by JimRaffel on March 7, 2010
My “why” is making JimRaffel.com the best blog I can. Writing for this blog everyday is following my passion. That passion is what drives my desire to find ways to make ColorMetrix more successful with less and less of my time. I’ve managed to reduce my ColorMetrix work week to about 50 hours (down from 60-70) and the extra time is spent here. That’s my why.
The extra hours will be spent writing this blog, reading more great business and personal development books. Spending time with friends and family. The activities that matter to me. Understanding my compelling why has further fueled my desire to take radical thinking to the next level. Your why is probably quite different from mine but we can both use radical thinking to get there.
This week I took a day off (well, worked 2-3 hours instead 10-12). It’s been a long time since I did that and did not feel guilty about it. This is not about time management of priorities, it’s about an overall radical shift in my thinking. Yes, it involves gaining a better understanding of time and priorities but it’s more important to understand that you can do things in very different ways then you are right now.
For me the progression has gone like this:
1. The real, authentic and sustainable methodology became the analysis tool for my entire life and all the decisions I make.
2. Realized that “working hard” had taken me as far as it could and the hours I was working would not remain sustainable for the balance of my life.
3. Understanding that I can only work on one important task at a time and can only complete one or maybe two significant and important tasks a day.
4. Most tasks not included in number 3 above can either;
a. be completed in 15 minutes or
b. don’t need to be done at all.
Number 1 above helped me understand my compelling why and numbers 2, 3 and 4 help me realize it everyday of my life. In a little over 60 days I have gone from struggling to get one blog post a week out to putting out one a day. I have three posts ready to go and a list of ideas for posts so long that many will never be completed. Oh, and ColorMetrix sales for 2010 are just fine.
So, I ask you what’s your compelling why? Please share it with me here in the comments. Let’s start a conversation about your why’s and celebrate our differences yet our common desire to achieve the why!
{
by JimRaffel on March 2, 2010
With the release of Seth Godin’s Linchpin (which I have yet to read) there has been a whole lot of buzz in the Blogosphere about “shipping it.” It’s good talk folks about the need to produce deliverable product each day and you should be paying close attention if you are not already doing so.
Ask yourself the questions what do I produce and do I ship it daily? When I answered these questions, my thinking once again went radical on me. My daily priorities have changed so much it makes me wonder how I was even modestly successful up to this point. Answer: I was working hard but not smart most of the time.
I have three priorities in my life;
- ColorMetrix CEO
- JimRaffel.com brand manager
- Most important, husband and father
Above all else and before the rest of my daily tasks, I must ship daily something of value to the constituents of each priority in my life.
In the case of ColorMetrix the highest value item I can produce is an engagement proposal. Buying into our ProofPass solution is a long-term (averaging 3+ years now) two-way commitment and nothing happens at ColorMetrix until an engagement proposal is accepted. The second most valuable item I ship for the company is communications (email and otherwise) related to completing engagement proposals or resolving existing client issues (happy customers are my number one priority).
Writing posts is the A #1 Priority for this blog. Without quality content you have no reason to visit and more importantly return again and again. I can only generate so much traffic with my email signature and witty tweets on Twitter. So, each day I focus on writing one quality post for the blog. In January I managed to produce one every other day. In February I churned out 17 posts in 28 days. With the new “ship it” mentality, March will be the month of 31 posts.
My family comes before my work. They may not always see it that way. Take a look at item #2 from My Top 10 Personal Development Tips. What they need is what we all need; love, support, attention, and sometimes direction. It’s so simple that sometimes I forget to gaze into my wife’s eyes and ask the question “How was your day sweetheart?” What I then need to produce and ship is kind and patient attention while I listen to the good the bad and the ugly of her day. For the kids it’s a simple “Can I help you with that?” Mine are teenagers now but when they were younger it was showing up for Cub Scouts, Father/Daughter events, and sporting events. Well, more than showing up, being present. I wish I could have some of those moments back to have been more present than I was.
Is it reasonable to ignore all the noise in your daily grind until you produce and ship what provides maximum value to your audience? Is it alright to have only one or two A #1 priorities each day and all the rest of the list falls where it may? Please let me know what you think in the comments, I promise to respond!
{
