Jan 18, 2016 Written by Guest
We are barely through the first month of the new year and I quit. That's right, before I get too far into the new year, I quit and you should join me. The key to living your best year and accomplishing your greatest goals is in saying, "I quit."
More and more I am convinced that success is not only based on what you do, but also powerfully connected with what you don't do. So to break through the barriers of success and joy we must courageously quit!
Quitting is not a negative thing. It is an essential part of success. This is the year we stop living an inch deep and a mile wide. This is the year we go narrow and deep and set the foundation for the years ahead.
Here are 5 things I will quit doing and you should join:
More and more I am convinced that success is not only based on what you do, but also powerfully connected with what you don't do. So to break through the barriers of success and joy we must courageously quit!
Quitting is not a negative thing. It is an essential part of success. This is the year we stop living an inch deep and a mile wide. This is the year we go narrow and deep and set the foundation for the years ahead.
Here are 5 things I will quit doing and you should join:
1. Quit working overtime and increase your productivity
Have you ever wondered where the 40-hour work week came from? In 1926, Henry Ford, American industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company, conducted experiments with interesting results: when you decrease your daily working hours from 10 to 8, and shorten the work week from 6 days to 5, your productivity increases.
The more you work, the less effective and productive you are going to become over both the short and long term. So to get the most out of your day, don't spend it all in the office.
2. Quit saying 'Yes' to everything
According to the Pareto Principle, 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results; however, 20% of the results consumes 80% of the effort. Instead of working harder, we should focus primarily on those efforts that produce 80% of the results and forgo the rest.
If you can’t figure if something is going to be worth your time, consider running a simple split test. Track everything you do and optimize if it is possible.
Most of us say yes more often than we should, because it is so much easier than saying no. Nobody wants to be the bad guy. However, if you say yes to everything, you will be stealing from time that should be dedicated to the important 'yes' activities in your life.
3. Quit giving into your fears
Fear of the unknown or unfamiliar, fear of failure, fear that our critical inner voice will be proven right or overpower us. To face our fears, we must consciously identify and actively ignore this voice.
All of us can develop a more realistic and compassionate view toward ourselves. We can learn to foster self-compassion, which studies show can improve every aspect of our lives. In comparison to self-esteem, self-compassion is associated with greater emotional resilience, more accurate self-concepts, more caring behavior in relationships, as well as less narcissism and reactive anger.
4. Quit doing repetitive tasks and start automating it
We live in a wonderful time where there are many technologies that can help us organize and automate tasks. People often forget that time is money. While doing things manually may seen easier, in the long run it consumes more time that could be better dedicated to higher priority activities.
Spend some time upfront and find the apps and programs that can help your work week be more productive. The bonus, many of these helpful technologies include analytics so you will get some helpful feedback you may not have received from doing tasks manually.
5. Quit doing it all yourself
Being a business owner doesn't mean that you need to do all the work yourself. Hire, train and be more efficient. Automation technology is a great way to get some time back in your day. There will be some upfront time investment when do your research, but on the back end you will get some time back.
Train your employees to take on more tasks. That doesn't mean dump your work on them to get more time in the day. Rather, identify what they enjoy and what they do well. For example I can do design layout, but I am slow and get frustrated. When I hand the work over to my designers, they have the job complete in less time, it looks better and we are all happy (including the client).
If you find that half-way through January your resolutions are already faltering, think about what you need to quit. Do you need to quit your negative thoughts, trying to be the hero and do everything yourself, devaluing your time?
We all have things we need to quit so that we can begin living our best life.
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