We are officially in the second quarter of 2013. How are you doing with your goals? Have you completed the tasks you set out to complete in the first quarter? Are you on track to having the amazing year you set out to achieve when the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2013? If not, what went wrong and how do you plan to get yourself back on track to finish at the top?
Just last weekend I attended a conference that was all about getting radical – in both your personal and professional life. What I learned at the conference is that radical is not just different. Radical is a lifestyle. Radical is crazy. Radical means you move beyond the “a-ha” moments, and actually take consistent action towards whatever goals you have set for yourself.
Most of the time, we’ll take a step or two out of our comfort zone and then eventually, revert back to the status quo, to what is comfortable. We start hanging out with the same people who called us crazy to begin with, or doing the same things that leave us stagnant. Every time we take a step away from the normal and back into the crazy zone, something or someone tries (and usually succeeds) to pull us back. What is that something for you? Or, who is that person? Personally, I’ve had to learn to get over what other people think of me, or what I’m doing. I’ve had to learn (and continue to learn) that other peoples’ perception of me is none of my business. This is a hard one to swallow, but its something I’m working on consistently.
One of the things that was discussed at the conference was the idea of frogs and ships. If you’ve ever read Brian Tracy’s book, Eat That Frog, you know that it is referring to the procrastination monster. The frog is that thing that you know you need to do, but you reeeeaaaalllly don’t want to do, so you keep putting it off and putting it off. But the idea of eating that frog is if you do it first thing in the morning (say, perhaps it’s a sales call you need to make), then it won’t be hanging over your head all day. The rest of your day will then be that much more productive and happier.
In regards to setting out ships, those are the things that you do to gain something in return (maybe it’s business or something personal you’ve been wanting). The ships are the seeds you are planting in hopes that at least one of those seeds will manifest into something beyond what you could even imagine.
So every day now, I have a 6:30AM call with one of my accountability groups (I have three total). On this call we share one to three business and personal frogs and ships we are setting out to achieve for the day. There is definitely some weight behind having people hold you accountable for what you say you are going to do. It’s one thing when you are working for someone else. But when you’re working for yourself, it’s imperative that you build that support system for yourself.
I would say that so far, 2013 has been a great year! I’m on track to making sure it becomes an amazing year, and I’m doing that by taking radical steps every day. Just in the last week, I’ve launched a new workshop, and have reached out to several people that I had been sitting on for “later”. But by doing so, I’m now in talks with some for building partnerships, and for work on future projects. Sometimes your frogs can also be your ships. So be sure to eat that frog!
BMWK: What frogs and ships will you eat and set out to sail in the coming days, weeks & months? How will you keep yourself on track and hold yourself accountable?