Summer is in the air, and the looming excitement of a “New Year new you” has long faded away. For most people, the New Year’s resolutions long forgotten include: eating healthier, saving more money, exercising more, or maybe it’s to open your own gym named Resolution, that only runs for the first month of the year. In reality, we all know that most people break their New Year’s resolutions within week’s if not days of setting them. Instead of sticking to a healthy eating goal, it may be easier to put the blame on someone else, like Dominos for promoting their six dollar, two topping pizza.
When considering the most popular excuse for missing their resolutions, most people say, “I don’t have time.” Many think that just because they are busy, and spend most of the day running around working on an endless list of tasks, that they have no time.
However, there is a difference between being busy, and being effective. Being busy typically consists of trying to do a million tasks, while also becoming very distracted, and in the end getting nothing accomplished. Being effective however, means setting tasks, and executing them so they are no longer a burden.
Next time someone tries to pull the old “I don’t have time” card, enlighten them with this statistic: roughly 31% of employees spend at least one hour of their business day on social media. Could that one hour of time be used more productively?
To be effective and successfully accomplish your goals, create a priority list for each day. The list should be 3-5 important tasks that are going to move you towards reaching your goals. The purpose of the list is to do these priority tasks daily, until they become habits. At the end of each day, review your list, and if you accomplished your tasks, put a “W” for win. With each day, and each success, you will be closer to achieving your goals and closer to becoming an ADEPT leader.
