Posted in: Strategy
This week I share a short video that will inspire you to find your true purpose and passion in life. Time is best spent doing what you love.
Sincerely,
Eric Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner
PS. My ebook, One Moment in Time, will help you find and focus on your passions. It's is now available for download on my website.
In 1987, The Fox network launched a popular sitcom called Married with Children. This was a show about a dysfunctional family of four living in a Chicago suburb led by patriarch Al Bundy.
Al had an unfulfilling career as a seller of women’s shoes and was always down on his luck. He was constantly disrespected by his wife and kids, and seemed resigned to his fate of being unhappy. A constant theme on the show was Al’s recollection of his high school glory days.
He was always remembering this time in his life when he was the big man on campus. His favorite story to tell was the one where he scored four touchdowns in one game to help his football team win the state championship. Al spent more time reflecting on the past than he did planning for the future. I call this habit the “Al Bundy Syndrome”.
Where's your focus? If you spend most of your time dwelling on a past result or relationship, then you are just like Al. Without a plan for the future, you end up with a present reality that leaves you unhappy. So where should your focus be?
1. Your Passions
How would you spend your time if money was not an issue? If you woke up tomorrow morning with $50 million dollars in the bank and had the luxury of only doing what you loved, how would that change your schedule?
For example, I am passionate about public speaking. With this in mind, I started to make future plans that gave me opportunities to practice my passion. I joined Toastmasters and taught classes at my local church. The more time I devoted to public speaking, the more doors opened to allow me to speak at a higher level. Using my passion as a starting point allowed me to move from speaking for free to speaking for a fee.
2. Your Purpose
A member of my church just celebrated his 90th birthday. His sons threw him a surprise party where hundreds of people got together and said all of these great things about him and his life. He then took a moment to speak to everyone and told the audience about the accomplishments that made him most proud.
Imagine that you can fast forward to your 90th birthday celebration. Who would be there and what would they say about you? What would you tell the audience about your life? Completing this exercise will help you to gain clarity on your life’s purpose.
Al Bundy lacked a plan for the future, so past glory is all he had left. Even if you are married with children, knowing your passions and purpose will allow you to avoid the Al Bundy Syndrome.
Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner
PS. If you would like more strategies on pursuing your passion, download my ebook, One Moment in Time.
Early in my career, I had a serious problem. I was the new manager of a local tire store and the most important factor for customers when purchasing tires was speed of service. Unfortunately, I had the slowest team of tire technicians in the market.
I spent most of my days getting yelled at by customers because of the time it took to put tires on their cars. Then one day I noticed an interesting trend. Customers that brought their vehicles to the shop just before we closed got much faster service than everyone else.
This was because the techs were motivated to get the cars finished so they could go home for the day. They knew that once they got the task done, there was a prize waiting for them. In other words, they used motivation to end their procrastination. There are two strategies that will help you to break the procrastination habit as well:
1. Create a personal reward system
What is the prize that is waiting on you, once you complete that task you keep putting off? Implementing a personal reward system will give you an answer to this question. For example, treat yourself to a weekend getaway as a reward for completing that business plan that you've been putting off.
Give yourself a deadline and make sure you use a calendar to put both the date and reward in writing. A day at the spa, a trip to your favorite restaurant, and a date to listen to your favorite musical group are other examples of good rewards for taking action.
At the tire store, I divided the technicians into teams and rewarded the group with the fastest service times with a gift card to their favorite hunting store. I knew that they were avid hunters and that this would motivate them on a personal level.
2. Create a procrastination penalty system
Procrastination is a silent dream killer because you don’t feel an immediate consequence for your delay. Think about it, when you put off writing that book, there is no game show buzzer that goes off to signal that you are wrong. You get lulled into thinking that everything is fine.
Therefore, you should create a penalty system that will hold you accountable for following through on your goals. One of the best penalties that I know of is public embarrassment. The key is to find a group of like minded individuals with similar aspirations with whom you can communicate about your goals.
The potential shame of having to tell your group members that you missed the mark will motivate you to take action. Joining a mastermind or networking group can help you accomplish this. Also, stickK gives you the opportunity to publicly post your goals and provides additional ideas for procrastination penalties.
Back at the shop, I posted each team's productivity results on a dry erase board. The team that did not produce faced public embarrassment and peer pressure from the other techs. Both the goals and the results were on display for everyone to see. As a result, our service times dramatically improved and the store delivered some of the best customer satisfaction results in the market.
If you implement a personal reward and procrastination penalty system, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your results. Just like my technicians, you will produce and not procrastinate!
Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner
PS. If you would like additional procrastination prevention strategies, download my ebook, One Moment in Time.
Several weeks ago, I spoke to an organization in my local area. At the end of my presentation, I offered the audience members a one time only special -- if they e-mailed me that day, I would send them a free copy of my ebook on procrastination prevention, One Moment in Time. I emphasized the fact that they had to e-mail me that day for the offer to be valid.
Several people sent e-mails immediately. One lady approached me afterwards and said: “Eric, I have a serious problem with procrastination, so I will e-mail you sometime tomorrow to get your ebook!”
This encounter inspired me to share with you my five secrets to overcoming procrastination. They are listed under the following acronym: “G.R.E.A.T” I chose this acronym because you will feel GREAT after implementing these techniques.
So there you have it. If you implement the five tips just mentioned, you will maximize your time, minimize your stress, and break the habit of procrastination. Have a G.R.E.A.T day!
Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner
PS. If you found this to be helpful, feel free to share it using the social share buttons at the bottom of the page.
I thought that I had the right focus, but I was wrong. After graduating from college, my ultimate goal was to make as much money as possible. Seven years after graduation, I had achieved my objective.
I was a 29 year old Silver BMW driving executive of a national automotive service chain, with 500 employees that reported to me. We had just won an award for having the most profitable District in the entire organization. I had made it to the top of the corporate ladder.
One morning while driving my BMW, I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror. The person that I saw looking back at me was someone that dreaded the idea of going into the office!
How could this be? I was making more money at age 29 than my father ever made, and I had the car to prove it. Suddenly, I remembered the following quote from the Author Michael Josephson: “It’s not what you drive, it’s what drives you!”
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you dread the idea of going to your job or business each morning? Unfortunately, many people that I know are simply “going through the motions”. This lack of passion is a root cause of procrastination. The following test can help you determine if you are procrastinating because of a lack of passion for what you are doing:
Snooze Button Test
In the morning, if you find yourself hitting the SNOOZE button on your alarm clock at least two times before waking, you are not positioned in your passion. Hitting snooze, is your way of procrastinating because you are not looking forward to starting the day.
Think about it, if you knew that you were about to do something that you were born to do, you would not delay getting started. This snooze button test can help you to determine if you are in the right business or line of work.
The question becomes, how do you determine what drives you so that you are not failing the snooze button test? Keep reading and you learn the three questions that will help you clarify your passions:
The Three Questions
1. What are you passionate about?
2. What does success mean to you?
3. If you could make a difference for anyone or any cause, what would that difference be?
Answering these questions made me realize that I felt the most passion when I was helping business executives and delivering speeches. Since I have come to his realization, doors have opened for me to do what I love. Today, I never have a morning where I dread the idea of doing what I do.
So there you have it. Whether you drive a Hummer or a “Hooptie”, asking yourself the three questions will help you to pass the snooze button test and drive you away from procrastination!
What drives you?
Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner
PS. If you found today’s blog post helpful, please share it using the share buttons at the bottom.