HOW TO BE A MORE ENERGETIC LEADER

On more than one occasion, I’ve heard Andy Stanley say, “The best thing a leader can bring to his team is his energy.” I agree. This has certainly been my experience.

As a leader, everything you do is contagious. If you are discouraged, pessimistic, or lacking in energy, people will feel it. The organization will reflect it. It will spread faster than an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Conversely, when you are upbeat, energetic, and optimistic, people also feel it. It will have a positive effect on your team and the outcomes you hope to create.
The best leaders don’t leave their energy level to chance. They are intentional about creating it. Here are some ways I have found to be a more energetic leader:

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

I have found that I need about seven hours of sleep to feel rested. Others may need more; some will need less. Determine what you need and make sure you get it. One of the best ways to do this is to get to bed on time. Avoid the temptation to stay up and squeeze in more work or play. You’re only cheating yourself. You will pay for it the next day.

Eat Smart

Your diet affects your energy level more than you realize. Don’t just eat what you enjoy at the moment. Instead, eat for the effect it will have later. This is one reason why I generally avoid pasta for lunch. It makes me sleepy and lethargic in the afternoon. Before you consume something, ask yourself, “How will this make me feel later?”

Exercise Regularly

If you are not already working out consistently, you might think that regular exercise will deplete your energy. Not so. It will actually give you more energy during the day. It doesn’t drain your energy, it replenishes it. And it will also make you sleep better at night.

Avoid Negative People

Those who are negative—or worse, cynical—will drag you down. I used to think I could bring them up. But I soon discovered that there are some people who just enjoy being miserable. They are energy vampires. They siphon the life out of you. The best antidote is to avoid them, and surround yourself with positive people.

Decide to Be Energetic

This is huge. Unless you are ill, you can be more energetic by simply acting more energetic. I am always surprised at how my emotions follow my body. If I walk faster, sit on the edge of my seat, and smile, I will eventually feel more energetic.
Your energy level has a bigger effect on your team than you may realize. The good news is that you can be a more energetic leader by becoming more aware and intentional about developing it.
If you want to go deeper, here are a few more ideas on How to Boost Your Energy Level.

Question: What do you do to bring more energy to your team? You can leave a comment

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HATE YOUR JOB

When I was in college, I took a summer job working at a small engine repair shop (e.g., chainsaws, lawnmowers, go-carts, and so on). This by itself is comical, because I am one of the most non-mechanical people I know. Fortunately, they hired me as a parts clerk rather than as a repairman.

My boss, however, was a very unhappy person. And he let everyone know it. He didn’t think twice about arguing with customers or chewing out his staff—in public. I was on the receiving end of his flame-throwing tongue on more than one occasion.

As a result, I was miserable. I didn’t just dislike my job; I hated it. I dreaded getting up and going to work in the morning. I was never so happy as when the summer came to an end and I had to quit to resume my classes.
However, not everyone is so fortunate. Many people feel trapped in a job they hate but don’t believe they can quit. They feel stuck and, as a result, their life is miserable. Do you know someone like this?
If this describes you, here are seven strategies for making work more tolerable:

1. Be thankful you are employed. This may sound trite, but gratitude is the antidote to frustration. You might not like your job, but being unemployed would likely be worse. Besides, research shows that gratitude reduces stress and makes us more resilient.


2. Put your work in context. The concept of “job satisfaction” is relatively new. The truth is that work is hard. (That’s why they call it “work.”) Even at it’s best, there are going to be difficult days. Frustrations, setbacks, and even failure are part of life. Don’t be surprised; accept the bad with the good.


3. Determine the source of your dissatisfaction. Is your problem the work itself? Or do you feel overwhelmed because you just have too many tasks in your Drudgery or Disinterest Zones? Maybe you work for a difficult boss? Or perhaps you don’t like your commute or the working environment? It’s important to identify the source of your frustration, so you can work on a plan to change it.


4. Find someone to talk to. I am not talking about finding someone who will listen to you complain. This won’t help you or them. It will only make both of you miserable. Instead, you need an empathetic, nonjudgmental friend—a mentor, perhaps—who will hear you out and help you objectify the problem so you can address it constructively.


5. Fix what you can fix. Unless you simply enjoy being miserable (and I have met people like this), you need to put together an action plan to change things for the better. You might not be able to change everything, but you can, no doubt, improve some things. Maybe you can transfer to another department, reduce your workload, establish better boundaries, or something that will make a tangible difference.


6. Use your job to polish your character. Traits like kindness, peace, joy, and patience don’t just happen. They are forged in the crucible of difficult circumstances. Very little happens when everything is going your way. The important stuff happens when it’s not.


7. Encourage a coworker. Sometimes it helps to get the focus off yourself. It’s not all about you (or me). If you’re discouraged, chances are someone else is, too. Treat them as you want to be treated. Engage in a random act of kindness. Provide a listening ear. Remind them of what is ultimately true about them. You might just find yourself encouraged in the process.

If you really can’t stand your job, and you have gone through the above steps, you need to make plans for a graceful exit. Life is too short to stay stuck in a situation that makes you miserable.
Sometimes you don’t have a choice. But often, you do. You just need a plan and the courage to take the first steps.

Question: Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do? You can leave a comment

THE SECRET TO HIRING GREAT PEOPLE

Leaders frequently tell me they have a hard time recruiting great people to join their organizations. When I ask about their hiring process, I often find one missing element: sales.

Recruiting great people is similar to any kind of sales process. Your company is the product. Prospective employees are your customers. The recruiting process is not just about filtering candidates—it’s also your sales pitch.

Over the years, my team and I have found it’s much easier to attract the right people if we approach hiring as a sales campaign. Our team is now over twenty-strong, and we used this strategy all along the way.
In fact, we just brought aboard two highly talented players this month with this model. If you’re looking to attract great people, you can follow the same process in just five basic steps.

Step 1: Create the Product

It is much easier to close a deal if you have a great product to sell. If your business is the product, then how are you doing in building a company that other people would kill to join?
Identify why people should want to work for your organization. (This inventory is also critical for retaining talent.) Ask yourself some questions: How does your compensation stack up against the competition? That’s not just in terms of salaries, but also bonuses, health insurance coverage, and non-monetary benefits as well.
Do you offer generous time off? Do you encourage people to take that time off? How much flexibility do your people have in executing their work? Can they work remotely and work hours that fit the rest of their lives?
Do you assign tasks that fit with your people’s passions and proficiencies (what I call “Desire Zone” tasks)? That’s where people are their most valuable and most productive to your organization.
All of these elements are part of the product you’re offering and thus part of the sales pitch.

Step 2: Build a Landing Page

Just like you would approach any online product, it is a good idea to have a dedicated careers page on your website. You can see ours here.
This page should include your organization’s purpose, its story and core values, your current openings, and a call to action in two parts. People are invited to reply, and they get notified right away that their resume has been received, with follow-ups to come.

Step 3: Solicit Testimonials

If your product is your company, then your customers are your employees. Rather than toot your own horn, how about asking your current team members to talk about their experience working for the company?
You can bake this into your careers page. But we normally do this when we interview job candidates. We bring our people into those interviews to share their experience of working with the team (more on this in the next step).
It’s helpful if you determine in advance what themes you want to cover. For example:

• The company’s mission


• The work environment


• Their teammates


• Compensation and benefits

Step 4: Define the Hiring Process

Much as you would carefully design an advertising campaign, you want to have the hiring steps ironed out. It is best for your organization to get to know the applicant well before a job offer, but it’s not good for it to drag on too long.
Once you have good candidates interviewing for jobs, put them through their paces.

1. Test for the right personality fit by using tests such as Kolbe, StrengthFinders, or Enneagram.


2. Have multiple members of your team evaluate candidates by conducting several rounds of interviews. Often with an initial screener, a hiring manager, would-be peers, or a senior team member. Get a sense of what several good teammates think of this prospect.


3. Get get to know the quality of an applicant’s work firsthand. The proof is in the pudding. Assign a real-world test project, and don’t be afraid to pay them for it depending on the scope of the request. It lets them know you’re serious and puts you ahead of most of the competition vying for great people.


4. Check references and do a background check. I have been surprised to see how often employers skip this. Don’t. It is crucial. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. We usually have job candidates help schedule these meetings with former employers.


5. Submit your offer in a formal letter. That way you and the candidate know exactly what you are offering. Include an expiration date so that they know the clock is ticking.

Step 5: Launch the Campaign

It’s important to push recruiting hard because one of the most effective ways to hire better people is to increase the size of the candidate pool. The more qualified people that apply, the better chance you have of finding just the right one for the job.
So go big. Of course you should send emails out to your network of friends, family, and coworkers to get referrals. You should also use whatever platform you have. Post an announcement on your blog and on your social media. Send an email to a dedicated list of people who have expressed interest in working for your company.
And get creative. If skywriting could guarantee good applicants in the door, it would almost be worth it. Let the world know that you are hiring, and why your organization is a great place to work.
If you’re offering a wow product, you’ll be surprised at the caliber of people who turn out.

Question: What key ingredients are you looking for in your hiring process? You can leave a comment

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CONFUSE FRIENDS, CRITICS, AND TROLLS

If you’re a leader, you’re going to attract critics. I say this from experience as an author, public speaker, entrepreneur, and CEO. It goes with the territory. But let’s be honest: criticism stings.

Theoretically, I know if you put an idea or product out in the world, it’s just the price you pay. But emotionally, it knocks me off-kilter almost every single time.

You might think I would be past that. But I’m not. I’ve been known to worry over disapproval and spend way more time thinking about it than I ought to. (Just ask my wife!)
Of course, criticism isn’t all bad. It can help us improve our ideas, our products, and even ourselves.
But that’s only true if we can properly evaluate the complaint and determine if the source is a friend, a critic, or just a troll. Distinguishing between the three is critical because we need to interact with them differently.
Here are the key differences, and what they mean for how you handle them.

True Friends

Some people are in our lives to save us from ourselves. These people want what is best for us and our organizations, and we ought to encourage them to be critical for our betterment. As the proverb reminds us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”
The trick is to create an environment safe for dissent so they know it’s okay to speak up. Beyond that, we need to honor their willingness by listening to their criticism.
If it’s warranted, it’s only right to fix the situation and thank them for looking out for us.

Honest Critics

Some people decide that they disagree with us and go public. They aren’t malicious. They aren’t out to destroy us. They simply disagree with our ideas or find problems with our products.
Nothing wrong with that. Not everyone sees things the same way. Besides, we might learn something from the criticism. It can help us refine and improve what we’re offering.
It’s important to engage these people and refrain from making it personal. How we deal with honest critics tells others a lot about us and our organizations.

Unhealthy Trolls

These people have an agenda. They don’t level their criticisms to help you or point out flaws in your product.
Instead, they are out to hurt you and your organization—or at least use you for their own ends. They want to lure you into a fight for their own amusement.
You may address their criticisms, but do not get drawn into long exchanges. It’s usually best to ignore them, especially if they taunt and mock. If you engage them, they will only distract you and deplete your resources.
As someone once said, “resistance only makes them stronger.” You will never satisfy them. Just keep doing what you know you’re called to do.

Handling Complaints

As leaders, we must learn to distinguish between these three. If we confuse them, we’ll divert our valuable time and resources from the customers who benefit most from what we offer.
Of course, integrity demands that we take warranted criticism seriously no matter the source. If it points out legitimate flaws or problems, we should be quick to address the issue.
I personally assume that everyone is a friend or an honest critic until they prove other otherwise. Used rightly, criticism can help us get the clarity we need to refine our ideas and take our products to the next level.

Question: Do you have critics? How do you respond to them? You can leave a comment

HOW I RECONCILED PROFESSIONAL AMBITION AND MY PERSONAL LIFE

When I was a young executive I had a level of stamina that was nearly supernatural. I could get locked onto a goal and not eat, not sleep, just stay focused on it until I achieved it.

But as I recently told my friends Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile on their excellent The Road Back to You podcast, all of my ambition came at a steep price, to my family, my friends, and me.
The Road Back to You podcast and book are all about the Enneagram, a personal development tool with roots going back to the fourth century. It divides personalities into nine distinct types: helper, loyalist, challenger, and so on. I am a No. 3, the Achiever or Performer.

Over the last decade, I’ve benefited so much from the Enneagram, I’ve even had Ian come and teach my entire company about it. It was a tremendous time of learning, self-discovery, and team building.
The thing I love about the Enneagram is that it not only reveals your personality type, it also helps you navigate around the pitfalls that often come with your number.
I wish I had it earlier in my life. As I told Ian and Suzanne on the podcast, there were two realities that helped me deal with the ditches I drove into. But there was still a lot of damage at the start.

Reality 1: The Women in My Life

The first reality that helped me understand how being a Performer could hurt or help me was being married to my wife Gail and having five wonderful girls.
Performers are all about achievement, but the women in my life are not really that impressed by achievement. What they are impressed with is relationships. And they’re not happy when I take shortcuts in that department.
I remember one time I was fighting with Gail (yes, that occasionally happens). She told me “I don’t need you to be a CEO right now. I need you to be my partner,” and she was right.
In relationships, problem solving is not nearly as important as being fully present. One of my daughters went through a painful breakup and opened up to me about it. She poured her heart out to me for 45 minutes, then gave me a big hug and said, “That was so incredibly helpful, Dad.” I literally had not said one word.
These days my daughter Megan runs my business. She has taught me how to stop and watch the confetti drop and celebrate with my team rather than just run onto the next goal. It’s good for a Performer to occasionally take a bow and take it all in.

Reality 2: The Gift of Failure

The second reality was veering into a financial failure. Performers are usually talented at navigating their way to success, and the thing we fear most is embarrassment.
The first time I came to work at Thomas Nelson I had some success but felt that there was more I could do. So I left and started a publishing company with a business partner. Everything was great … at first.
Unfortunately, our growth outstripped our capital. I didn’t realize you could grow and go broke at the same time, but now I know that’s possible. Because of all the money we put out in advances and inventory, we were illiquid. And when a big creditor called our loan, we couldn’t pay the bills and had to close it all down.
It was bad. People in my church were bringing us groceries. My kids were humiliated, which was really tough to watch. Yet from that I learned there’s life after failure, and I found out who my friends were.
That failure really dinged my confidence, but ultimately it was a gift. Before, I often thought I was the smartest person in the room. The embarrassment of failure opened me up for the first time to the notion that maybe I didn’t know everything. Maybe I didn’t have it all figured out. Maybe I needed to learn new things.
The uncertainty caused me to go back to the beginning. My whole approach to personal growth and productivity starts in that journey. It forced me to rethink not only how we do things, but why.
It also gave me a deep appreciation for my family and teammembers, and how to structure my work life so I could honor them and their role in my life.
I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything today. But if you want some of the same personal benefits without veering into the ditches yourself, I recommend Ian and Suzanne’s work.

Question: What personal discoveries have kept you out of life’s ditches? You can leave a comment

HOW LEADERS MAKE IT RIGHT WHEN THEY BLOW IT

If you’re in a position of leadership, chances are better than good you’re going to blow it with your people sooner or later. It’s like messing things up in your marriage. Don’t ask me how I know this, but it’s inevitable from time to time.

There are pluses and minuses to that comparison, but one benefit is that making things right with our spouses can teach us how to make things right with just about anyone.
How? I’m not a counselor, but after decades of professional and personal experience, I’ve found mending relationships involves the same basic five steps.
Let me say up front that I’ve never walked these steps perfectly, but they’ve made a huge difference in my life and leadership even when I stumble through them. And I bet they can help you make it right with your people when you blow it.

Step 1: Take Responsibility

This first step is the most important. If we blow it but we’re unwilling to take responsibility, we’re basically telling our people that making it right isn’t worth it. And that’s just another way of saying they aren’t worth it.
But that’s not true. The health of our teams is critically important to our success as leaders. Because of that, we need to put our egos on hold and be willing to take responsibility for whatever harm or hurt we’ve caused.
What about harm we haven’t actually caused? You know the expression, “You can be right or you can be happy?” Keep it in mind as we look at the next few steps.

Step 2: Don’t Be Defensive

This is one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned. By taking the defensive posture, we’re only preserving our egos, not our relationships. In fact, we’re actually causing serious damage.
Why? By defending ourselves, we’re essentially abandoning those we’ve hurt. We’re saying, “You’re on your own—I didn’t have anything to do with this,” and leaving them to manage the pain and disappointment alone.

Step 3: Avoid Ifs, Ands, or Buts

Now, there may be mitigating circumstances, reasons beyond our control for what happened. We all know this. But the middle of a crisis is usually not the best time to bring it up.
Why? Because there’s a fine line between explanation and excuse, and people in pain are likely to miss it.
And let’s be honest, we can miss it too. We might think we’re explaining the circumstances when really we’re just covering our rears. In the heat of the moment the distinction can get blurred.
If you’ll notice, steps two and three go back to the same fundamental problem. They deepen the division, not heal the breach.

Step 4: Express Empathy

We can’t leave our people dangling emotionally. This fourth step is when we lean back into the relationship by sharing the hurt. And this is what starts to close the breach.
Our teams won’t feel alone in the hurt if we identify with what they’re feeling and share it. Instead they’ll see (and hopefully feel) that we truly get the pain we’ve caused and are present with them in it, rather than turning away to protect and console ourselves.
Taking responsibility enables this step to occur. When we’re defensive or passing the guilt, we’re driving a wedge between us and our people.

Step 5: Ask Forgiveness

Once the breach has been closed, it has to be sealed with forgiveness. But of course it takes more than asking. It takes an answer, and only our teams—the people we’ve hurt—can do this part. We can take responsibility and lean in, but they have to honor that and reciprocate.
This doesn’t mean we’re off the hook if they’re unable to extend forgiveness. It only means more restorative work is needed.
The good news is that if we value our people enough to work for that restoration instead of fighting to protect ourselves, they probably won’t withhold it. It’s in everyone’s best interest to heal and get onto better things.
I believe most relationships are easily fixed if we have the courage to stop defending our own egos. Anybody can damage a relationship. But it takes courage to fix one—the courage to reach out beyond ourselves to the people we’ve hurt.
The good news is that we have what it takes. If you’re leading a small organization or a large one, you’ve already got all the courage you need. The only question is whether you’ll use it to make things right when you need to.

Question: In your experience, what prevents leaders from making things right with their teams? You can leave a comment.

ARE YOU CONFUSING LEADERSHIP AND CONTROL?

Ioften hear leaders, particularly younger ones, complaining about their lack of control in various situations. “If only the sales department reported to me, I could consistently hit my budget,” they lament. Or, “If the production department reported to me, I would not have run out of inventory!”

What they are really saying is, “If I could control these people, I could guarantee the results.”
Leadership is about influence, not control. I am not the first person to make this observation, but it is worth repeating. The truth is that control is an illusion. You can’t control anyone, even the people that report to you.
However, while you can’t control anyone (except perhaps yourself), you can influence nearly everyone. This is the essence of true leadership.
By this definition, Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. were great leaders. They had control of virtually no one, yet their influence changed the course of history.
Aspiring leaders would do well to stop focusing on control and figure out how to expand their influence. Here are four ways you can become a person of influence, no matter your position in your organization:

1. Focus on yourself. “If we could change ourselves,” Gandhi said, “the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.” Or as Saint Seraphim of Sarov said, “Save yourself, and you will save a thousand around you.”Modeling is the most powerful form of teaching known to man. If you aren’t “walking your talk,” you dramatically lessen your influence. People have a hard time following leaders who say one thing and do another.


2. Take the initiative. Whiners are passive. They sit back and complain. They focus on what others should have done rather than what they themselves could have done.Real leaders don’t have time to play the blame-game. Instead, they look for opportunities to take initiative and take action. There is always something you could be doing to influence the outcome.


3. Cast the vision. Oftentimes people don’t do what we want, because we have not invested the time to paint the vision.In my experience, people want a challenge. They want to do something significant. They are eager to help. But no one has given them a compelling vision of a new reality. If you consider yourself a leader, this is your job.


4. Appreciate the effort. At the end of the day, everyone is a volunteer. Yes, even the people who report to you. They have more options than you think. If you don’t appreciate them, someone else will.People want to give their best effort to those who notice. Time and time again, I have witnessed the power of a simple “thank you.” If this is true for those who report to you, it is even more true of those who don’t.

Sure, it would be easier if the whole world stood ready to do our bidding. But that’s not an option, nor is it really even desirable. If we’re going to make a difference, we are going to have to sharpen our leadership skills and get better at wielding our influence.
Thankfully, everyday is an opportunity to improve this important skill.

Question: Have you ever worked with someone who focused more on control than influence (or have you been that person)? How did it work out for them/you? You can leave a comment.

WHY GREATER PRODUCTIVITY LEADS TO MORE INCOME

(And What That Means for Your Impact in the World)

Productivity doesn’t just increase your efficiency. If you do it right, it can also increase your income. The problem is that traditional systems get productivity all wrong.

They define productivity as the ability to do more and do it faster. But that approach just accelerates the hamster wheel we’re already on. Instead of getting ahead, our productivity gains sometimes leave us feeling frazzled, fried, frustrated.
True productivity isn’t about getting more things done. It’s about getting the right things done.

The Plague of Fake Work

The trick is identifying and investing your time in what I call your Income Producing Activities or IPAs. Unfortunately, a lot of what happens is business has little to do with producing income. In fact, according to workplace consultants Brent D. Peterson, Gaylan W. Nielson,

Much of the work that people do doesn’t achieve results. . . . [A]cross all the organizations we have studied, about half the work that people do fails to advance the organizations’ strategies.

Half! Think about the all the tasks, routine meetings, or busywork that fail to drive revenue or results for your business. Peterson and Nielson label these activities “fake work.”
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t filter fake work. But being productive doesn’t mean doing unproductive work faster. It means focusing your efforts on those IPAs that contribute the most to your business.

3 Ways Productivity Boosts Income

Whether you work for yourself or a larger organization, there are three ways this kind of improved productivity leads to more income and a greater impact.

1. Adding value. If low-value fake work is so prevalent, there’s a wide-open opportunity for you to add real value. While many of your coworkers are happy with non-challenging tasks, focused high-achievers can help their businesses reach their goals.


2. Driving revenue. Whether it’s launching new products, making more sales, or boosting billable hours, by focusing on your IPAs you help drive revenue to your business. Those gains stand a good chance of generating higher receivables, performance increases, larger commissions, and/or bonus income.


3. Redeeming time. Fake work might fill time, but productive work redeems it. By trimming busywork and other low-yield activity, you can invest your hours in high-yield tasks and ideation, while preserving margin for rest and rejuvenation.

Income Equals Impact

All three of these reasons add up to greater impact—not only for your family, but the world around you. Increasing your income creates an opportunity to share and invest in the lives of others. As my friend Stu McLaren says, “Money provides leverage.”
More income for you means more charity for others, new jobs for others, and new products and services for others. Fake work on the other hand—no matter much we do or how fast we do it—deprives others by decreasing our impact.
I’d go so far as to say I have a moral obligation to make as much money as I reasonably can, within the scope of my calling and ethical standards. Why? Because there are people in need, and I have the opportunity to help them.
When we maximize our income, everyone stands to win.
That’s why I created my Free to Focus productivity course. It’s designed to help you focus on the work that drives tangible results for your business, while cutting out the interruptions and tiny tasks that prevent you from getting ahead.
Today’s the last day public enrollment is open. If you’re interested in learning more, click here before midnight tonight when public enrollment closes.

Question: What would be possible in your business if you were finally free to focus on the work that matters most? You can leave a comment.

THE SECRET PRODUCTIVITY ADVANTAGE OF WORKDAY BREAKS

We all know that sitting for long periods of time isn’t good for our bodies. Standing boosts our energy and our mood. That’s why I use and recommend a standup desk.

But there’s more to it than more time on your feet. It’s also important to get those feet moving. Our bodies just aren’t designed to sit for hours on end, hunkered over a keyboard.

Taking a Break

I’m intentional about staying hydrated during the day. At the risk of TMI, that means frequent bio breaks. I have a restroom next to my office, but I use the excuse to take ten or fifteen minutes away from what I’m doing.
My office is out back, so I go to the house and see what Gail is up to. I play with our dog. And I get another glass of water.
The truth is—we all need to periodically step away. We skip breaks in the name of “getting more done,” but when we don’t break from our work, our productivity suffers. We lose focus. We start making small mistakes and even forget things altogether.
Our bodies have a natural ebb-and-flow response to stress that allows us to work hard and then relax and recover. The problem comes when we chronically trigger those responses. We become all flow and no ebb, and you can only cheat the system so long before it becomes counterproductive.
The problem is that it can be challenging to step away when we’re neck-deep in our tasks.

How to Trigger a Break

You know how it works. We get started on a task and sometimes realize hours later that we haven’t moved away from our desk even once. Even though we had every intention of taking a break, we look at the clock and realize that another day has passed and we never paused.
Thankfully, we know this about ourselves and can take measures to ensure we take breaks. Besides drinking a lot of water, here are three ways to trigger a break and pull away.

1. Schedule break time. As I often say, what gets scheduled gets done. Breaks are important enough to deserve a slot on your calendar. To make this more effective, establish an Activation Trigger that connects the time slot to a specific break activity, such as going for a walk outdoors.


2. Use an app. To avoid the pitfall of losing track of time and neglecting your breaks, consider using an app. The Apple Watch works well. So do apps like TimeOut. TimeOut allows you to set your own break reminders that suit your schedule right on your desktop. The design aesthetic is pleasant, and the reminder overlays the screen. The breaks are just long enough for a recharge but not so distracting that you lose your flow. Some alternative apps to try include Stand Up! and Breaktime.


3. Establish the habit. If you practice workday breaks long enough, you’ll develop the habit. But you can intentionally engineer a habit. Acknowledge the negative effects of not changing. Decide what you want instead. And replace your old habits with new behaviors.

Breaks aren’t just a good idea. They are necessary for our health and success. They are not “time off” from what’s important. They are what’s important.

Question: How often do you take workday breaks? You can leave a comment.

5 STEPS TO A CLUTTER-FREE WORKSPACE

Alot of productive people operate in disorganized workspaces. The problem is that they’re not as productive as they could be. The hidden culprit stealing their focus is clutter.

When I moved into my new office a while back, I was in the middle of a massive video shoot. Time was tight, and I just wanted to move my stuff in as quickly as possible.
I didn’t organize with intention or strategy. I just threw stuff in drawers and cabinets, with little rhyme or reason. What I didn’t consider at the time was that the disorganization and clutter would be a hindrance—even subconsciously—to my daily productivity.

Clutter is proven to work against even the most productive professionals. “When your environment is cluttered, the chaos restricts your ability to focus,” says Erin Doland, summarizing the findings of researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute, adding:

The clutter also limits your brain’s ability to process information. Clutter makes you distracted and unable to process information as well as you do in an uncluttered, organized, and serene environment.

The distraction that clutter introduces often goes unnoticed—yet its restrictive influence on our brains is powerful.
With this in mind, I strategically cleaned out my office, all with the goal of decluttering for maximum focus. The two hours that I spent organizing were well worth it—a serene work environment free from the subtle distraction that chaos introduced.
Clutter is something we must eliminate if we want to experience the freedom that comes from productivity. Here are five steps to kill the clutter and organize your workspace for maximum efficiency.

1. Set aside time to declutter. What gets scheduled gets done, so get it on your calendar. I suggest that you plan for two to three hours of clean-up.


2. Put all your items in the center of the room. I know what you’re thinking. And, yes, it is going to be a big, ugly pile. I learned this technique from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and it really is the best place to begin. Pull everything out of the cabinets and drawers. Don’t try to sort it or organize it. Just get it all out there where you can see it.


3. Make a list of all the natural groupings. Survey the pile and write down the possible categories present. This list might include topics like audio, computer, photography, office supplies, miscellaneous, and so on.


4. Decide what is going to go where. I suggest that you use a five-zone organizing system. The stuff you use most frequently should be closest to you. The stuff you use least frequently should be farthest from you.
   
   
   
   • Zone 1. The items you use daily. These will be the things you use all the time, and they should be closest to you. For me, most Zone 1 items are on the desk. You want to have as little as possible in this zone. My examples include: pens, computer, keyboard, and Kleenex.
   
   
   • Zone 2. The items that you use frequently. These should be within reach or just a step away, but not actually on your desk. Perhaps they’re in drawers or cabinets very close by. My examples include: stapler, screen wipes, scissors, and paper clips.
   
   
   • Zone 3. The items that you use occasionally. These should be the next closest, usually within a few steps of your desk. Perhaps they’re in a cupboard, file cabinet, or some other local storage. My examples include: audio equipment, video equipment, and computer cords.
   
   
   • Zone 4. The items that you use rarely—or the items that don’t fit inside your workspace. These could be items that you put inside a storage closet of some kind. My examples include: extra copies of my books, extra office supplies, lighting rigs, and big camera gear.
   
   
   • Zone 5. The items that you never use. Are you holding onto items that you simply do not use? I encourage you to let go of possessions you haven’t needed in twelve months or more. Get rid of them! You have three options: trash them, donate them, or sell them.
   
   
   
   


5. Place each item where it goes. I always use containers to be sure items don’t get jumbled up in the drawer or cabinet.

The goal is to be able to walk into your workspace every single day with laser focus. A serene, organized environment guarantees that your brain is not distracted by things; instead, it sees only the high-leverage tasks at hand.

Question: What steps will you take this week to fight for focus by decluttering your workspace? You can leave a comment

WHY GREATER PRODUCTIVITY LEADS TO MORE INCOME

Productivity doesn’t just increase your efficiency. If you do it right, it can also increase your income. The problem is that traditional systems get productivity all wrong.

They define productivity as the ability to do more and do it faster. But that approach just accelerates the hamster wheel we’re already on. Instead of getting ahead, our productivity gains sometimes leave us feeling frazzled, fried, frustrated.
True productivity isn’t about getting more things done. It’s about getting the right things done.

The Plague of Fake Work

The trick is identifying and investing your time in what I call your Income Producing Activities or IPAs. Unfortunately, a lot of what happens is business has little to do with producing income. In fact, according to workplace consultants Brent D. Peterson, Gaylan W. Nielson,

Much of the work that people do doesn’t achieve results. . . . [A]cross all the organizations we have studied, about half the work that people do fails to advance the organizations’ strategies.

Half! Think about the all the tasks, routine meetings, or busywork that fail to drive revenue or results for your business. Peterson and Nielson label these activities “fake work.”
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t filter fake work. But being productive doesn’t mean doing unproductive work faster. It means focusing your efforts on those IPAs that contribute the most to your business.

3 Ways Productivity Boosts Income

Whether you work for yourself or a larger organization, there are three ways this kind of improved productivity leads to more income and a greater impact.

1. Adding value. If low-value fake work is so prevalent, there’s a wide-open opportunity for you to add real value. While many of your coworkers are happy with non-challenging tasks, focused high-achievers can help their businesses reach their goals.


2. Driving revenue. Whether it’s launching new products, making more sales, or boosting billable hours, by focusing on your IPAs you help drive revenue to your business. Those gains stand a good chance of generating higher receivables, performance increases, larger commissions, and/or bonus income.


3. Redeeming time. Fake work might fill time, but productive work redeems it. By trimming busywork and other low-yield activity, you can invest your hours in high-yield tasks and ideation, while preserving margin for rest and rejuvenation.

Income Equals Impact

All three of these reasons add up to greater impact—not only for your family, but the world around you. Increasing your income creates an opportunity to share and invest in the lives of others. As my friend Stu McLaren says, “Money provides leverage.”
More income for you means more charity for others, new jobs for others, and new products and services for others. Fake work on the other hand—no matter much we do or how fast we do it—deprives others by decreasing our impact.
I’d go so far as to say I have a moral obligation to make as much money as I reasonably can, within the scope of my calling and ethical standards. Why? Because there are people in need, and I have the opportunity to help them.
When we maximize our income, everyone stands to win.
That’s why I created my Free to Focus productivity course. It’s designed to help you focus on the work that drives tangible results for your business, while cutting out the interruptions and tiny tasks that prevent you from getting ahead.
Today’s the last day public enrollment is open. If you’re interested in learning more, click here before midnight tonight when public enrollment closes.

Question: What would be possible in your business if you were finally free to focus on the work that matters most? You can leave a comment

REACH IS NOT THE SAME AS INFLUENCE

One way you can reach a larger audience quickly is to piggyback on established email lists from bloggers and businesses with similar interests.

“Third party email marketing, whether for Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2C) is a great way of finding new customers and can be an awesome resource for new, fresh leads,” Andrew Paul explains in a post for Email Answers.
He’s right, but there’s a catch. Social media experts often describe email lists in terms of size and freshness—in other words, “How many people opted in to this email list and how recently?” But there’s a third factor at work as well: influence.

Paper Influencers

Back when we were launching 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever™ the first time, I noticed something peculiar. A few affiliates who had the biggest lists did not get the greatest results. Several affiliates with smaller lists produced far more sales than we expected. The same thing has happened in subsequent launches.
I had seen something similar in book publishing when I was CEO of Thomas Nelson. An author might have a significant platform on paper—big social media numbers, a large email list, and so on.
But those numbers didn’t always add up to action. Sometimes an author’s new book would release, and people on their lists didn’t seem to care.
I wondered, “Why the disconnect?” After some digging, I decided It comes down to three factors: investment, trust, and expectation. Miss these and you’re not going to get the results you want.

1. Is Your Audience Invested in Your Message?

Wired magazine cofounder Kevin Kelly introduced the idea of “1,000 True Fans” in a classic article. He argued that most creators won’t ever see blockbuster success. But they can have enough success to sustain a profitable business if they cultivate 1,000 true fans.
“A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce,” says Kelly. “They have a Google Alert set for your name. … They can’t wait till you issue your next work.” In other words, they are invested in you, and your message.
This is critical when building a list because subscribers who aren’t invested won’t move the needle. The affiliates with smaller lists drove more sales because their audiences cared enough to respond when they spoke.

2. Does Your Audience Trust You?

What the smaller affiliates in the launch lacked in size, they made up for in trust. When they said a product was worth buying, their audiences believed it and acted on it.
Trust comes down to one question: Can I count on you? If audiences can rely on you for high-quality content and recommendations that interest them, then even a small list can churn big numbers. The affiliates with smaller lists drove more sales because their audiences counted on their recommendation.

3. Does Your Audience Expect to Buy?

Some of the affiliates that were okay in the first two departments still had trouble making the sale because their audience did not expect the product pitch, the price, or maybe both.
True Fans are happy to buy when the offering fits their needs. Not everybody on a list is a True Fan. So when they see a pitch they ignore it or even scoff at it.
That’s why the size of the list almost didn’t matter. A person with a small list of people who expect to buy from time to time will see far better results than a person with a massive list of people who expect everything for free.
You’ve got to train followers to expect the pitches. The goal is to turn lesser fans into True Fans. It takes time and practice, but eventually you can find and cultivate relationships with people who love to buy what you curate and create.
In business as in life, the quality of relationships matters much more than the quantity. That’s why hustling to build a big list is not as important as laboring to create greater investment, deeper trust, and eager expectation with your True Fans. They’ll keep coming back for more.

Question: Have you been more focused on the size of your list—or the quality of your connection with your audience? What do you need to do differently? You can leave a comment

WHAT COULD AN ONLINE COURSE BE WORTH TO YOUR BUSINESS?

I was amazed to hear the other day that online education is now a 100-plus billion dollar industry. But to be honest, I’m not totally surprised.

Based on the way business is changing, the Internet is not just another way to learn new information. It’s the way that many people prefer to learn new information. Conferences and live events, once the go-to for promoting a product or message, are now just another piece of a much larger puzzle.
Since I used to spend a lot of time speaking at conferences and events, I can testify to their limitations (as well as my own!). It was thrilling, but also very taxing. I could only help a certain number of people at a time. But when a friend introduced me to the online course model, I realized that this was the way to exponentially increase the number of people I could help—and simultaneously keep myself from burning out.
But creating a successful online course is far from straightforward. It’s an incredible investment. An online course could significantly impact the bottom line for your business, but only if you have the keys to making it high-value and profitable.

Course Creation: How Does It Happen?

My friend Amy Porterfield has nearly perfected the system for online course creation. And I’m glad she has, because I would have made a lot of blunders without her input. Amy is one of those rare teachers who is able to make the complex simple.
Soon, Amy is going to be teaching a free, LIVE master class on how to create your first profitable online course. If you’ve ever been the least bit curious about how to make this happen for your business, you do not want to miss this opportunity. I’ll be there co-hosting this special event—and answering your questions during a live Q&A session.
The master class is called How to Create Your First Profitable Course in 60 Days. It’s focused on best practices for what to do (and what not to do) when you’re developing curriculum, selecting tools, and marketing to your audience.

If you’re interested in attending, you can sign up here.
It’s all online, so you can join us from the comfort of your home or office. Amy’s going to share the five essential ingredients for developing a successful online course. And let me tell you—they’re not only what has made her own course catalog successful, but they’re a common thread in nearly every highly profitable course she’s ever seen.

What Could This Be Worth to You?

What could an online course be worth to your business? It might be time to find out. And even if you’ve developed courses before, Amy can take your process (and profitability) to the next level.
I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true for me—Amy’s work has been invaluable to my own business and course creation.
If you’re an entrepreneur, coach, consultant, small-business owner, or a freelancer of any kind, this is for you. Be prepared to add a new, high-leverage element to your value offering. Amy always provides excellent information, and she’s already researched and field-tested the best approaches for you.
Seriously, this could be a game-changer for your business, so don’t miss the chance to learn more.

HOW TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL

As summer approaches, you might be deciding if you have the time or money for a vacation. Americans have been taking fewer vacation days.

At one time Americans used their vacation days, according to research by Project: Time Off. We took an average of 20.3 days a year right up until the turn of the century. That’s when the findings reveal a sharp drop off of about 4 days. Project: Time Off worries the loss may be a permanent reduction in vacation.

2015 was a typical year. Americans left 658 million vacation days unused and “lost 222 million of them,” according to Project: Time Off. “Those days cannot be rolled over, paid out, or banked for any other benefit—they are purely lost.”
Several years ago, I found myself in the same boat.

Chasing Waterfalls

I had scheduled a short time away at a lodge in British Columbia at the invitation of my friends Bob and Maria Goff. But there was tons of work to complete and only so much time. Then a week before leaving I found out we would have neither cell phone service nor Internet access.
“No way,” I thought. “I cannot be offline right now. I have too much going on.” But I reluctantly went along with it, and I’m forever glad I did.
In just a few days it helped to change how I think about vacations as a time of rejuvenation. Afterward, I identified five elements that made it so amazing. These represent five ways anyone can get away and reboot their soul.

1. I went someplace beautiful. Bob and Maria Goff’s lodge is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. There is also something about being in the great outdoors that connects you more directly to God and to your place in his world. It provided me with much-needed perspective.


2. I was fully present. The Internet and cellphone fast turned out to be exactly what I needed. It allowed be to be fully immersed in the experience without the temptation to be somewhere other than where I was.


3. I had deep conversations. I don’t naturally seek out people I don’t know. Here I was in the wilderness with twenty people, most of whom I didn’t know—at all. Yet, I found endless delight in hearing their stories, comparing notes, and crying when I left them to come home.


4. We spent time alone. The retreat had the perfect balance between structure and spontaneity, group time and alone time. My friend Don Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz was there. Periodically, Don shared with us his thoughts and then asked us to spend some time on our own reflecting on a specific question. I prayed, wrote in my journal, and just enjoyed being.


5. I had an adventure. The first afternoon, Bob Goff took us to Chatterbox Falls, located at the end of Princess Louisa Inlet. We squeezed behind the waterfall, in the slim corridor between the solid rock wall and the falling water. The sound was deafening and the water was freezing. At Bob’s prompting, we walked through the falls, feeling the full force of the water as it pummeled us from above. The experience was exhilarating!

Unplug and Reboot Your Soul

My time at the lodge wasn’t long—only two-and-a-half days. But I learned from the experience the importance of getting away from it all and unplugging to reboot my soul.
Now, every year Gail and I take a solid month off and we weave all five elements of that lodge experience into our holidays. I can’t wait to get away later this summer.
You might not be able to manage a full month off. But I bet you can take more time off than you think. I urge you to take time, unplug, really get away from it all and have an adventure.
It will rejuvenate you, and you’ll come back stronger than ever.

HOW TO DEFUSE THE WORRY BOMB AND STAY PRODUCTIVE

I read a story last week about workplace productivity in decline after the election. Employees are struggling to stay focused on their work. Why?

Anxiety. The American Psychological Association conducts regular polls to track stress levels and causes. The most recent poll found a majority of us are worried about the future of the country.

This post isn’t about politics. It’s about productivity.
When we’re anxious and stressed, we become vigilant. When it comes to current events, that means checking the news and social media constantly. But instead of allaying our fears, we find more information to feed our anxiety.
The good news is that you don’t have to get trapped in this vicious distraction cycle. One way to keep anxiety from sabotaging your work is to defuse the worry bomb.
I used to be a news junkie. Nowadays I never watch TV news, and I only read online news about once a week. Why? Instead of keeping me informed, I find the news media distorts my perspective and creates false worries.
Financial media is especially prone to this. It seems like whatever’s happening in the economy, somebody will find reason for panic.
That’s why I was excited to see Tony Robbins’ new book, Unshakeable. The subtitle gets right to the heart of the issue: “Creating Peace of Mind in a World of Volatility.”
One of Tony’s key messages is that possessing long-term perspective frees us from uncertainty and worry. He offers several facts about the market that let us focus on what positive action. I’ll mention three of them here:

1. The stock market corrects every year on average. News comes with a negativity bias. So when the market dips, the pundits stoke the fear. But, looking at the historical trends, Tony says,
   

   Corrections are just a routine part of the game. … Historically, the average correction has lasted only 54 days—less than two months! In other words, most corrections are over almost before you know it. Not that scary, right?

   
   Only two in every ten corrections turns into a bear market.


2. Negative predictions are mostly wrong. Market doomsayers “are clever and articulate, and their arguments are often compelling,” says Tony. “But they thrive by scaring the living daylights out of you—and they’ve been wrong again and again and again.”To drive the point home, he lists 33 failed predictions. “The common pattern is they’re all predicting that the market will go down when it’s actually going up.”


3. The market always rebounds. And when it does, it gains. “Every single bear market in US history has been followed by a bull market,” says Tony, “without exception.” The trend is toward greater worth and wealth, not less.
   

   What does this mean in practical terms? It means that you and I should always remember that the long-term trajectory is likely to be good, even when the short-term news is dismal and the market is getting smacked.

   
   

We can control not only the news we consume, but also the perspective we bring to it. And if we keep the long view in mind, there’s far less to worry about. That means we can confidently tune out most of the drama and get back to the things that matter most.
Unshakeable is a concentrated dose of financial perspective. The book releases tomorrow. Order now and you can get additional bonus resources worth over $200 totally free. Tony is one of the most compelling communicators I’ve ever encountered, and Unshakeable is a book you don’t want to miss.

Question: What would your life look like if you were able to dial down the drama and stay focused on the work that matters most? You can leave a comment