A Three Word Anchor

I was sitting with a friend the other day who wanted to stay consistent with his friends and family. Quite often under pressure and stress, we lose ourselves and forget the behavioural standards we aspire to.

Caveat
I've heard it said that life is simple and it's us humans who make it complex. What I'm about to propose is hugely simple and as such, it lacks a certain elegance. We are all complex, beautiful and amazingly diverse individuals. It's our individualism that makes people so wonderful.

Background
I sat in a branding workshop a long time ago and the presenter suggested that you should be able to boil the brand essence of a company down to three words. I wondered if this might be true of my father brand or my husband brand.

To boil a person down to three words, in some ways lessons their uniqueness. All that being said, I shared a strategy with this friend of mine and he thought it was useful.

Key idea
So, here is the activity:

Quite simply, describe yourself in three words.

As a father and husband I am Clear, Present and Practical .

My friend is Organised, Caring and Responsible .

We both wrote these down and committed to living up to and into these three words (at least).
You are more than three words and yet it's comforting to know who you are to stay on point when under pressure.

Just a thought!

M@

You're still not lazy!

In one of my blog posts last year, I published some of my thinking about the personal productivity movement. There was a lot of discussion created around that post, in particular from people for whom the classic time management and personal effectiveness material does not work.

It was then, and still is today, my contention that knowledge workers can be divided into two broad categories; the first category is best described by the word dedicated , the second category best described by the word continuous.

In the model below, you get to see how these two work styles sit in relationship to each other. Check out my article from Ideas Vol 3, Work Smarter Not Harder, for more information on these two, specifically the five key strategies dedicated people can use to get more done, and the five key strategies that continuous people can use to work smarter.

In this post I would like to share a key distinction for those who are not dedicated, think they're lazy and who I think are continuous.

I was reading a Pavarotti quote:

"Many people think I'm disciplined, I think they mistake obsession for discipline."

And this got me thinking about the number one productivity strategy for the creative, widely focused, continuous workers. The productivity blitz.

Obsession and passion are key for continuous people to be able to utilise the blitz strategy explained in my article. Continuous people need to do productivity blitzes hard for a concentrated period of time, working on only one thing. No distractions, no multi-tasking just a single-minded, obsessive and passionate immersion in what needs to get done.

At the recent Sydney Thought Leaders Summit, Queensland mentor Rowdy McLean explained his work practice of 50 minute work blitzes. The last 10 minutes of every hour can be spent wandering around. It's a disciplining and obsessing blended strategy.

Not everybody will respond to lists, prioritisation and dedicated scheduling. Maybe you're not lazy, maybe you just haven't figured out the best way for you to get things done.

M@

Time to map out 2010

A simple exercise, yet possibly a few months late. Start thinking about 2010. What kind of year and months do you have planned? Now is the time to create an intention and context for 2010.

My Intention: My intention is to Inspire
My Context: My dual context for 2010 is execution with consistency
My Strategy: My strategy for 2010 is to execute through partnerships and completing things
My Growth: Is to attend 3-4 key programs next year that will lift my thinking and re-engage with some of my favourite and most productive mentors.
My Revenue: Same targets as 2009 but with a more stable core
My Deletes: I plan to take out ???
My Family: You get the idea

Then, we will be breaking down each month with a set of activities and key performance indicators. Even the personal stuff! Keep it simple. It's about putting a clear intention out into the world.

Start thinking now about the 2010 you want to experience.

M@

Matt Church