Episode Highlights
Are you running your day or is your day running you? How do some people seem to get things done and look like that are in full control, even now in the midst of a chaos? It is possible and you can do this too. Let’s talk about how to clarify our priorities, set our agenda, and accomplish our goals.
Topics Include:
- Getting stuff done with focus
- Self-efficacy
- Big rocks, pebbles, and sand analogy
Where to Listen
Feel free to listen to this episode using the above embedded Spotify app. Discipline Win Podcast is also available on all of your favorite podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more. Click on Anchor to see go to my podcast homepage to learn more and get all the exact links.
Getting Stuff Done - Focus
Having a perfect balance in life is a myth. It’s theoretically possible, but in reality it’s fleeting even if we can attain it for just a brief moment. The trick is more on how we align our actions to our goals, for us to feel like we are in control of our live.
Self-efficacy, or the belief that we can influence what happens around us for the better, is an essential ingredient for success in both our lives and our students. It’s a muscle and can be developed to be stronger within you. But how do we grow our own self-efficacy?
- Identify Your Goals
- Create a Daily Plan to Meet those Goals
- Stay Focused on Accomplishing each Daily Task in your Plan
When your life feels chaotic, realize it may be more of a feeling thing than a reality thing. George Lucas said, “Your focus determines your reality.” Consider how much we can control our reality by focusing on what we really need and want to do each day.
If you have to, make sure to push away distractions in your life. Social media is one of the biggest distractions you can have. Turn off the notifications on your phone. Take the app off your home page of your phone or delete it altogether.
Bruce Lee said, “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser like focus.” I love this line. You don’t have to be a superhero to be highly successful, but you will have to have a laser like focus on the little things in your life. Like where you spend your time, how you spend your energy.
Keeping Priorities in Check
Think of Steven Covey’s analogy of the big rocks, pebbles, and sand. If you put the big rocks in last, they will never fit.
Only by starting with the biggest rocks first, and then the pebbles, and then the sand. The smaller tasks will filter through and get down around the bigger ones.
Consider making a three part agenda for the day like below. List the big rocks on the left column, the small pebbles and sand in the middle, and then set your agenda or schedule on the right. Do this every day so that if you missed something yesterday, can you reprioritize today.
BIG ROCKS
List out the few really big tasks you absolutely need to do. There really should be less than five.
———————————————————————–>
PEBBLES & SAND
List out all of the menial tasks you have to do for the day like answer emails, make phone calls, or follow up on things from the day before.
———————————————————————–>
SCHEDULE
Create your schedule for the day by first placing your big rocks and then finding as much room as you can for the pebbles and sand. Anything on your to do list that isn’t in your schedule can be pushed to another day.
“We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not a skill, but a habit,” said Will Durant. If you want to become something special, consider focusing more on the process that will take you that direction than the special thing itself. Help your students learn this same life lesson so they can reach their goals.
Together, we can keep each other on track, find more purpose and a sense of control in our lives, and ultimately be the people we want to become.
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