Be Crazy - Priority and Purpose

A secret productivity book is The One Thing by Gary Keller. Having read it recently, I am not even sure it is revolutionary at all to be honest. And I don't want to knock Gary's intentions, as the book is a great insight into some simple rules for extraordinary productive outputs.

• Habits are formed within 66 days. 3 months. You have to stick to it for the first few weeks, go through peaks and troughs, and eventually you form a new habit. Whether that is a 5 am routine, a jog every night or the daily routine of going swimming during your lunch hour. And once it is established, focus on the next habit you can create. A combination and addition of habits form a powerful routine of making you very productive.
• Awareness is key. Being aware of yourself, your output, your relationships. Be aware of your spirit and body. I have been addressing that for years: the real formation of energy within your body can only take place if your mind and body are aligned. A misaligned mind and body won't be able to function to a 100% performance.
• Counterbalance, as Gary calls it, is key. Some might call it life-life balance. To not neglect your family and personal goals vs. your work goals. You need to be able to balance the five areas of Work, Family, Health, Friends and Integrity. He goes as far as the work ball when being juggled can be dropped, it is made of rubber, yet the other four are made of out glass, so when being dropped....they might be shattered or damaged at least. What he is trying to get to is that you have to see where your priorities are and what you should focus on in life. Make time for the things that are most important in your life and stop worrying about things you cannot change.
• Following from this, by setting priorities we automatically go out of balance. It is your decision how much time you spend on which priority and how far you want to go out of balance. And only the priorities where you 'think big' are worthwhile putting the action and effort in to make them work. So think and live big!

Dream Big. Think Big. Believe you can change the world. Focus on the one thing that will make other things easier or unnecessary. Find the domino that kicks over the bigger domino and bigger domino and so forth.

And, I love how Gary agrees that priority and purpose drive productivity - something I am picking up in my next book on productivity. Without a purpose and vision in life you won't be able to focus on the right outcome. Yet, without priority you never get anything done, do you?

Hopefully this gives you an input into what you need to work on in order to prioritise in your life, and make it the best outcome yet.

Good luck,

Volker