Finishers do little things right away, and put the big things in a plan.
I have a list of "honey do" items around the house and the yard and the car and the garage.
Unfortunately, those have been supplanted by larger and more pressing projects that take multiple weekends and late week nights to complete.
But this morning, as I walked to the car I saw four or five very small projects staring me in the face. They are little things that I know I must do. Things that I know I will feel better about walking to the car and playing in the backyard once I get them done. I just haven't made them a priority...other things that are more important always jump in line.
Sound familiar? Does that sound like some parts of your business?
I have said before that I struggle with finishing and that is why I write this blog. So here's my confession for the week. I basically ignore those things until either (1) someone yells at me to get them done and stop sitting on the couch watching football, or (2) I get so sick of them myself that I decide to make them a priority.
What are the things you are not finishing?
For many business owners I have worked with, this could be as simple as setting aside part of a day each week to outline a sales system and to build a marketing plan. Then you will need to adopt some of the other finisher's qualities in order to actually make sure that those things get FINISHED.
This weeks book list:
"The Power of Focus" - Amazon Link Here
"Mentally Tough - the prinicples of winning at sports applied to winning in business" - Jim Loehr is a big time sports psychologist who turned his ideas towards business people a number of years ago. HERE is that book. I find things in this book that help me every day.
Blogs to check in with:
Shawn Kinkade will get your head back in your business: Aspire Blog
Stephanie Diamond: As always, Stephanie has some great business perspective. Read this and take the advice! More Ideas, More Profits?
Jerry Smith helps me every week. Read this blog and get your head straight: Accord Coaching
Monday, October 8, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Finishing and Not FInishing...
The Kansas City Chiefs were playing at the same time I was playing a tennis match yesterday. One of us did a great job finishing, and the other did not.
The Chiefs were on the road, coming off of several sub-par performances, and against a top-notch team from last year. They never quit. They were behind in the first half and they stuck to their game plan, kept making good plays to put their opponent under pressure, and they never quit.
I, on the other hand, felt like the San Diego Chargers. The weak part of my game was constantly under pressure. The better part of my game was ineffective, and I lost focus. I didn't quit...but I did go in the tank. I rallied late and finished with a few good points and a few tough games that we won...but I was terribly disappointed with my performance.
I know I am better than I played...and yet I didn't put any "finish" to my game. I was hanging my head late in the match, and I wasn't engaged like I should have been.
Today's Finisher's quality: Finishers Never Quit.
Even when all seems lost, a finisher digs in, gets back to the basics, and Never, never quits.
Take that and go finish this week.
The Chiefs were on the road, coming off of several sub-par performances, and against a top-notch team from last year. They never quit. They were behind in the first half and they stuck to their game plan, kept making good plays to put their opponent under pressure, and they never quit.
I, on the other hand, felt like the San Diego Chargers. The weak part of my game was constantly under pressure. The better part of my game was ineffective, and I lost focus. I didn't quit...but I did go in the tank. I rallied late and finished with a few good points and a few tough games that we won...but I was terribly disappointed with my performance.
I know I am better than I played...and yet I didn't put any "finish" to my game. I was hanging my head late in the match, and I wasn't engaged like I should have been.
Today's Finisher's quality: Finishers Never Quit.
Even when all seems lost, a finisher digs in, gets back to the basics, and Never, never quits.
Take that and go finish this week.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Finisher's Qualities...so far
Over the last couple of weeks I have transformed my blog into examining the qualities of people who are strong finishers. Here are my first few observations:
1) Finishers Do Not seek out the path of least resistance. You can insert any number of quotes here - "Do Not let good enough be good enough." - Bill Parcels comes to mind this morning. Any number of quotes from Gordon Ramsey also fit here.
2) Finishers take responsibility for their own actions - Roger Federer does not have a coach at the moment. Maybe he will seek one out later...but for now, he is structuring his work and his life without one. And it is working.
3) Finishers do not relax when they have a little success that puts them close to a goal. They set the next goal and find ways to push themselves through that first goal. (See qualities 1 and 2)
4) Finishers know how to set goals. You can read any number of books about setting goals that are a stretch but that are measurable. You have to know when you have achieved a goal...and you have to have the ability scratch a goal off your list.
Coming next - more qualities of Finishers and maybe some ideas of how to foster these qualities in your business life.
1) Finishers Do Not seek out the path of least resistance. You can insert any number of quotes here - "Do Not let good enough be good enough." - Bill Parcels comes to mind this morning. Any number of quotes from Gordon Ramsey also fit here.
2) Finishers take responsibility for their own actions - Roger Federer does not have a coach at the moment. Maybe he will seek one out later...but for now, he is structuring his work and his life without one. And it is working.
3) Finishers do not relax when they have a little success that puts them close to a goal. They set the next goal and find ways to push themselves through that first goal. (See qualities 1 and 2)
4) Finishers know how to set goals. You can read any number of books about setting goals that are a stretch but that are measurable. You have to know when you have achieved a goal...and you have to have the ability scratch a goal off your list.
Coming next - more qualities of Finishers and maybe some ideas of how to foster these qualities in your business life.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
GREAT site for your Presentations
My goodness this is fantastic. Merlin Mann has a blog that I follow called 43 Folders.
Here is a recent post about how he puts presentations together. Pick any single piece of this advice and you would have a good presentation. Put them all together, and you have a really, really, really fun approach to the daunting presentation.
This is the finisher's blog approach - do your research, search out people who have gone before you and who do a better job than you...and then study what they do.
How I made my presentations a little better
Here is a recent post about how he puts presentations together. Pick any single piece of this advice and you would have a good presentation. Put them all together, and you have a really, really, really fun approach to the daunting presentation.
This is the finisher's blog approach - do your research, search out people who have gone before you and who do a better job than you...and then study what they do.
How I made my presentations a little better
What Does "I Don't Know" Really Mean?
Seth Godin hits the sweet spot again. I was all ready to write my own blog post...and Seth launches this one.
Two kinds of 'don't know'
What a great marketing thought that feeds into the Finisher's Blog concept.
The core concept here is that you can't deal with lack of motivation with more information.
Often people ask me to look at their website. First Red Flag: "It took me months to write it and I don't want to change it now"
Unfortunately, when you say something like that it just means that you don't know what a website is for these days.
Second Red Flag - "My business is about getting face to face with people, so the internet can't help me with that."
Oops...either I haven't done a good job describing interactive marketing to you, or you "don't know" that you can get a face to face interaction if you want to!
I have often responded to these red flags by spouting more information. I guess I should figure out what kind of "I don't know" I am getting.
Toby's Wednesday Finisher Concept: A Finisher Needs to recognize the difference between lack of information and a lack of interest.
My Finisher's blog post that is coming next: Trust Your Training and Stop Thinking.
Two kinds of 'don't know'
What a great marketing thought that feeds into the Finisher's Blog concept.
The core concept here is that you can't deal with lack of motivation with more information.
Often people ask me to look at their website. First Red Flag: "It took me months to write it and I don't want to change it now"
Unfortunately, when you say something like that it just means that you don't know what a website is for these days.
Second Red Flag - "My business is about getting face to face with people, so the internet can't help me with that."
Oops...either I haven't done a good job describing interactive marketing to you, or you "don't know" that you can get a face to face interaction if you want to!
I have often responded to these red flags by spouting more information. I guess I should figure out what kind of "I don't know" I am getting.
Toby's Wednesday Finisher Concept: A Finisher Needs to recognize the difference between lack of information and a lack of interest.
My Finisher's blog post that is coming next: Trust Your Training and Stop Thinking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)