How to Move From Long Shot to Legend

“I thought that I was waiting on the right opportunity, but really the right opportunity was waiting on me.”

When I was growing up, I wanted to play in the NBA like Michael Jordan. One day, a “friend” of mine told me that there are 17,500 Division 1 college basketball players. He then told me that out of that number, only 48 actually get drafted to the NBA. That is a staggering statistic. 

Not believing that I had a chance, I practiced procrastination instead of basketball. I thought of myself as a long shot. The basketball world would not be what it is today if Jordan had procrastinated the way I did. Young players from around the world would have to find another source of inspiration. 

Have you ever had a lofty goal, but let someone talk you out of it because of the long odds? Is the fact that 90% of small businesses fail keeping you from pursuing your dream of entrepreneurship? Only a small percentage of books become best sellers. Is this keeping you from becoming an author? Like Mike, you were born with a greatness to contribute. The question becomes, why should you pursue a goal even though the numbers are not on your side? 

Purpose
To answer this question I will share a personal experience. One morning, I arrived at the airport with the goal of catching an early flight. When I got to the security terminal, I discovered that the line was wrapped around the corner with other people that had the same goal. I would surely miss my flight. Then I saw my friend Paul near the front of the line. He motioned for me to come up where he was. We embraced and he let me in front of him. 

Your purpose is like my friend Paul - when you know and embrace it, you can move to the front of the line ahead of others that have the same goal! It would be a tragic shame to let someone talk you out of what you were born to do. Being clear on your purpose and moving forward with passion will allow you to become a legend instead of a long shot. 

Sincerely, 
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. The key to achieving your big dream is accomplishing small daily goals. For additional information on the goal-setting process, download my ebook One Moment in Time. 

The Timesaving “Key” To Your Success

“What got you here won’t get you there.”

- Marshall Goldsmith

I have a habit that drives my wife crazy. When traveling, I accidentally keep the room keys to the hotels. Being the creature of habit that I am, I tend to stay at the Hampton Inn whenever possible. On a recent trip I decided to conduct an experiment. 

I attempted to use the Hampton Inn key from my previous stay in the door of my current hotel. I slid the key and was disappointed that it did not work. The problem was that I was trying to go through a new door with an old key! If you have ever tried to get to the next level by doing what got you to where you are, you can relate to this experience. What then is the key to your success that will save time? 

Who, Why, What
Whenever I get to a new level, I ask myself three questions:

1. Who is currently on that level that has the results that I want?
2. Why are they successful?
3. What do they do that I can duplicate to get the same results?

For example, early in my career I received a promotion to District Manager of a national automotive chain with responsibility over 16 stores. The district assigned had a history of poor customer satisfaction and always ranked at the bottom of the organization in this category. 

Initially, I attempted to solve the problem by doing what made me successful as single unit manager. This resulted in several weeks of frustration and embarrassment as our customer service scores ranked last in the company! I was so frustrated that I scheduled a meeting with my boss to ask him what he thought I could do to improve. 

Instead of answering my questions, my boss asked me the following: “Who has the best customer service results in the company? Why is he successful? What does he do that you could duplicate in your District?" 

After this conversation, I contacted the top performing district manager and discovered that we were doing many of the same things to improve customer service. However, there was one method of communication that he was using with his team that I had been neglecting. Although it seemed minor, I decided to give it a try. Once I implemented his strategy, my district went from dead last, to well above the national average in customer service results within three weeks! 

Asking the Who-Why-What questions were the keys that took me to the next level. Remember, what got you here won’t get you there! If you know of someone that needs the “key”, please forward this post using the share buttons at the bottom of this post. 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. For more information that will help you to save time, download my ebook.

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.