No I haven’t changed direction and become a financial adviser!

What I am recommending is that you start investing more in yourself.

My last time management blog was about the first hour being the rudder of the day – the golden hour that sets the course for your day.

So, if when you get up in the morning you invest the first hour of the day in yourself it’s a double whammy. You will set yourself up mentally to have an excellent day whilst at the same time increasing your knowledge or boosting your motivation. You will be more positive, alert, creative and productive all day long.

The investment can be reading something educational or spiritual, taking exercise, listening to an inspirational audio tape, meditating, learning something new .

I make sure that at least three mornings a week the first thing I do is to go for a walk in the park, listening to an audio tape on my ipod. There are often times when I am tempted to start work at my desk instead but I can honestly say, without exception, I am always so grateful that I didn’t give in to the temptation. It is amazing how a random word, sight or thought just changes everything and I feel inspired to head back to work with more of a spring in my step.

Some of my favourite books that I have read or listened to recently:

• No Excuses by Brian Tracy

• The Present by Spencer Johnson

• What is stopping you? Robert Kelsey

• The seven habits of highly successful by  Stephen R Covey

• The Future Beyond 2012 Meditation

This works best for me first thing in the morning, but it may suit others to take a break at lunchtime to make their investment and reset their course for the rest of the day.

Lizzie Grant

Create the kind of day you want to have by simply focusing your best efforts on that first hour. Don’t worry about what comes afterwards. If you nail that first hour, the rest of the day will tend to fall in line. “Leverage the power of the rudder to steer the whole ship”.

Sometimes it is not possible (or desirable) to adhere to a rigid structure every working day, but planning the way it starts will improve your productivity for the day.

Often the most important things on your to-do list are also the things that are going to make the biggest difference to your life or business, and also often the things that you procrastinate about doing. Commiting to starting on those tasks first thing in the morning, and keeping going until they are completed, is really energising and builds momentum for the rest of the day.

This can fairly quickly become a good time management habit and prioritising the to-list the night before really helps to make that first hour really productive.

I’m not suggesting that you have to start getting up at 5 o’clock, but the message is really that whatever time you start your day make sure you tackle the most important things first and keep going until they are complete.

Eat those frogs!

Go bsck to my website www.eatthatfroguk.com to find out about eat that frog! workshops, and feel free to get in touch by email.

Following a session with one of my clients today, I was reminded of the expression ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ so I googled it and came across this blog by David Gardner:

I was having a couple of drinks with some old friends this weekend and I heard the phrase, “People just can’t see the wood for the trees”. I was stunned because only the day before someone else had said the same phrase to me at work

Interestingly it’s one of those common phrases that I’ve used a few times myself. I did a little digging and I believe the earliest recording of this phrase was in 1546 by John Heywoods who wrote ‘Plentie is no deinte, ye see not your owne ease. I see, ye can not see the wood for trees.’

The phrase reminded me of a story I heard about Franz Klammer (From John Elliot). It was the winter Olympics located in Innsbruck 1976. Franz was a down hill skier and he needed a great run to win. To cut a long story short Franz’s style was appalling. He went down the slope almost falling 4 or 5 times and did much of the run on one leg. When he reached the end, not only was it fast, but he’d managed to win and break the world record. He was asked what he was thinking about on the way down and his response was “I just wanted to get down the slope as fast as possible”.

So what’s this got to do with not seeing the wood for the trees? Well it occurred to me that sometimes I focus on my strategy at the expense of my goals. Franz on this occasion knew better, sure he had a strategy for skiing, which no doubt included having great techniques but in the crucial moment he focused on delivering his goal and not delivering his strategy. Determined to get down the mountain faster than anyone else, after all that what his strategy was created to do!

So assuming there are lots of people like me who sometimes focus on their strategies at the expense of their goals, then I guess its not surprising why 500 years on, the phrase “can’t see the wood for the trees” is so commonplace. “

Aa good reminder of how important it is to focus on what your goals are.

“Discover How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Taking Action Now to Get Everything You Want in Life… Guaranteed”

Brian Tracy published this book in 2010, based on over 30 years of personal experience and studying the subject of self-improvement.

I hadn’t heard of Brian Tracy until I trained as a Life Coach and didn’t come across this book until earlier this year, but it resonated with me in so many ways and has literally changed my life. If only I had been able to read it 20 years ago!

I am a great fan of Brian Tracy’s and I think right now if I had to recommend just one book to anyone who is drifting and not achieving what they believe they can, it would be this one.

It is so much more than motivational chat. Based on sound experience, research and psychology, it provides a map for improving every part of your life and exercises to help keep the mind focused on continuous action.

Lizzie Grant

www.eatthatfroguk.com

According to some research carried out by BING UK, we waste 69 minutes a day procrastinating – three years of our adult life - and one in five of us waste more than two hours a day putting off what we should be doing. The results shows that we duck the less pleasant tasks for longer – so no surprise there then!

Strangely, the study revealed that those in Cambridge are most guilty of putting things off (68%), followed by Gloucester (65%) and York (64%). And those in Aberystwyth seems to be the most industrious with just 33% saying they procrastinate.

So either move to Aberystwyth or take a look at your time management to get more of the important things done.

Prioritise your to-do list the evening before for the next day and get the most important things done first thing in the morning.

I can hardly believe I have just written that, because it used to be so different. Before I came across Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog!, I would spend the day at my desk flitting from task to task, mostly governed by what I fancied doing the most or least.

Of course some things just had to be done and I never missed a deadline, but I knew I was wasting a lot of time and not being as productive as I could be.

Then I read the book and it really resonated with me. Very often the things I was procrastinating about were the ones that would make the most difference to me or my business.

I was so impressed by the difference following the rules of that book made that I got in touch with Brian Tracy International and gained the UK licence to run Eat That Frog! workshops based largely on those principles.

But the other day, I slipped and went back to my old ways. I noticed an email about a sale and remembered I wanted a new armchair for my office. That was it – searching, comparing armchairs, measuring, emailing images to people, requesting swatches. And suddenly it was an hour later!

An hour wasted when I could have been writing my next blog (it wouldn’t have been this one of course) or crossing things off my to-do-list. I don’t even think I want that armchair any more either.

But I guess it was a good reminder for me of how important it is to stay focused and to practice what you preach.

Find out more at the next Eat That Frog! Workshop on Friday 23rd November.

www.eatthatfroguk.com

This is what one of the participants said after attending an Eat That Frog! workshop, having spent the day with a group of like-minded owners of small businesses, reviewing their goals and focusing on prioritising the most important actions that had to be taken. Setting and writing down specific, measurable, realistic and time-based goals is the most powerful thing you can do in life to achieve your potential. A goal without a date for completion (whether it be in the near or distant future is) is merely a wish and goals need to be kept at the front of our minds and taken action on continually.

There are SEVEN disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic.

1. Goal Setting
Every morning, take 3 to 5 minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your 10 goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind. This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly toward your goals.

2. Planning and Organizing
Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list. Always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance. (see the ABCDE Method blog http://wp.me/p2dSnV-t.)

3. Priority Setting
The essence of all time management, personal management, and life management is contained in your ability to set proper priorities and use of your time. This is essential for high performance.

4. Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities
Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop.

5. Exercise and Proper Nutrition
Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life.

6. Learning and Growth
Your mind is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.

7. Time for Important People in your Life
Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Make time for your relationships every day, no matter how busy you get.

Action Exercise
These seven disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest satisfaction and results from everything you do. Study these seven disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life.

Lizzie Grant

Eat That Frog UK

www.eatthatfroguk.com

lizziegrant@eatthatfroguk.com

There is an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you will have the satisfaction of knowing it is probably the worst thing that you will do all day. In his book, Eat That Frog! Brian Tracy uses this as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day – the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life.

One of the rules in his book is use the ABCDE Method to prioritise your to do list.

The ABCDE Method
This is a powerful priority setting technique that you can use every single day and which will make you one of the most efficient and effective people in your field. It is invaluable when you have more than one important area of work or life to deal with.

Think on Paper
Start with a list of everything you have to do for the coming day. Think on paper! You then place an A, B, C, D or E next to each item on your list before you begin the first task:

A = Very important things you must do. Tasks with serious consequences
B = Something you should do – but has only mild consequences
C = Something it would be nice to do but with no consequences
D = A task that can be delegated to someone else
E = This can be eliminated altogether and it won’t make a real difference

If you have more than one with the same level of importance, prioritise them by ordering them in importance as A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2 etc. This can also be used to break down the component actions required for one task.

Take Action Immediately
The key to making this method work is for you to now discipline yourself to start immediately on you’re A-1 task and then stay at it until it is complete – use your will power to get going and stay going.

In Brian Tracy’s book called Eat That Frog!, he took this saying as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day – the one you are mostly likely to put off, but also probably the one that will have the greatest positive impact on your life.

The book is based on 21 ways to stop procrastinating and get more things done faster, and all or most of these rules can be applied to any goal – for example the goal of losing weight!

For those who may have been putting off losing a bit of winter weight before the summer, but succumbed to more chocolate than was wise over Easter, here is how 14 of the rules can be used to achieve that goal.

1. Set the table
Decide exactly what you want. Clarity is essential. Write out your goal and objectives before you begin.
Example: Write down the exact amount of weight/inches to be lost/fitting into a favourite outfit again – whatever the goal is. Also write down when this is to be achieved by (make sure it is realistic)

2. Plan every day in advance
Think on paper. Every minute you spend in planning saves time in execution.
Example: meal planning and shopping just for that food.

3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to everything
20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results.
Example: Concentrate on those things that will really make a difference, not the ones that are not so important. Decide which of the things you have decided to do to lose weight will have the most effect.

4. Consider the consequences
Focus on those tasks and priorities that will have the most serious consequences on your goal.
Example: Evaluate everything you do or eat in respect of this goal to ensure it is consistent with where you truly want to end up.

5. Practice the ABCDE Method continually
Organise your actions by value and priority
Example: Include those actions specifically relating to your weight loss goal in your to-do list with all the other goal-related tasks

6. Focus on key result areas
Identify and determine those results that you absolutely, positively have to get to achieve your goal
Example: Be really clear in your mind exactly what success will feel, look like, etc

7. Obey the law of Forced Efficiency
There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always time to do the most important things.
Example: Make sure this goal is treated with respect and takes pride of place on the to-do list – don’t succumb to excuses to relegate it for the sake of something else.

8. Prepare thoroughly before you begin
Proper prior preparation prevents poor performance.
Example: Decide when is going to be the best time for you to start, based on work and social commitments and plan carefully.

9. Do your homework
The more knowledgeable and skilled you become at your key tasks, the faster you start them and the sooner you get them done.
Example: Research what is the best and healthiest way for you to achieve your goal in a realistic timeframe that can become a way of life. Understand how it works.

10. Leverage your special talents
Determine exactly what you are very good at doing, or could be very good at, and throw yourself wholeheartedly into doing those specific things very very well.
Example: This could be a sport you are good at or a new activity you could start taking part in.

11. Identify your key constraints
Determine the internal and external constraints that could hold you back and focus on alleviating them.
Example: If there is a certain time of the day when the urge to eat the wrong thing is stronger, make sure that you find something to do at that time that will remove that temptation.

12. Take it one oil barrel at a time
You can accomplish the biggest and most complicated job if you just complete it one step at a time.
Example: Work towards your goal one step at a time, maybe in weeks – don’t look at the whole challenge.

13. Maximise your personal powers
Identify your periods of highest mental and physical energy each day and structure your most important and demanding tasks around these times. Get lots of rest.
Example: Make sure you exercise when you know you are at your most energetic and be kind to yourself.

14. Motivate yourself into action
Be your own cheerleader. Look for the good in every situation. Focus on the solution rather than the problem. Always be optimistic and constructive.
Example: Keep a clear vision of the outcome and how that will feel.