In order to maximize your effectiveness as a business owner or leader of an organization, you’ve got to be at the top of your game. Everything needs to be in sync a majority of the time.
You might be thinking – I AM at the top of my game: my business is going well, I’ve got things under control, and we are hitting all of our targets! If so, that’s great! But are you really as effective as you possibly could be?
I challenge you to take a look at six different areas of your life (jot down each of these on a separate piece of paper): Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Relational and Self. For each of these categories – think about (and document) what is going really well. Where are your successes? Next, what gaps do you see in each area – from where you are now to where you’d like to be? Identify each of those gaps and document them on the paper.
Next step: considering all you have done to this point in each area – think about what one area could benefit the most from some increased attention? We are looking for the biggest bang for the buck here. Once that has been identified as a top priority, I want you to think about all of the negative impacts the gaps in this area present in your life. What do these gaps prevent you from doing, how are they holding you back in your life? After you’ve done that, jot down the positive implications of closing each of the gaps you’ve identified. Remember – as a first step we are only working on the area you’ve identified as Top Priority.
Finally, identify all of the potential solutions or strategies you can employ to begin to close each gap in your priority area. This is your roadmap to improvement. Out of all the possible solutions you’ve identified, pick the one that is most easily implementable and set a timeline for starting. Ideally, you should pick something you can do this week.
Going through this simple exercise – repeating each step for each of the 6 life buckets will put you into a mode of continuous improvement in your personal effectiveness. This simple adjustment will reap benefits into your professional life and will improve your overall business outlook. If you’d like a complimentary worksheet to help you walk through this process, contact me at mpatton@odastrategy.com and I’ll send it to you right away.
