You…

You are here to make something better. To work smarter. To make things bigger. To achieve more…much more. It’s what I talk about here, just tap the sideways triangle in the video below to get started.

You… 18 months from now.

Can you imagine where you’ll be? And, are you going to get there by going fast?

Can you image-in what you’ll be doing? My question to you is simple: When will you start? Are you moving too slow? Are you going too fast? Here, let me give you the only activity you need to do today that will change - I promise - how you start tomorrow. It’s a 4-step process, get ready to write some notes. These four steps, they’re how I start my day. And, since the completion of last weekend’s Ojai Leadership Retreat (we host that here twice each year), 11 people are experimenting with these same four steps. Ready?

(I’ll continue to add comments to these four steps in my Evernote notebook…Click here to review these in more depth, and see how I push on THAT organizational tool to get things done!)

Step 1: Review

On a blank piece of paper, or in a new note in your list-manager system, write this on the top of the page:

“I am at my best when…”

After you write 5-10 conditions that you self-assess are in your “best interest” to do each day, review that inventory and ask yourself, “What can I do to increase the likelihood that one or more of these will happen tomorrow? I continue to coach people to put their “preparation for productivity” in terms of the very-near-term future. That is, 12-24 hours from now. Not next week, not next year. Tomorrow morning; what will you do right now to make tomorrow morning better?

Step 2: Respond

All things considered, you’re going to have to prioritize one thing over another thing. How do you decide?

In 1998, a mentor of mine (Steve Bennett) sat down with me and we discussed the word responsibility. He had me write it down in my notebook, and as I wrote about one-half of the word, he stopped me and said, “Divide the word in to two parts.” I looked at him, a bit puzzled before I realized what he was asking me to do. So, I wrote. “Response - Ability.” The rest of our mentoring session (and subsequent conversations) revolved around finding ways to uplevel my ability to respond to input - regardless of whether it was personal or professional!

Step 3: Reflect

What’s that thing you do at the end of the day that lets you know whether it was good…or not?

I interchange words here, I figure the more, different ways I say it, people around me will understand how important it is to me to pause, regularly, and reflect back on the good. In fact, during the Town Hall (the monthly webinar we present at www.getmomentum.com/get-momentum), in September of 2014, I focused on the significance of the “end of the day” review. Generally, I suggest you do your reflection before you leave your desk/office. Want an easy way to think about it? Here you go. At the end of the day, remember something about that day. Here’s what I think of:

A: Acknowledgement

C: Completion

G: Gratitude

Step 4: Reinforce

We do what we’re reinforced to do. Do you have a habit that you’d like to quit. Or, something you’d like to start doing more consistently, find a way to reinforce your movements “toward” that outcome.

According to “bio-psychology,” the human brain is wired to look for patterns and consistency. The moment we recognize something that is familiar, we put it on to cruise control. It makes sense, you don’t want to have to think about every single thing you do, that would make for a tough day. However, the tough part about this truth is that we reinforce habits and routines that ARE NOT in our best interests.

For the next 5 days, I want you to reinforce the actions you take that you KNOW are putting you a course you want to be on. Want to know what those are?

Go ahead, watch that :42 second video (and the ones after it, if you’d like) and ask yourself, “What can I do right now to Get Momentum?” Just click the sideways triangle in the picture above to start the video…