Christopher D. Connors's Blog, page 52

gilmara amado Thank you!

gilmara amado Thank you! Always trying to make my Mom, Grandma and wife proud! I’ve had a lot of very special women in my life who have shown me the way

Derrick Duplessy I really enjoyed reading this, Derrick.

Derrick Duplessy I really enjoyed reading this, Derrick. Spot on and I’m grateful for your kind words. Wishing you the very best on your journey!

Santiago Maqueda You know it — so simple, so powerful when you live it out!

Santiago Maqueda You know it — so simple, so powerful when you live it out!

Tessi Tess Thanks a million, Tessi! Loved reading this!

Tessi Tess Thanks a million, Tessi! Loved reading this!

I really appreciate it! Thanks for the incredibly kind comment. Grateful to have you as a reader!

I really appreciate it! Thanks for the incredibly kind comment. Grateful to have you as a reader!

Rachel Krider Thank you very much, Rachel! Cheers!

Rachel Krider Thank you very much, Rachel! Cheers!

Jeremiah Barnett Give or take a few very unscientific percentage points, right?!

Jeremiah Barnett Give or take a few very unscientific percentage points, right?! Seriously — it’s true. Thanks for reading, Jeremiah!

Jheelam Dutta Roy I think being a generalist can always pay off.

Jheelam Dutta Roy I think being a generalist can always pay off. I’m a generalist. But I also see a common thread in high-performers that I’ve worked with and coached over the years — they become great at one thing and become the expert at that. They’re still generalists. But then, they’ve developed a specialist mindset. The world needs both.

How to Overcome Procrastination and Develop a Productive Daily Routine

“Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.” — Tony Robbins

You’re not lazy. You’re not unproductive. You’re just a part-time procrastinator like all of us. You’re not shortsighted. You’re not unmotivated. Like all of us, you’re simply struggling to embrace short-term work for long-term benefits. And therein lies the battle all of us face on the journey to becoming happier and more successful — we’re naturally inclined to put off our biggest goals, largely because it takes longer to reap their benefits.

High-achievers find a way to overcome the stumbling blocks that trip up those who are less motivated and thoughtful. Your blueprint begins first in your mind. The sooner you can subordinate your mental and emotional impulses to your goals and game plan, the quicker you’ll immerse yourself in ANY work that lie in front of you.

Here’s a great example of the importance of this: Elon Musk did not think Tesla would be a successful venture. Shocking, right? Then why in the world did he go forward with it? I leave that up to the man, himself, to explain:

“If something’s important enough you should try. Even if you think the probable outcome is failure.” — Elon Musk

We should all look to progress toward work that stirs our passion, making us feel alert and energized. So many people never realize their potential because they lack energy for what they do. As a result, their daily tasks and obligations start to become a grind. This leads to frustration, loss of hope and the feeling that what they’re working for lacks meaning — that their dreams will never come true.

Our ability to produce — and re-produce — a winning mindset is the driver to truly living a life on our terms. You’ll never life the life you dream about if you lack consistency. Consistency and drive begin with a positive attitude, a hopeful outlook and an insatiable desire to embrace new challenges and tackle our repeatable tasks with renewed vigor.

Focusing on Short and Long-Term Success

So much of modern productivity research centers around your need to focus on the “process” and to enjoy the journey, rather than eyeing an end-goal or prize. That’s true. But know this, my friend — you absolutely must have goals. Visualize that prize which awaits you for all your hard labor and willingness to rise to meet old and new challenges each day.

Because it’s that vision — that concept of victory — that eases your flow and progress toward approaching each step in your process with the enthusiasm and ambition that you need. Big dreams need goals and big goals need a game plan that is seeded with emotional intelligence and long-term vision.

Caroline Webb illustrates in her piece for Harvard Business Review that it’s hard to commit to short-term work when we can’t immediately see the benefits we’ll realize down the road:

“The problem is our brains are programmed to procrastinate. In general, we all tend to struggle with tasks that promise future upside in return for efforts we take now… it’s easier for our brains to process concrete rather than abstract things, and the immediate hassle is very tangible compared with those unknowable, uncertain future benefits. So the short-term effort easily dominates the long-term upside in our minds — an example of something that behavioral scientists call present bias.”

So what do we do to confront this pernicious present bias? How do we avoid procrastination in order to become the most productive woman or man we can possibly be? I’ve developed five criteria to focus on in an effort to yield higher returns of productivity:

Stop making excuses. This begins first with what we tell ourselves. Second, it continues with what we share, tweet, snap or tell others. Your hard-earned cash if far better invested in a book or educational course that expands your mind, rather than that new iPhone that you don’t really need right now. The reasons of why you can’t do something are better saved — instead, tell others you can do it, then commit and figure out how.Position yourself to increase the work or activities that ignite the fire inside of you while decreasing the boring things. This requires deep thought, planning and a willingness to use your imagination. Know what you love and keep stacking more of it on your plate. That said…Always have a step-by-step plan for mundane tasks. There will always be the mundane tasks and urgent matters that require our attention.Break down the boring, less pleasing things into chunks of work. Find within those chunks of work the “wins” that you’ll earn. The strengths you’ll strengthen and weaknesses you’ll gradually reduce.Put a carrot in front of you — have a treat to look forward to, a light at the end of the tunnel, that inspires you to keep going. It may be a nice weekend getaway. A trip to a sporting event or a nice dinner. It could be re-investing in yourself via a personal development course or retreat. Have something — this is vitally important for fueling our day-to-day actions.Extract value out of each activity by defining how what you do will align with your values, dreams and five-year plan.Benefits and That Which Holds Us Back

In an article for Psychology Today, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo enumerates the negative outcomes and factors of procrastinating.

“Procrastination can lead to increased stress, health problems, and poorer performance. Procrastinators tend to have more sleep issues and experience greater stressful regret than non-procrastinators. What’s more, procrastination can also hinder your self-esteem with the guilt, shame, or self-critical thoughts that can result from putting off tasks.” —Source: Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo

The words “regret” and “self-critical” stand out most to me. By putting off things that we don’t want to do, the most likely outcome is that we end up criticizing ourselves, regretting our wasted time and at worst, we lose sleep and experience higher stress levels. While we’re all conditioned and biased toward the here and now, a simple cost-benefit analysis tells us that putting off things that demand our attention now is not a winning proposition.

Continue forward and know that instant gratification and temporary pleasures pale in comparison to sustained happiness and long-term growth. Come back to this article when you find yourself spinning your wheels and doubting yourself. Your future self will thank you.

Don’t Let Anything Hold You Back

I’m helping thousands of people each day build their life on values and put together their personal game plan. Join me! Check out The Value of You, my Amazon bestseller. The e-book is available for a limited time for just $2.99! Order the e-book HERE!

Join my newsletter if you’d like, Follow my Facebook Page and join me on your journey. Let’s GO!

Additional Writing

5 Ways to Invest in Yourself — The Concept of Compound Interest

1 Hour Per Day Doing this Mental Exercise Will Exponentially Increase Your Success

30 Excuses Stopping You From Living Your Best Life (And 30 Solutions)

How to Overcome Procrastination and Develop a Productive Daily Routine was originally published in Personal Growth on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Ways to Invest in Yourself — The Concept of Compound Interest

“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” ―Dr. Stephen Covey

Having a “why” and purpose for what you’re doing will ignite your quest for greater purpose in life. This means, once you make decisions, it’s best to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. When your decisions are informed by clear and educated thought, you’re on the road to success. Then, you can start giving deeper thought to investing in yourself — in other words, building on the wins you’ve already accumulated.

Think of it like this — when you have already started to build a strong foundation of values, experiences, small and large wins, the more you keep building on this, the greater structure and overall body of work you’ll have. In the process you refine and strengthen your character, by also gaining a reputation among others as someone of integrity.

Building. Learning. Growing into the vision of yourself you always imagined. At a high level, this is a winning formula. It’s where you truly form the living and breathing concept of compound interest. Compound interest, by definition, means: “interest computed on the sum of an original principal and accrued interest.” That’s more of a financial term. I’m talking about it in human capital.

Compound interest manifests itself in the following pattern. For the sake of this discussion, let’s use the path of becoming an entrepreneur of a digital marketing company:

You form your values, goals and plan for what you want to doYou get educated and begin to start earning experienceYou become an expert, producing great content, establishing a business and learning all that you need to scale and sustain itAs you grow and continue repeating your process, you have built your “principal” and “accrued interest.” Now, it’s time to keep generating more interest. Once you’ve established yourself and demonstrated consistency, more opportunities come your way. New clients, media opportunities, industry-leaders willing to partner with you and help.

I came up with a list of five ways to invest in yourself. They’ve helped to form a career as a bestselling author and coach. I’ve seen these threads throughout the lives of many successful people I’ve studied. I hope they benefit you.

1. Always Show Up

The gym I used to go to had a sign at the front that said, “Showing up is half the battle.” Corny? Cliche? Maybe.

But think about this — if someone is willing to offer you a seat at the table — an opportunity to do something you love — why in the world wouldn’t you take it? By accepting and committing, you’re already there. You have a chance. And you should never, ever take it for granted. The rest of the battle is up to you. From there, you have to earn your keep.

I think of this in the context of the abundance of resources we have at our fingertips in the modern world. If you want to learn something, there’s simply no stopping you if you have an Internet connection and access to resources at a public library. If you’re willing to “show up”, you will eventually see extraordinary results. If you don’t show up at all, you’ll always be left guessing, wondering and speculating.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

I’d encourage you to be discerning and wise when it comes to making decisions. You don’t want to jump at just anything. But if you research opportunities — or better yet, have them come your way — then GO FOR THEM. Always show up. Always give things a shot.

2. Keep Doing (Creating)

We’re all entitled to a day off, but for those of us who desire the best of ourselves, we’re not entitled to making up the rules. Or rule. In fact, here’s the simple rule of life that’s been proven time and again:

The people who operate most efficiently, most effectively and with greatest consistency win. It’s that simple.

I’d like to particularly focus on consistency. Consistency and repetition are the sharpest tools in the toolkit of winners. Keep doing. Keep creating and producing. This is what I’d like to call “The Rolling Stones model.” The Rolling Stones became one of the most famous music groups of all time by making a lot of hit songs. That’s a fact.

But you know what else The Rolling Stones did? They produced a lot of mediocre and just so-so songs. A lot. But what do people remember? They remember the hits, the best stuff. And you have to admire their overall body of work because they kept churning out the best work they could. They never stopped. They’re still going!

Keep producing and churning out the best work you can. That may not be viewed as the best work by others. But it’s a heck of a lot better than doing nothing.

3. Strengthening Your Strengths and Eliminating Your Weaknesses

In a Harvard Business Review article, Bill Barnett shares the importance of developing our strengths and reinforcing what those are in a multitude of ways. First, it’s important to list our strengths. Know what you believe them to be. But then, you need to seek external validation. Ask others what your strengths are. Think of times that you’ve done something well, when others have offered you review or feedback. What are your strength themes?

Make it a point to build a list of strengths and continue to revisit these.

I also believe in the long-term importance of eliminating your weaknesses.

Everyday that I live without reverting back to foolish traps like negative thoughts, sinful desires and temptations or repeating mistakes of the past, I feel like I’ve won a huge victory. If life is all about finding ourselves, then we’re far better geared to do this by living with pure intentions and free from pointless distractions and things that detract from who we want to be.

You could become an industry-leader or highly successful businesswoman, but you could also become known for one misstep along the way that ruins you due to bad habits. Look at your weaknesses. Be honest. You may not want to share these things with others. But remind yourself each day of the things you need to improve and ensure you don’t hurt yourself with one small weakness in a sea of strengths.

4. Everyday (Life) Education

The most important thing you can know is this: Your education DOES NOT culminate in the public school system, secondary school or even in college. Heck, even at your Master’s degree or doctorate degree ceremony. That’s an old way of thinking and it will lead you to gradually fall behind. Your education continues until the day you leave this earth.

“It’s our time to make a move. It’s our time to make amends. It’s our time to break the rules. Let’s begin.” — lyrics from “Renegades” by X Ambassadors

5. Find Your Niche and Become the Expert

Life is about finding your niche, finding your unique way to share yourself — your voice — with the world. Through love. Through enthusiasm and passion. And with purpose. Find your thing and then crush it. I know what my thing is and I’m always trying to become the best I can.

My “Why”, which is part of my larger mission statement, lays things out in crystal clear clarity: I want to help others and make a tangible difference in their lives through my writing, speaking and coaching.

So in that context, I gave more thought to online writing. I thought more about the ways that we create, read and distribute content. Frankly, I simply enjoy writing and perfecting my craft. I want to continue to become the best writer I can, while growing and learning more about myself, learning about your journey and seeing how we can help each other along the way.

I want to invest in myself each day. Hopefully, you’re willing to do the same.

Invest in Yourself. It Will Make All the Difference.

I’m helping thousands of people each day build their life on values and put together their personal game plan. Join me! Check out The Value of You, my Amazon bestseller. The e-book is available for a limited time for just $2.99! Order the e-book HERE!

Join my newsletter if you’d like, Follow my Facebook Page and join me on your journey. Let’s GO!

Additional Writing

1 Hour Per Day Doing this Mental Exercise Will Exponentially Increase Your Success

30 Excuses Stopping You From Living Your Best Life (And 30 Solutions)

5 Ways to Invest in Yourself — The Concept of Compound Interest was originally published in Personal Growth on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.