Archives For Best Practices

You may have heard the phrase that success leaves clues. These clues can serve as a roadmap for us to follow. Those of us who are actively trying to improve like to pick out role models or people who are where we want to be and follow their path.

During the workweek, it is often obvious the steps that we should take to get ahead. The Life You Can Afford to Live and Drive Planning spends a copious amount of time on winning at the workplace and in life. I have noticed that truly successful people create an intentional approach to their life all week long. Even throughout the weekends they are creating relationships and participating in activities which enhance their personal growth and development.

Time with Family and Friends

Surrounding yourself with those closest to you reminds you of your purpose and grounds you. This time serves as a reminder for why you work so hard and what is truly important.

Vacation

Getting away from the same scenery and town is educational and energizing. Traveling always reminds me of the diverse world that we live in thus making me more appreciative and thankful for all of the different cultures. This time away almost always proves to be the times when Jackie and I meet the most interesting people.

Worship

As a Christian I respect Sundays. Therefore, I will most often be in my home church giving praise. Regardless of your style of worship it is healthy to recognize and serve something bigger than yourself. Successful people most often recognize their place in the world and universe.

Avoid Work

As I just mentioned above I certainly do not want to work on a Sunday but that goes for any portion weekend. It is a misconception that successful people work 7 days per week. Truly successful people lead rich lives outside of the workplace. There has become an American trend to tout your lengthy work hours as a badge of honor, no thanks. If you work effectively and smart; you can enjoy your weekends outside of the office. Lastly, I certainly want to avoid mundane chores. Most tasks that are in this category should be outsourced to someone who is better suited for the task than yourself. Use your time more wisely.

Exercise

The extra hours which are available on a Saturday and Sunday are perfect for exercise. There are numerous studies that prove healthy, active people do better financially and relationally. Working your body releases stress and helps you to stay mentally sharp throughout the week. As a side note, as a rule successful people workout throughout the week as well.

Read

Leaders are readers. Every successful person that I know reads books. However, every reader that I isn’t successful. So, you figure that one out:) For me there is no better time of the week than a Sunday afternoon to spend with a book. As I have mentioned on The Life You Can Afford to Live blog, my reading habit is to focus on three books at a time; Business, Faith and a Suspense Novel.

Network

Making connections with others throughout the week can be difficult for someone who leads a busy life. Successful people recognize the importance of maintaining a successful network. At Drive Planning we teach our Members that “Your Network is Your Net Worth”. There is certainly a correlation between the friends you keep and your income. Many believe that your income will gravitate to your five closest friends income. Think about your relationships and see if that holds true for you.

Plan for Next Week and Long Term

My wife is great at this! She will plan her meals and wardrobe out for the week. Even going as far as prepping the meals ahead of time. This allows her to avoid bad eating decisions simply because she may be in a hurry. As for the clothes, there are numerous accounts of Presidents and other high achievers who either practice this planning method or plan to wear the same suit or clothes day in day out. This is one less decision that frees their mind for more important matters.

Long Term Planning during the weekends is perfect due to weekends general slower pace. The slower pace allows you to take a big picture approach and evaluate if you are on course. Trust me on this one, successful people plan everything.

Get Creative

Weekends are perfect times to allow your creativity to flow. Taking up a hobby or pursuing a passion is a frequent weekend activity for successful people. This creativity even helps to be a more creative problem solver in the workplace and a more well rounded person. So, while it may not look like you are working this time spent on a hobby or creative endeavor affords value all week long!

Sleep

You may be thinking how could you fit in sleep with all of the other activities we just mentioned? Pace yourself on all of these but do not avoid catching up on rest throughout the weekends. Allowing your body to recharge is one of the healthiest moves you can choose. Sleep is so good for both your mental and heart health that it can’t be overlooked. In order to be successful you must be around to experience it, so please take care of yourself!

Hopefully, these simple items will serve as reminders for you to take an intentional approach to your success even throughout the weekend. The successful people that I study model the habits that I have listed above with a life that is lived on purpose. For me, I do not feel that I work since I love my work so much. I am fortunate to have never been one of those people who was dying to get to Friday. I’d urge you to create a career and a life which provided you money freedom and time freedom. This unique combination affords you flexibility to include some of the items listed above all week long.

In the meantime, when you get to Friday afternoon; make an intentional decision to include items from the list above. That is a step towards your success!

Follow along with me on Facebook, twitter and Instagram so that we stay connected.

Own The Day

July 3, 2020

Each passing day can seem inconsequential, but the totality of your days is your life. So, each day matters a lot. If you can get the most out of each day, you’re going to have an amazing life!

However, conquering the day doesn’t happen by accident. It requires focus and intention.

 

Own The Day & Own Your Life (1)

 

Learn how to master the day and in turn, your life:

 

Realize the power of each day. A day doesn’t seem like much. You’ve experienced plenty of long days where it seemed you accomplished nothing. It’s true that a single day might mean a lot, but a small amount of progress each day can result in a dramatically different future.

Realize the power and potential of each day and be determined to make the most of it.

Have a plan for the day. Have a detailed plan for the day and for the week before you even think about going to bed at night. When you wake up, grab your list of to-do items and get busy as soon as possible.

There’s an added bonus to planning out your day the night before. Your brain has a chance to think about your list of items as you sleep. Your brain will predict the challenges you’re likely to face and have a few solutions in mind.

Try it and you’ll find that your day goes much more smoothly.

 

Wake up earlier. If you want to own the day, get started early. Successful people tend to get up pretty early. How successful do you want to be? A successful person doesn’t scramble around in the morning trying to find a pair of clean socks. Start your day as early as possible and grab it by the throat.

 

Focus. What are you going to do for the next hour? Ask yourself this important question each hour. Whether your objective is to write a report, return phone calls, or enjoy your favorite movie as much as possible, identify what you’re trying to accomplish and focus on doing it. Keep your mind on the identified task.

 

Take breaks. You can get more accomplished each day if you take planned breaks. Working nonstop leads to slowing down later in the day. You’ll ultimately accomplish more if you take a break every couple of hours.

 

Remove distractions. Distractions will prevent you from owning the day and from owning your life. There’s no reason to rely on your will power to avoid the distractions in your environment if you have the ability to remove them instead.

      Avoid trying to be tough and stoic. Just remove the distractions to the best of your ability.

Review. You had a good day, but it could have been even better. Figure out what you could have done differently. Make a new plan for tomorrow and include this knowledge.

Reviewing your day is a pivotal part of developing your approach to life. So many people simply repeat the same mediocre days over and over. Mediocre days lead to a mediocre life.
Are you getting the most from each day of your life? Do you have a plan for the day? For the week? What are you committed to accomplishing today? What time did you get up today?

 

An amazing life is the result of amazing days. Spending your day focused on activities that lead to accomplishing your goals qualifies as an amazing day. An amazing life can be yours, but you have to create it one day at a time.

 

Like I mention in my latest book, Bullet Proof Your Finances; If you don’t design your life, someone else will!

Automation Header

 

A key element to living a successful life is reducing the stress that you experience. If you have been a Drive Planning Member for long you will recognize the theme of automation. This continues to weigh on my mind as something that we need to continually emphasize.

 

automation

[aw-tuhmey-shuh n]

noun

  1. the technique, method, or system of operating or controlling a process by highly automatic means, as by electronic devices, reducing human intervention to a minimum.
  2. a mechanical device, operated electronically, that functions automatically, without continuous input from an operator.
  3. act or process of automating.
  4. the state of being automated.

 

In other words, we want to remove our own ability to sabotage ourselves from the things that we most want in life. As part of living intentionally; we can pre-determine our outcomes simply by establishing systems around the actions which we know are best for us. I have discussed this topic at The Life You Can Afford to Live in a previous post Scheduling Your Success.

Most often our own ability to sabotage our success is through poor planning. Our own laziness or simply a lack of preparedness undermines us achieving what we really desire. So, with that in mind, I want to encourage you to automate as many facets of your life as possible. This post will explore a few ideas; there are certainly others. Let us know about some of your own suggestions or personal wins in this area on our social media channels; Facebook and twitter.

Below are some of the ways that I recommend automating your life so that you do more, waste less and live a more meaningful life.

Giving

Giving is a very personal decision. One that sometimes requires us to be prayerful or at minimum thoughtful. It’s for that reason that for years I have spoken negatively of automated giving. Today’s busyness has made me change my tune regarding this matter. Deciding to give isn’t less spiritual or obedient if its planned in advance. So, I say go ahead and establish automated drafts towards the church or charity of your choosing. This will ensure that a ballgame or any unexpected event doesn’t de-rail your plan for giving.

 

Saving

Most of our members do a great job in this area. We have consistently taught to establish a Wealth Coordination Account (WCA) as the initial recipient for all savings. If this isn’t something that you have completed; Let’s make it happen!

 Click to Tweet This:  Money without a purpose will never find its intended destination.

The WCA is the first place to direct a minimum of 15% of your income. This simple automation sets you up for years of success. It ensures that your own fleeting desires do not inadvertently interfere with your Hopes and Dreams.

We will now be encouraging you to create a more detailed savings plan to include future expenses;

Including:

  • Vacations
  • Classes
  • Personal Growth Areas
  • Holidays
  • Date Nights

This is all designed around creating a plan for spending. Living the life that you desire, not a reactionary life.

If you need direction in this area, please contact your Drive Planning Consultant or join my Coaching for Life Program to provide you step by step guidance.

 

Income

Work life is generally one of the things that creates a great deal of stress and frankly interrupts most of these other areas of life. What if you could create a scenario that automated your income; possibly even making it such to forget about the stress of your W-2 JOB! Working with us at Drive Planning or participating with me directly in my New Coaching Program we can construct a plan to just that; create Cash Flow for you through investments like Real Estate, Portfolio or other Private Investments. Even if you don’t have a great deal of money there are still options to explore like Rental Arbitrage or Affiliate Programs. This will allow you to focus more on living and less on stressful work. Between my wife and I we still stay busy but we operate several businesses which allows for unique levels of freedom to operate them on our terms from wherever we are located.

 

Living

Most of our members are well established in the first two areas of Giving and Saving. This is where I believe that we can really transform our time and overall quality of life. Jackie and I have spent a lot of time and consideration in this area; automating our daily life. As two very goal oriented professionals involved in numerous charitable organizations and businesses time is of the essence. I want to share with you a few things that…. Well, mostly she has taught me!

Health

Create automation around your health products, doctor visits and even how you schedule prevention techniques. Here are a few to consider:

Utilize Amazon Prime, Instacart or any delivery service to routinely deliver your vitamins, personal toiletries, air filters or the food necessary to be healthy (more to come about that). Place these things on your calendar as to do’s and automate them to arrive without wasted time at the store. Ex:  Look ahead and determine when you will be traveling for business or pleasure and schedule taking Airborne 5 days in advance of your trip. This simple planned technique will virtually ensure that you do not get sick while traveling and ultimately diminish your impact or lifestyle. Ex: Schedule air filters to arrive every three months (the suggested time to change them). Ex: Schedule toilet paper to arrive periodically (Something you should never run out of) Ex: Have Dollar Shave Club deliver razors at the predetermined time.

 

Food

Every parent knows the dread of the 5:30pm or 6pm hour. That dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?” We have found that Blue Apron is our preferred way of automating this area of our life. Each week or at the frequency of your choosing you can have every meal (every ingredient to prepare such meal) delivered to your doorstep. It costs slightly less than $10 per meal and there is no wasted time or ingredients. Most importantly the meals are brilliant! Dishes we wouldn’t ordinarily create on our own. Here are a few examples: Cumin-Crusted Pork, Tangelo & Honey Glazed Salmon, Chipotle Glazed Meatloaf and even the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten. This level of automation means you are always prepared for that dreaded question and you avoid costly and unhealthy restaurant meals.

 

Fitness

This may be a stretch because it isn’t true automation. However, I’d say that any effort towards pre=planning is a step in the right direction.

Plan your events for the year. Go ahead and pre-pay, pre-register for fitness classes, races etc for the entire year. Having already committed to them and paid will reduce/eliminate the wiggling out of them that often happens. Having them planned will also motivate you between events to keep training as you approach event time. Most events will also send you a recommended training schedule to be fully prepared. It’s like having a personal trainer!

 

Personal Time

Schedule and begin establishing a plan for paying for these nights out, vacations etc. in advance. Easily accomplished when put into the personal spending plan. One where the money is systematically/automatically transferred months in advance of the intended time. Beyond paying for these ahead of time and avoiding debt you will also find that the quality of your overall experiences will improve. Most of the improvement is due to the advanced planning/intentionality allowing you time to focus on your spouse or significant others Love Language.

 

These are just a few ideas that we have implemented to create an automated approach towards our life. We have found that typically this keeps us focused on the BIG Picture and less bogged down in the details. Allow me to encourage you to look for additional ways to automate areas of your life that will help you to lead the life you desire and do it with less stress. Maybe you won’t establish all of these at once but over time with an intentional approach towards automation you will begin to see that you are doing more, wasting less and creating a more meaningful life.

As you uncover ideas that work well, share them with us on Facebook or twitter.

 

 

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