Finding an Effective Routine

Commit to investing in yourself – Decide today that you want to move your career forward. – What’s your target? Is it positioned based (becoming a head coach), geography, or conference-based? Clear your mind

– every night before you go to bed, write down the investment you want to make in yourself the next morning. It can be a long or short list and some suggestions are below. Regardless, writing it down will help your subconscious work on the topic and you are ready to hit that topic when you wake up. Start your day the right way everyday.

Mornings are the most productive time of the day. They’re quiet and you’re fresh. The day is full of possibility. But what typically happens is people head straight to the Internet and all momentum is lost.

Do’s and Dont’s Don’t check email, Facebook or other social media! Nothing there will make you better (Yes, I recognize the irony of sending this to you in an email). Do – Spend the earliest parts of your day (your first activities after you wake up your first hour in the office) focusing on you. Do – Set up lunch with a colleague, read a book for professional development, write a blog post, work on your résumé, think strategically about where you want to be one year from now. Do – Invest 30 – 60 minutes on the list you created the night before. Compound interest is an amazing thing. 30 minutes a day could provide you with over 150 HOURS of professional growth. 60 minutes a day could provide you over 300 HOURS of professional growth. I have no doubt that if you made this level of investment you’d see and feel a tremendous difference by year’s end. If you wait to make your investment at lunch, or the end of the day, it won’t happen. “Urgent” issues, unguided missiles and other things that easily derail your day, coupled with your professional dedication to keep running on the hamster wheel will result in a day of stagnation.

So make the Three step commitment right now! 1) Commit 2) Clear your mind every night 3) Start each day the right way. Make this a daily habit and you’ll be passing lots of people on the path to success because your preparation and investment in yourself will be at a level not seen often. Of course accountability to yourself is great, but accountability to someone else is even better. Choose a friend or colleague you think would benefit from following a similar path and send this note to them. And then partner with them to invest in yourselves.