March 2010
"3 Steps to Never Having a Bad Day Again"
By Paul Kingsman
Don’t let an “off” day take you off track.
Although we’ve set goals for 2010 and we’d love to be “up” for every day, realistically, some days we’re just not going to feel like we can give 100%.
When these days happen, don’t worry, get frustrated with yourself, or decide to crawl back to bed. Instead, follow these simple steps to eliminate potential wasted days and learn how to focus your time, effort, and energy to quickly get back on track!
When I speak to groups, after I’ve recounted the hard work necessary to win an Olympic medal, someone will usually ask if there were days when I simply didn’t want to go to training, or if there were times when I was focused on my goal, but simply too tired to care on a particular day.
YES! There were days when I was in the pool, feeling exhausted and sore from the previous day’s workout, I really did not want to complete my practice.
When these feelings came up, I learned to break the workout into smaller increments. This kept me moving forward toward my over-arching goal. But by only needing to focus on one small element of the workout, I could keep from being overwhelmed by all the work that lay ahead, continue being productive, and get the boost of successfully completing the task at hand.
For instance, when I was super tired, instead of just going through the motions for two hours while I covered hundreds of laps, I’d focus on doing the next six turns excellently. Then I’d give myself a short mental breather before focusing on hitting another six turns perfectly again. All of a sudden, even though I felt weary, I was doing something really well. Then I’d make a game out of it and see how many perfect turns I could do consecutively.
By accomplishing a seemingly small objective, it didn’t take long before I was engaging with the rest of the workout and pushing myself harder than I originally expected. You can do this in your office. If you arrive knowing that your head is just not in the game that day, take on some small objectives, focusing on doing those “little” things well, through to completion.
Spend 20 minutes clearing your desk, doing some filing, and getting organized. Or, complete some paperwork that you’ve been putting off. Pick up the phone and make that call to one client. Whatever you focus on, once you have accomplished it, mentally pat yourself on the back, and then determine to complete another small task.
So, even when it feels like an “off” day, you can leave your office in the evening acknowledging that while you weren’t functioning at 100% capacity, you still “dug in” and were productive, despite the circumstances.
When you have days where you just don’t feel fully focused:
- Consider several smaller tasks that you can do. Identify a few small activities which still move you toward your goal, but where allow you to forget about the big picture for a while.
- Begin just one activity. Don’t even plan to do or spend time thinking about the second task. Just focus on the first step to beginning the first task and take action to start.
- Complete it and congratulate yourself. No matter how small the task may seem in your overall plan for your practice, by completing it, you’ve taken control during a potentially unproductive time, focused on a specific task, and taken action to see it through.
By taking one small step at a time, you will have had a good, productive day, accomplishing some useful activities, even when you didn’t feel like.
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About the Author:
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Paul helps clients conquer daily distractions which seem urgent, but are more often inconsequential, so they can achieve the success they want in both their business and personal lives. He knows the importance of keeping focused in life’s split seconds first hand: Paul trained for 13 years, to swim a 2 minute backstroke race at the 1988 Olympics, and won a medal by only four one-hundredths of a second!
After retiring from competitive swimming, Paul applied the same success habits he had developed in sport to business, going on to achieve big results with some of the world’s best known companies, both in his native country of New Zealand and here in his adopted home of the U.S. He’s managed Speedo New Zealand and worked as a high net-worth advisor for both Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
His financial industry experience has given Paul an understanding of the unique business challenges faced by financial services professionals, and he focuses his expertise in this area. He works with his clients so they can focus on best practices and achieve consistent, outstanding results. Whether through keynote speaking or one-on-one coaching, Paul gives his clients practical tools to make the best split-second decisions for their long-term success.
Paul currently lives in Northern California, and enjoys spending his leisure time with his wife, son, and their dog.
http://www.paulkingsman.com/index.html