When you were young, what were your dreams? Some of my friends dreamed of being great athletes or superheroes, and a few wanted to be movie stars. My dream was to become an astronaut with the “right stuff” to rocket into space on great adventures.

Today, many of us find ourselves earth-bound with our feet more firmly planted on the ground. It doesn’t have to be this way, and it is very much OK that our dreams have changed, perhaps many times, since our youth.

A critical component of this quote for me is to always have my sights out there and to continue being a bit of a dreamer.

Exercise:

Exercise your dreaming muscle, particularly your day-dreaming muscle, to explore some of the personal and professional accomplishments you wish to pursue.

“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

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“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Image of hands planting a small tree

Image from Flickr by alexindigo

It is early summer in Michigan and this past weekend, I noticed a large number of my neighbors working on their lawns and landscaping. Many were also preparing the soil and planting flowers in their gardens.

Their driveways were piled with soil, mulch, grass-seed, and lots of other preparatory resources, to help the flowers and greenery grow.

Exercise:

What preparatory activities can you engage in today, and all year long, to increase your professional and personal chances of success?

“Our life is frittered away by detail … simplify, simplify.”

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“Our life is frittered away by detail … simplify, simplify.”

– Henry David Thoreau, American author, philosopher, and transcendentalist

554Image from Flickr by joshuahoffmanphoto.

Time management is one of the top priorities of most people entering a coaching relationship. When I explore with these individuals what fills their day, it frequently includes:

  • Email
  • Unproductive meetings
  • Internet use
  • Social media
  • Paperwork
  • Unwanted interruptions
  • Traffic jams
  • Lengthy commute times
  • Excessive kids’ activities
  • Housework
  • Cell phone use

There is simply not enough day or energy to ever get it all done.

Exercise:

Try some of the following techniques to reduce the frittering and simplify your life.

1. Create a time log to discover where your time actually goes. Self-awareness is the first step toward simplification.

2. Confirm all appointments to avoid dead time.

3. Think geographically to avoid excessive travel time.

4. Plan out each day in advance, and fill your schedule with the highest value items.

5. Handle both paper and email only once.

6. Structure your telephone time.

7. Schedule appointments with yourself to work on high-priority projects.

8. Cut each meeting by one third of the time. An hour-long meeting will now be 40 minutes.

9. Conduct standing meetings.

10. Delegate between 10-20% of your list to an appropriate person.

Extra credit: you can download my Time Management Strategies and Tactics workbook at:

http://www.dempcoaching.com/download-your-free-workbooks

Enter the password barrydemp to access the page. If you have any difficulties, please email me at barry@dempcoaching.com and I will send you the workbook.

Interview: Time Management, on Michigan Business Beat

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I’ve become a bit of a regular guest on Chris Holman’s radio show, Michigan Business Beat. A couple of weeks ago, we discussed time management – one of the biggest issues facing many people who hire a coach.

In this 6-minute interview, we cover:

  • My workbook, Time Management Strategies and Tactics (you can get a copy by following the instructions here).
  • Why “time management” is a bit of a misnomer, and we should instead think about “energy management” and where we allocate our energy.
  • The importance of saying “no” because of our underlying “yes” to other commitments.
  • How life and work fit together, including the concept of life balance and the importance of enjoying your work.
  • My “more, less, start, stop” framework for assessing and changing the activities in your life.

Click below to listen to the interview:

You can also visit the Podcasts page on my Barry Demp Coaching site to hear other interviews with me.

“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.”

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“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.”

– Wayne Dyer, self-help author and motivational speaker

553Image from Flickr by cwwycoff1.

We live in a society that is addicted to results. We measure almost everything. The majority of business leaders would agree that “what gets measured gets done”. Even the world of dance has gotten into the act through reality TV shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” or “So You Think You can Dance”.

On the other hand, dance, especially celebratory dance, has no goal or objective except for the experience of joy and self-expression. You’ll never see a judge with a paddle indicating that a bride and groom got 8/10 for their first dance as husband and wife!

Exercise:

What are some other “life dances” where you more fully enjoy the steps along the way and are not simply looking to finish or reach some destination or outcome?

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

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“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

—Confucius, Chinese philosopher

(Hanoi)

Image from Flickr by dalbera=

When I first read this quote, it immediately made me think of the Level 5 leader described in Jim Collins’ best-selling business book Good to Great.

Collins describes a Level 5 leader, who is often associated with good companies becoming great companies, as someone possessing the following primary qualities:

  • Extreme personal humility
  • Intense professional will

Perhaps some of these Level 5 leaders were students of Confucius, who guided them to their compelling modesty and unwavering results.

Exercise:

How can you take the coaching of Confucius and Collins by letting your actions, today and every day, speak louder than words?

“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”

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“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”

– Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker

551Image from Flickr by teofilo.

We have all heard the phrase, “Time is money”. Yet, how much is your time actually worth?

Explore this scenario I use with many of my clients:

Imagine that you are sitting in a comfortable chair with your eyes closed, and suddenly you feel pieces of paper falling on and all around you. You peek for a second, and notice that this shower of paper is actually money of all denominations, up to $100 bills.

Once this shower stops, you are told you have five minutes to pick up as much money as possible. You can only hold it in your hands – no arms, clothing, bags, etc are allowed.

Exercise:

What will be your strategy to capture the greatest value possible, assuming there is an equal number of bills of all denominations?

How does this exercise relate to the value you create with the time allotted to you each day?

“Fate is a future you didn’t try hard enough to change.”

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“Fate is a future you didn’t try hard enough to change.”

– J.A. Konrath, American novelist

550Image from Flickr by symphony of love.

The term “fate” suggests some source of power controls what happens in the future. It is often seen as inevitable, and is frequently related to negative or adverse outcomes.

I prefer to believe that we all have the capacity to create worlds of our choosing and, in many ways, manifest our own destinies.

Exercise:

Consider the ideas below as you explore, more intentionally, your approach to life:

1. Develop greater trust in your decision-making abilities.

2. Work on developing a more positive and optimistic attitude.

3. Make every effort to enjoy your career and leisure activities.

4. Each week, remove at least one undesirable issue from your life that you have been accepting or tolerating for some time.

5. Limit or eliminate your use of fateful language, to reinforce your own ability to initiate and attract more of what you desire.

Feel free to reply and let me know what happens.

“The more sand [that] has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

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“The more sand [that] has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

– Jean Paul, German Romantic writer

549Image from Flickr by graymalkn.

Close your eyes and imagine a man or woman of great wisdom. What do they look like? Estimate their approximate age. If you are like most people, you have likely envisaged a somewhat or significantly older individual, with their share of lifelines.

Jean Paul seems to be suggesting that with more and more life experiences, we will gain greater clarity and perspective on the world. I would suggest that we must add the thoughtful acts of self-reflection, objectivity, and open-mindedness to fully realize the daily nuggets of wisdom that are available to enhance our vision.

Exercise:

Purchase an old-fashioned egg-timer, which can represent a mini hourglass, and consider a daily period of self-reflection on your professional and personal efforts.