How to Avoid the Biggest Dream Killer

"Many people die with their music still in them.”

Oliver Wendall Holmes

While relaxing a few weeks ago, I happened to come across a movie titled You Don’t Mess With The Zohan starring Adam Sandler. Zohan, Adam’s character, had left his native country to pursue his dream of becoming a hair dresser in America. There was a pivotal point in the movie where Zohan became frustrated by his many failed attempts to land a hair dresser job and decided that he would settle for a sales position in his friend’s electronic store. 

The owner of the store declined Zohan's request pointing to three store employees as examples. The first worker came to America with a dream of becoming a race car driver, but gave up on it to work at the store. He then pointed to the next worker who dreamed of becoming a famous comedian, but never picked up a microphone. The third employee had dreams of becoming a great hand model, but ended up selling cell phones for a living.

The three employees let comfort become the enemy of their calling. What they thought was a temporary stop, became their permanent destination. They were victims of the biggest dream killer known to man. What can you do you avoid becoming a victim? Before, I answer this question; let’s get clear on the identity of the top dream killer. 
 

Fear of Failure

A fear of failure is the biggest dream killer and the most common reason that people procrastinate. If you commit to adopting the right perspective, your chances of achieving your dream increase. 

For example, I have a friend whose dream is to become a famous professional speaker. He recently joined four Toastmasters clubs. I thought this was over the top, so I asked him why he did it. He told me that being in four clubs will give him four times the failures of the average speaker and by quadrupling his failure rate; he will reach his goal faster! Noted author and speaker John Maxwell said it best when he said “Experience is not the best teacher, EVALUATED experience is.” Without evaluated experience, we will repeat the same mistakes and not reach our full potential. 

If you adopt this perspective on failure, you will not procrastinate in the pursuit of your dream. Like Zohan’s friend, I refuse to allow you to settle for less. I am your procrastination prevention partner. 

If you found this to be helpful, please share it by using the social media share buttons at the bottom. 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. To get additional information on the reasons that you procrastinate, get a copy of my ebook. 

How To Procrastinate

“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”

Brian Tracy

Procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing. Now that I have your attention, let me clarify my point by sharing the following illustration. Several weeks ago while visiting a friend in the hospital, I happened to pass the emergency room. While in the emergency room I noticed an interesting pattern. 

Patients were not being serviced in the order that they arrived. Those that had cold symptoms and minor bruises were forced to wait while the patients with major injuries were taken in immediately. 

There was a Triage Nurse on duty, whose job was to make sure that the injuries with the most urgency received the highest priority. This was not a first come, first served system. The emergency room is a reminder of the fact that your most important priority is not necessarily the first task that comes to your attention. 

Too many of the to do lists that I see are first come first serve. If there is a list of ten items, most people start with the first item on the list. The problem is that the first item may be the least important while item number ten could be urgent. So, how do you determine what is urgent and what can wait? Keep reading and you will learn how to procrastinate. 

Triaging
Triaging is a system for assigning priorities based on urgency. The nurse in the previous illustration is called a Triage Nurse because her main job is to prioritize. 

I truly believe that if you have more than three priorities that you really don’t have any. When I attack my to do’s, I place a star by the tasks that are truly urgent. The star tells me that if there was a power outage and I could not get anything else done, completing this task would make my day a productive one. For me, checking e-mail, checking voicemail, or sending social media communication is not urgent and does not get a star. I can procrastinate on these tasks because they are not priorities. 

Many of the people with whom I work have a habit of checking e-mail first thing in the morning. They react to a message and spend a significant part of their day putting out fires. The problem is that the truly urgent items take a back seat to something that is of lower importance. They either spend more time in the office or ignore what is truly important. 

If you embrace the process of Triaging, you will have more time for your priorities by procrastinating on those tasks that are not urgent. A failure to triage you will cause you procrastinate on your priorities which is never a good thing! So there you have it. If you know someone who can benefit from this week’s message, please share it using the social share buttons at the bottom of this posting. 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. For more information on How to Procrastinate, read my ebook. 

How To Balance Work and Family

When I was growing up, the following song was always playing on the radio:

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"

Harry Chaplin (Lyrics from the song The Cat’s in the Cradle;1974)

The Father in this song was always too busy too spend time with his son. In his older years, the Dad tried to make up for lost time, only to discover that his son followed his example by being too busy with the demands of life. The lesson here is that once you lose time, you never get it back. 

Noted author and speaker Jim Rohn said it best when he said that we must all suffer from either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. If you fail to apply the disciplines that lead to a balanced life, you will look back with regret. 

As you continue to read you will learn one of the most important disciplines necessary to balance work and family. 

Automation
Every minute wasted at the office is a minute of family time lost. Surfing the social media sites and processing emails are two of the biggest time wasters. According to a recent office time.net survey, 75% of the respondents reported that they spent at least two hours per day on social media sites. Thirty-three percent admitted to spending two hours per day reading and processing emails. What can you do to put your social media and email on auto pilot, so that you don’t end up like the Dad in the song? 

HootSuite
This nifty app allows you to update Facebook, Twitter, & Linked In at the same time. Have you ever logged onto Facebook with the goal of quickly making a post only to be distracted by an instant message or friend request? Hootsuite allows you can make your updates without the interruptions. 

The Hootsuite feature that I like best is the ability to schedule posts in advance. I simply dedicate a one hour block of time during the week where I schedule up to three weeks worth of updates. 

This habit alone has saved me thirty minutes per day that I would normally spend on social media. I now spend the extra time at home taking my daughter to the playground. 

Email Rules Have you ever struggled to focus on a project because of the numerous email alerts chiming through your speakers? The solution is to set your email rules so that these audible alerts are disabled. This will help you to check your email only at the specific times you set for yourself. 

Even though I subscribe to several electronic newsletters and receive hundreds of emails per day, my inbox is usually empty. This is because I set my email rules so that certain emails go directly to my folders and not my inbox. 

For example, I have a special folder for any communication that I am CC’d on. These emails automatically go to this folder and I can read them at my leisure since they are not addressed directly to me. This habit has saved me an hour per day of office time. 

By Automating my social media and email, I save a total of ninety minutes per day. Ninety minutes per day over the course of the year works out to additional twenty three thousand four hundred minutes of free time to spend with your family. 

If you need specific instructions on how to automate your social media and email, please email me at eric@ericmtwiggs.com . 

Sincererly,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. For additional strategies on how to balance work and family, get your copy of my ebook. 

Which Game Are You Playing?

When I Turned 40, I had the following conversation with my friend Mike: “ Mike, I can’t believe I am 40. I am getting old! Eric, no worries, you are in the prime of your life. After all, 40 is the new 30!” I was feeling pretty good about my situation until I cam across an interesting statistic. 

According to a recent study from The Washington Post, the average life expectancy in the United States is 74 years. After doing a little math, I discovered something disturbing. Divide 74 by two and middle age is 37. 

Half of your time has passed before even reaching age 40. As you can see, we don’t have as much time as we think. What can you do to make the most of your most valuable resource? 

Be Proactive
On the game board of life, you are either playing chess or your playing checkers. The game of chess is designed for the proactive. The successful chess player is thinking two to three moves ahead compared to the checkers player that is only focused on the move that is in front of him. 

Which game are you playing? Here is a story from my past to help you decide. I was scheduled to give a speech for Toastmasters International. I knew about this a month in advance. My presentation was on Tuesday. When did I start preparing? On Monday at midnight! 

I was playing checkers. Waiting until the last minute is stressful. If you are always stressed out, you won’t have the motivation to pursue your dream. What can you do to avoid playing checkers? 

Recognize Your Power Time
You have a genetic clock that gives you high energy levels at certain times of the day and lower energy at other times. This “clock” is known as your circadian rhythm. The key to being proactive is to schedule your highest priority activities during your highest energy times. 

For example, I have the highest energy level early in the morning. I made the mistake of preparing my toastmasters speech late in the evening when I had low energy levels. This lack of energy was a big reason for my procrastination. 

If you are not sure of your power time, you can search for “circadian rhythm” on the Internet and access several online tests that will help you to find out. If you recognize your power time, you will be motivated to be proactive. On life’s game board, more chess equals less stress! 

Sincerely,
Eric M Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. To learn my 5-step plan to become more proactive, download my ebook.

The Biggest Time Management Mistake You Can Make

Most time management problems are really motivation problems in disguise. Procrastination, lack of balance and a failure to delegate are merely symptoms of a bigger issue.  From my experience, the biggest time management mistake that you can make is not being clear on what you value. 

This lack of clarity will cause you to procrastinate, and spend time with the wrong people doing the wrong things.  So, how do you become clear on what you value so that you have more time and experience less stress? 

Your 90th Birthday
Close your eyes and imagine that you have traveled forward in time to a 90th birthday celebration banquet being held in your honor.  Who is in the room and what are they saying about you?  You are asked to speak and you make the following statement:  “I have lived a great life because I achieved my dream to ….” Whatever comes after the word “to” represents what you value. The people that you imagine as being in the room and the words they use to describe your life are also a part of your value system. 

Your Personal Mission Statement
The next step is to create a written personal mission statement. Your personal mission statement is a statement that summarizes the core values and beliefs that you discovered in the 90th birthday visualization exercise. It can be as brief as three words or as long as three paragraphs. 

Taking the time to do this will imprint your purpose and values firmly in your mind and serve as the guide for future decisions. For example, my personal mission statement is as follows: “To serve God, provide for my family, and to inspire current and future generations through my writing and speaking.” My daily actions and priorities are a reflection of this mission statement. 

If you feel that you lack balance in your life, there are two possible root causes:

1. You have not clearly defined your personal mission.

2. You have made choices that don’t line up with your personal mission.

Completing the 90th birthday exercise and writing out your personal mission statement will give you a clear picture of what you value and keep you from making the most common time management mistakes.   If you found this to be helpful, please share this message via your social networks! 

Sincerely,
Eric M Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. I have written an ebook that will help you to maximize your time so that you are ready for your defining moment. Get your copy now.