Staying on Purpose!

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
- Alexander Graham Bell

 Note...this is a re-write of a former post (way too fitting!).

Looking over my shoulder and reviewing yesterday's events, I see I accomplished some of what I'd intended, but not near everything. Part of the start to my day is reviewing my marketing plan, evaluating and making any changes and focusing on the main event. Ha! Quite a few shots across the bow yesterday.

But, I think I did a pretty good job staying on purpose. Or at least I came back to it, a few times.

My personality is high D/I (from the DISC assessment) which means I have great intentions and will set out to accomplish something, even if it's wrong (D), but I can sure get distracted (I) by texts, people calling, a new idea (brainstorm), shiny objects....(oh look at that kitty). It really is amazing that I get anything done while at the same time I continue to be dumbfounded by the fact it happened AGAIN!

Habits and Clutter

Yesterday I began the day thinking a lot about leading myself, and rambled a bit in this blog and otherwise. I had started off with planned meetings: a standing 8:30-11am appointment I have every Monday, a prequal loan application at 2pm and a 1:1 with Ken Fudik/TeamLogicIT.

A lunch appointment with Gilbert Sausedo @thecolorfactory and Larry Megason/www.restoreavoice.org was added (incredible ministry...more on that in another post). A couple of phone calls are possible leads to loan applicationsI messed up the time on the meeting with Ken and was 30 minutes late, and failed to register for an event I really wanted to attend.

Overall good day of meetings and getting to know people and about their businesses, needs and how/if I can help.

But I missed something important along the way...the timely response to a rate and fee request. As a mortgage loan officer, I make money when I fund a loan. To fund a loan, I have to take a loan application. To take a loan application, I generally have to compete with a rate and fee quote. To compete, I need to be timely.

Sometimes the trust in the relationship is already there and the prospect will go directly to applying for the loan, but not always.

While I was timely in getting the original information to the prospect (30 minutes), a follow-up request didn't happen until hours later.

What caused the delay? I had other appointments, lost track of priorities and let clutter get in the way. This wasn't just missing an opportunity for a loan, it was putting income in jeopardy, loosing focus on my purpose, and clutter.

What caused the delay? Lost focus on priorities.

What caused the delay? Bad habits.

To that end...

Leading Myself, and Rambling

Starting another week and I'd sure like better results from last one. Yet, what do I mean by "better results?" My mission statement says "...make a difference and a reasonable profit." (Hmmm...it should say "positive" difference). I believe I made a positive difference last week, so what has me all spun-up about making this week beeper than last week?

Did I make a difference last week? Yes, seemed to, in reflection just now.

Did I make a reasonable profit? Hmmm, not really. Not last week.

So, my attitude has to do with my feelings of week's "results." The differences I made are overshadowed by numbers?! Not the first time for that.

Ok....T.A.S.K.S. Check-up: Time (check), Attitude (obviously not-so-good, Dreams not clear either), Skill (ok, though working on better habits, need better habits), Knowledge (good, improving), Style (hmmm...still developing style).

I'm now thinking about my "Ponderings on Why Work?" post....why do people put so much time into a hobby that has no hope of any financial gain? Serve money vs serve the work for the Glory of God.

Went I sat to write this post, my thoughts were on "leadership" and not necessarily about leading myself. Then the rambling took hold! (changed post title!).

To that end.....

BHAGs: Put Your Dreams to the Test

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, 
but happy is he who keeps the law.

- Proverbs 29:18 (NASB)

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by 
moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees 
the dawn before the rest of the world.

- Oscar Wilde

I recently heard Brawn Lide, of BrawnCoaching.com, speak on John Maxwell's book Put Your Dream to the Test. Brawn went into fairly good detail on the 10 questions Maxwell challenges you to ask yourself....and I'm challenged.

Here are the 3 "Questions" I'm focusing on this next week and will be challenging myself and others:

#2. Do I clearly see my dream?

#9. Does working towards my dream bring satisfaction?

#10. Does my dream benefit others?

This year is almost 7/52's over and many of us have already forgotten the goals (errr..resolutions) we started 2012 out proclaiming.

That's probably because our dreams aren't big enough. How big are your dreams? What is God's will in your life? Are you considering the two?

It's ok to dream, it's good to have goals and it's ok to dream big and have big goals!

To that end....

Make 2012 the "year of achieving big Holy audacious goals and dreams!"

Danny

Related Posts

Be Smart About Finishing the Year

Setting Goals Worth Achieving

TASKS Based Goal Setting

Performing Daily Acts of Trivia

Goals and the Matter of Values

Goals. Deep subject, and wide. Setting goals is one part of achieving good results. Achieving good results is about a matter of habits (as mentioned in previous post) aligning values, setting good goals, establishing plan and strategies, determining measure points, putting forth the work and having a robust evaluation and correction process.

Goals are rarely achieved because of numerous reasons and the #1 cause is a lack of alignment to a persons T.A.S.K.S. (see below).

The second is a lack of understanding of what it takes to properly setting goals to begin with.

Working through and clarifying your values is the first stage of a solid foundation for goal setting. To properly set a goal, the goal must be reasonable and must be set in accordance with a person’s time, attitude, skill, knowledge and style (TASKS); a goal can be set to increase or strengthen any of these TASKS points.

Goals can and should build upon each other to achieve results that today one doesn’t have the TASKS to achieve. More about that in another session.

A key component to that solid foundation is recognizing your Core Ideology; comprised of your mission and your values. During life’s triumphs, struggles and day-to-day living your Core Ideology is what helps ground your behaviors and thoughts so that no matter what path you find yourself engaged on, you stand true.

It’s vitally important to not only define your mission and values but to put them both in writing, commit to these statements, and recognize when you find yourself detouring.

To that end.....

Habits and Batteries

This "new" year is almost 1/12 over. Three days left.

My step-up goals have not been met and I'm setting here this morning pondering what has gotten in my way.

I heard Donna Fox, CEO of GutsVisionIntensity, speak this week at PriorityAssociates. Donna's talk was on "goal setting."

She emphasized "habits." Or at least my big Ah Ha!, my take-away, the thing I'm remember most about her talk, was HABITS,

Evaluating my Top 10 Goals for 2012's 1st 100 Days (thanks again Scott Carley), where I'm on and not on track to accomplish, and I realize it's all due to habits.

I must develop better habits. Good habits.

This has been a great time of "evaluation and correction."

Thanks Donna, thanks Scott.

And to that end.....I'll now go back to the battery problem in my car, mower and jetski. Maybe I'll develop a habit of..never mind.