Posts Tagged ‘Time’
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Every day we are bombarded by decisions … what to do, what to eat, what to wear, what to read, what to watch or listen to, what to buy, what to say … the decisions are never ending.
The never-ending process of making decisions continues throughout your workday. Every time an employee asks you a question like, Can I leave early to go to my son’s lacrosse game, or Mary just called off sick and we need her part of the project today, what do we do? You are making decisions that impact your team or department’s results.
Fortunately, most decisions require very little conscious thought. In fact, we actually made many of the decisions a long time ago, and we’re simply executing them now out of unconscious habit. For example, we spend little or no time deliberating what driving route we take to work, what errands need to be accomplished over the weekend, or what clothes you throw on after getting home from work.
The emotional intensity of decisions depends upon the perspective of the decision maker. To a corporate executive, a decision that involves millions of dollars can seem routine, while the president of a local service club might agonize over luncheon arrangements for 15 members. A married couple might spend considerable time and energy deciding what color to paint their living room, while a marketing executive might design packaging for an entire product line in a very short time. Your attitudes and habits influence your actions and thoughts. You can improve your decision making skills by becoming aware of the existing attitudes and habits that have shaped your decisions in the past.
Take a few moments to list some of the important decisions you made in the past five years. Evaluate the quality of those decisions.
Did they produce the results you wanted? Are there any decisions you would change?
Next examine your decision making style. Did you tend to make the decisions impulsively, or did you take time to examine all of the facts? Did you involve others, or did you decide alone? Did you make the decision in a timely manner, or did you procrastinate? Did your decisions align with your goals, or were you swayed by external influences and other people’s opinions? Were there any decisions on your list that you made against your better judgment? Perhaps you had a hunch about what you should do, but you disregarded it. How did those decisions turn out? Write down your observations. Can you identify the habits and attitudes that either helped or hindered your decision making in the past?
Over the years your personal experiences and your daily application of formal knowledge have given you a sixth sense for what will and will not work in given situations. Intuition can serve you well in decision making. Research has revealed decisions based on instinct are frequently more accurate than those based strictly on factual analysis. Your best decisions will draw upon both the logical and the emotional facets of your personality. Listen to your inner voice and be sure your decisions pass the test of plain common sense.
Passing the common sense test is an important component of making a sound decision. However, for more complex decisions there is a proven decision making process which includes six key steps. We will share more specifics on the decision making process in a future post!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Attitudes, decisions, Emotion, Energy, habits, Leadership, Team, Time
Posted in Decision Making | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
You will get more out of your time when you learn how to get more out of your life.
After you determine what you want, what you value, what you believe, and where your priorities lie. Determining how to spend a given day or hour is easy. In order to get more out of your time, know what you want to get out of it. That may seem very basic, but many people fail to define their values, purpose, and goals. They are immersed in their daily activities, and they fail to think about what they really like or want to do. They overlook the purpose of their lives.
Purpose
What is your purpose in life? Do you have a purpose? You will be happiest when you are achieving goals that are consistent with your purpose. If you knew that you had only one year to live, what would you do differently? Why?
Now imagine that you have many years to live and achieve. Visualize yourself and your life in one, three, and five years. What do you see? What is your occupation? What are your family responsibilities? What kind of future do you want? Are your present activities and priorities compatible with that envisioned future? Is there anything you can do differently today that can make a significant difference in your tomorrow? Answering these questions will help you determine your purpose, your vision, your values, and your priorities in life. Every life has a purpose and you exist for a purpose. Within the boundaries of that purpose you shape your attitude, skills, and goals. When you define your purpose and understand your ultimate goals, you have a strong foundation upon which to manage both your time and your life. Choices become easier because you make them in relation to your purpose, your values, and all that is important to you.
Values
Values are the principles you use to make decisions. They are your morals, ethics, and standards: those things that are important to you. They are what you perceive to be right and honest. They are non-negotiable, and unlike opinions, do not change. Take some time to evaluate your priorities and crystallize your values. Create a list of what is important to you. As you create your list of values, consider these questions:
- What gives your life meaning?
- What’s most important to you?
- What do you value?
In order to enjoy a life of fulfillment, you must decide what you want to be and do in your life. One of the most worthwhile activities in which you can engage, regardless of your age or station in life, is an exercise in introspection and values clarification. As was observed by Plato centuries ago, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” You make better choices when you understand what’s really important to you. The right choices improve the quality to your life.
Vision
Visualization, like introspection, is a power tool. It’s the process of forming a mental picture of the future. We must mentally accomplish something before we can physically accomplish it. Your ability to visualize your future is one of the most powerful tools for creating the future you want.
A clear and strong vision will help you to stretch your ability and achieve higher levels of success. A positive vision of our future gives meaning to life, and a significant vision precedes significant success. In addition to giving meaning to your life, a clear vision accompanied by specific goals automatically helps you prioritize options and make good decisions. If you know what is important to you and you can clearly see the long-term future you want, the daily decisions about how to get there become easier. To create the future you want and deserve, you must harness the power of visualization and activate your positive thoughts. Your thoughts will then bring about the appropriate and necessary behavior. The picture you carry within you will determine all that you accomplish in life; therefore your expectations influence your results.
So many people feel out of control and that the world around them is controlling their life as opposed to the way it ought to be. Take back control of your life and destiny by clarifying your purpose, values, and vision. Clearly knowing what you exist to accomplish combined with a clear understanding of what you value while visualizing where you see yourself in one, three, and five years provides liberating power. Take back control of your life and achieve what you were meant to achieve!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: goals, Plato, Purpose, success, Time, values, Vision
Posted in Personal Development | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
You were created with unique qualities and abilities. Take the time to identify your strengths as they give you the ability to make valuable contributions to others and to the world that no one else can.
No matter how much of a useful quality you possess, you can always develop it so that it becomes even more valuable. One additional degree of personal growth today can make a big difference in your positive impact tomorrow. Does one degree really make a difference? To answer that question, imagine that you are heating water on the stove. The water will boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and produce steam, a source of tremendous power. But if you drop the temperature back just one degree, you only have hot water. The moral of the illustration: Don’t stop developing your strengths until they produce maximum power in your life and the lives of others.
Too often people neglect their strengths and debate the questions, “Why work on areas where I am already strong?” They devote most of their time and energy to shoring up their weaknesses and developing skills they don’t have. If you manage your life by only concentrating on your weaknesses, you take energy away from accelerating your strengths, thereby generating mediocre results.
Research indicates that as many as two-thirds of all working adults are slaving away at jobs they don’t like and for which they are not well suited. In a research poll of millions of workers, only one-third reported they were engaged in the kind of work they do best. No wonder so many businesses are characterized by apathy and mediocrity instead of passion and excellence! As we become pressed by the challenges of life, we often accept mediocrity by neglecting your strengths and shoring up a weakness.
If a weakness is really holding you back, naturally you should work to develop it. For example, if your deficiency in public speaking is curtailing your job performance and your daily work is in concert with your goals and purpose then it makes sense to devote some attention to improving that area. The blunt truth is you cannot be anything you want to be. For example, it is hard to be a successful professional basketball player in the NBA if you are 5′ 4″. The average height of these professional athletes is 6′ 7″. However, the good news is that you can always be more of who you are!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: developing, results, skills, Strengthen, Strengths, succes, Time, weaknessess, work
Posted in Team Leadership | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
One of the greatest lessons in time management is to realize the difference between spending time and investing time. The dictionary defines spend as “to use up, exhaust, consume.” If you spend, you have no return. On the other hand, when we invest we “spend with expectation of some satisfaction, of obtaining an income or profit.”
With respect to time, many people spend far more than they invest. Most of us spend inordinate amounts of time engaged in frivolous activities that do little or nothing to propel us toward our life goals. For some reason, we don’t value time as we do money, electricity, food, or even paperclips. Most of use are trained not to waste paper. We turn off lights, so we don’t waste electricity. Yet we continue to treat our time—precious moments of our lives that can never be relived—as if we had an unlimited supply.
Too often we spend our time doing what someone else wants us to do, or we do things that seem urgent rather than those that are really important. As a result, many unimportant tasks get done in a thorough, timely fashion, while important activities get hastily done under crisis conditions. Time is like money. You can expect dividends if you wisely invest it and losses if you spend it frivolously. Time reflects who you are. It indicates what you think of yourself and others, and how focused you are in achieving the goals you have set for yourself. Orchestrate each day of your life to achieve a high level of performance and satisfaction personally and professionally. Align your activities with your personal goals and with the goals of your organization.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: activities, goals, Investing, organization, personal, Time
Posted in Time Management | No Comments »
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