Choices | Bryan Clifton

From the Blog

Feb

Busy Productivity

Posted by Bryan Clifton at 9:15 am

Staying busy is not the same as being productive.

Many people run around all day checking emails, texting, tweeting, making phone calls, etc. Yet at the end of the day, they failed to get meaningful work accomplished. They spent lots of time working but failed to produce results. They put in their time, but the results did not follow.

We value not having time. When was the last time you met someone who thought they had tons of extra time? They don’t know what to do with all the free time they have.

We are under an illusion. We believe that the numbers of hours we are busy (or say we are) has a direct correlation to the amount of work we get done. This could not be further from the truth.

There is no correlation between success and numbers of hours worked.

Zig Ziglar asks a question that drives this point home. He asks, “Why do you get twice as much work done the day before vacation as any normal day?” The answer is simple. We set a list of goals and tasks that have to be done before we could board the plane or set out for the road trip. Then we work the plan and get them done.

We make our work fit the time slot needing to be filled. We value hours worked over tasks completed. What is wrong with us? Time is our most precious commodity, yet we waste it on pointless tasks.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. “Bryan, I get paid by the number of hours I work.” I understand, but hear me out. What if you increased your productivity during those hours? How long do you think it would take before your boss would notice? Think that could lead to a raise or promotion? People that get work done more efficiently than others will always be in high demand. It may not pay off for you immediately, but it will in the long run.

Focus on productive hours, not hours spent. Get the work done and move on to the next task.

Feb

Golden Rule

Posted by Bryan Clifton at 9:48 am

Treat others like you want to be treated.

This simple statement wraps up the entirety of human philosophy.

We all know this statement by heart, but do we live it out? What would the world look like if we followed this piece of advice?

We tend to treat people nice when they have been nice to us, but not when they are mean. That evokes anger, not forgiveness.

It is a given that we want others to be nice to us. Since that is what we want, why do we not act that way?

Treat others like you want to be treated.

If we want peace, yet sow seeds of anger, bitterness, or rage, we can expect to receive those in return.

If we internalized this phrase, rather than giving it lip service only, what would our days look like?

Let’s make that a reality.

Feb

Enough

Posted by Bryan Clifton at 11:15 am

How much is enough?

That question is the root of greed and philanthropy.

To some, “enough” is a never-ending pursuit of more and more. While others have a set number in their mind that determines what “enough” is for them. It might be a net worth, a monthly income amount, or becoming debt free.

Enough means many things to many people, but the only person that it matters for is you. How do you define enough?

Defining what enough means in your life creates a finish line to work towards. Without a goal, you will run indefinitely.

Are you running a sprint or a marathon?

Jan

The Notebook (Not a Movie, but a Real Notebook)

Posted by Bryan Clifton at 3:57 pm

How much would you pay for a notebook of your great-grandfathers thoughts?

$100? $2,000? First born?

Probably not that extreme, but you never know. Auction prices can be exorbitant.

It contains thoughts, ideas, personal notes, sketches, and more. It is a glimpse into the lives of your ancestors. How much is that worth to you?

Chances are you never knew them personally.

What about someone you knew? Grandmother? Father? Mother?

How much would a notebook of their lives from 50 years ago be worth to you? It offers a glimpse into their lives before you were a baby in their arms. Can you see personality traits that span decades?

If these notebooks existed, I would do whatever I could to get them. They would be priceless. Insights to family members I never knew. Handwritten notes of a great-grandfather I never knew, but through stories told by my dad, I feel like we spent years together.

Priceless is the only word that sums it up.

I doubt a notebook like I described exists for you, but what if it did for your grandkids? Have you thought about writing something for them? How much would it mean to them?

Write down the stories of your life so they can read them to you when your memory does not allow you to remember. Take photos with the people you care about most. They will serve as the visual timeline of your life.

Each day is a new opportunity to add a page to your story.

Jan

Connect the Dots

Posted by Bryan Clifton at 10:00 am

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

- Steve Jobs

Hindsight is always 20/20, but the future is uncertain and possibly frightening.

Are those problems or possibilities? Opportunities or pitfalls? Security or scarcity?

The way you view these decision-making opportunities depends on your goal. What are you trying to achieve?

Until we have a clearly defined point that we are working towards, each decision we make seems isolated and unrelated to the next. This could not be further from the truth.

Each decision you make creates a new set of choices. Some are the same as before, while some are gone forever.

So how do you pick? Each door you go through closes another.

What if I make the wrong choice?

Do not let paralysis by analysis keep you in the status quo forever. Make a decision. If it was the wrong one, use the new options on the table to get you back on track to your long-term goal.

We must see life as a series of inner connected dots and not independent decisions whose consequences do not affect future choices.

Life puts many options in our path. The question is how will you respond and piece them together to help you meet your final goal?

Only connecting a few dots will make a nice, small picture, but what if there is a larger design in store for you? Did you stop at the seventh dot when there are seventy to connect in your life?

Maybe we have a long-range goal to carry out. To get there, we need many short-range dots to connect to give us the option of getting to our ultimate goal.

Dots only appear connected when you look backwards. The trick is learning how to forecast. Just like a chess player always things a few moves ahead, the same should be true of our decision-making. How will my move today set me up for future moves? Are they in line with my long-term goals?

QUESTION:

What is your next dot?