Is trying to have it all causing you to have less than you could?
I’m sure you’ve heard phrases like:
“You can’t have the cake and eat it too.”
“Go big or go home.”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never liked those phrases. I mean, what good is it to have a cake if you can’t eat it? And why can’t you BOTH go big and go home?
I know, the meaning behind them is that you must choose. Either eat the cake or have it. Either go big or go home.
It’s the “either or” concept I’ve never liked.
And that’s how I’ve approached things. Have it all.
But this year that will change and I’ll explain why so that you can take stock of your life and see if trying to have it all right now, is causing you to have a lot less than you could have.
I love to ski. I know people that are hooked to TV-shows the way I love to get my turns in. My days in the winter are usually laid out like this: Work, Ski, Work. Some days it’s more ski than work. Unless it’s a client day.
Sounds great, right?
It is, if you want to run a lifestyle business aka. solopreneur business.
But it’s not great if you’re trying to scale to the next level and build a company with a team.
Skiing breaks my focus. It diverts my thinking. It also takes a lot of time. I’m sure you have similar things that eats up time. Things you enjoy but that are time-consuming.
So this year I’m giving up skiing. I may go a few times, but that’s it.
In order to grow my solopreneur business into a real company with a team and all the jazz that comes with that, I need to work like a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I need to think like one, show up like one and act like one.
Something has to give. Something has to be edited out in order to find the time, focus and energy necessary to take things to the next level.
We each get 168 hours in a week and for every yes you say, you automatically say no to something else. Key is figuring out what to say yes to and what gets a no.
Ask yourself. What habits, activities, mindsets, or beliefs are you trying to hold onto even though you know they are slowing you down from getting what you really want? And why are you so afraid to give them up, in order to achieve those goals and dreams of yours?
In our modern society we’ve been trained to think that we shouldn’t have to give something up in order to move to the next level or achieve something we want, but that mindset can cause us to move toward our goals like molasses instead of a rushing river.
Think of it this way, when you spread 100% of your time and energy over 10 things each only gets 10% of focus. If you cut that to 5 things you suddenly are able to give each thing twice the focus. Imagine where you could be in a year if you put twice the time, effort and focus on an important goal of yours.
You’d be a whole lot further than if you keep trying to hold onto all the things. Once you achieve your goal you can always add things back in. Short-term sacrifice for long-term gain.
In other words, if you want it all, you may need to sacrifice a few things now, so that eventually you can have it all.
What will you stop doing or edit out in 2019 in order to go to the next level in your life and career?
ps. I’m super-excited to introduce the first public version of the Excel Your Life JournalPlanner. For now it’s available as a PDF download. It’s a journal and planner combination that gives you CLARITY, focus and strategy so you can move forward on your goals. Just going through the questions and worksheets will help you excel to the next level. A physical version will be out fall of 2019 (or sooner if we can).
