I have been asked to do a webinar on effective self-management, which will be happening on November 14th at 1:00 PM EST through www.lorman.com. You may be wondering…who cares if you manage yourself effectively, right? It’s something that nobody really thinks about. You get up in the morning, you do your routine, whatever that is. Maybe you exercise, maybe you have your coffee, maybe you do both of those things. Maybe you run out the door, maybe you read a book, maybe you bring your kids to school and you’re just kind of doing your thing, right? So what you’re probably not thinking about is “wow, if I manage myself a little more effectively, I could get more of what I want.” Because the truth of the matter is most people actually don’t think about what they want, they’re moving through life, doing the best they can, or maybe not even doing the best they can. They’re just doing something. So today I want to talk to you a little bit about what it is and why it matters. And if you want to learn more about this, in much more detail, come along to the webinar.
Before we get started, let’s address decisions. Decisions are a big deal. Lots of times, my clients tell me that they experience ‘analysis paralysis’. Those same people typically pride themselves on being analysts. Isn’t that interesting? Those same people will say “Well, all my analysis has brought me to this success I see right now”. Isn’t that interesting? I ask, I wonder… at what cost? For example, are you really stressed out? Are you really living the life you want? Are you really managing yourself effectively? Or are you running from thing to thing to thing…trying to keep up with that influx that’s coming at you all the time. Could you manage yourself differently, proactively make decisions more quickly and effectively?
Lots of people don’t want to make decisions unless they are analyzed in duplicate, triplicate, quadruple. And every decision means you must say no to something else. That can be really scary because most of the time people don’t want to say no to something else. They just want to fit more in. And when they try to fit in more, then they get overwhelmed and overloaded and they think they need better time management, which is true. But you can’t manage clutter, you can’t organize clutter, and you can’t manage something that is too much for you.
So then what?
So then it’s better to subtract. Get really good at managing what you’re doing FIRST, and THEN add more on. Every decision that you make means you say no to something else, and then every decision you make actually gets you closer to what you want because as you make decisions and you get that momentum, what happens is you’ll actually start to say “no” when it’s not working, because your body and your mind will start getting used to this idea of making decisions and therefore making it better. The webinar is highly correlated to my Productivity Success Cake. In that webinar we will nail down what you really want and why and then go through, layer by layer, how to tap into each layer in a way that will then harken back to what it is you said you wanted. Now this process, while you may have gone through it before, is a process that you’re wise to go through over and over again. And the reason that it’s so helpful to go through over and over again is that we get better at managing ourselves. And just like a mountain (if you’ve ever climbed a mountain) you get to that first peak and you think… boy, oh boy, that was big! You sit down, you have a snack, have some water, rest, and then you look and there’s another peak. Now you can choose to go back down the mountain. You don’t need to do that other peak that time, but you can also choose to say “Hmm, yeah, you know what? I think I’m up for that next peak” and it’s a continual improvement process. Your self management is best served by always going to your next level. Yes, it’s important to stop and celebrate, like the top of the Productivity Success Cake. You want to celebrate, you want to enjoy and digest – and then you’ll come to that moment of “All right, I’m ready for that next level.”
I have several clients, for example, who’ve taken the Productivity Success Cake group coaching course multiple times. And every single time what happens is they get new ideas, they go to their next level, they become even better at whatever it is. Sometimes they’ve fallen off the wagon and their health layer is a little unstable – so it gives you that opportunity to come back. So, if you feel that before the end of the year, you really want to look at your self management and that you want to give that your attention, then I’d say consider it and take a look at the details and go from there.
And please let me know what piece of self-management you would like to work on before the end of the year – because you still have close to 60 days left.
Comment below and let me know!
Or you can email me at carol@eps-time.com.