The Law of Forced Efficiency comes from Eat That Frog, a well respected little book by Brian Tracy!
There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.
The book is suggested reading on the Start Your Own Business, Local Enterprise Office, North & West Cork . It is not a French challenge!
Here I share my 3 questions , a growing daily habit that is getting me from desk to client and facilitates me to live positive health.
1. What is important to me right now?
2. What/Who supports me?
3. What does it mean to me?
Being “Expert”, I am discovering, can be actionable by being efficient and being effective. It is more than knowledge, involves discernment, follow through and getting results which can be measured.
1. What is important to you right now?
As a coach I apply the wheel of life and I understand how all the segments interact. Knowing my priorities leads to an awareness of what I am saying “Yes” to and what I say “No” to. It is a balancing act that always has consequences and learning.
My positive health and wellbeing is impacted by how I share my time.
I accept that time is fixed, and that opportunity is created. I can influence my focus on business through planning and strategy. Understanding what I can Control, Influence and Accept (CIA): provides opportunity and is efficient.
Eat that Frog, supplies 21 learnable, actionable tools to empower personal effectiveness, through repetition. I have chosen 4.
This reduces procrastination and gets the most impactful done first.
Brian Tracy, referring to Peter Drucker, shares 3 questions for setting priority and focus.
- What are my highest value activities?
- What can I do and only I can do, that if done well, can make a difference?
- What is the most valuable use of my time right now?
So this is what I have chosen to apply
- Plan in advance. Use my diary and apply the Drucker 1,2,3.
- Apply the ABCDE Rule, list to do and rating what has the most to least consequences be they positive or negative.
A, has most consequences the impactful item for today. It is the frog. This is where I start and focus to the finish. B is what has mild consequences. The A, needs to be completed before I start B. E, stands for eliminate!
- Slice and Dice the task. As a coach this is making it bite size and achievable. It is making the task SMART. Planning for success!
I love ticking off the A, B, section in my diary. It is the dopamine hit!
The measurement of celebration is the freedom to walk outdoors in Nature.
Woof awaits me.
2. What supports me?
Whatever is important to me, I will focus on.
Focus as a noun is defined as “the main or central point of something, especially of attention or interest.” Focus as a verb is defined as “careful attention that is given to something such as a task, or the ability to give your full attention to something.” (The Cambridge Dictionary).
Michael Ficara said, “Let go of what does not matter. Focus on what matters and that’s what will grow.”
Giving focus and attention is being present. Being present is engaging for the doer and the receiver. It is in the moment and enriching. Sometimes we have Blind Spots that hold us back. We all have them. Coaching questions reveal these in a safe space. This supports us to engage and to be more present.
We chose what we focus on in business and in life. We create our opportunity.
It is always good enough. It brings us forward. If we chose what Carol Dweck encourages us to do; to use a Growth Mindset, where learning is what we do in all situations. Change is possible, because of neuroplasticity.
Applying a growth mindset brings me forward. It allows me to have self compassion. It keeps me learning. It keeps me real and creative.
Business solos may know this…. There is working in the business and working on the business. Well in order to work in the business, I need to apply opportunity to work on the systems that scaffold my business. I create the vision, usually outdoors on a walk. This is where the vision gets broken down and put in motion.
At Fingal Womens’ Enterprising Network. #FERN, Pause, Eat, Share; was the format of the day, for working on the business. The mentimeter showed us individually how to scientifically measure where to focus a strategy.
That is where to put my effort for impact when working on the business. Mantra Strategy facilitated an exploration of outsourcing and valuing what you are and the services provided. Sometimes we need Onboarding so we can do more in the business, with support. As a coach said, “We all need life support.”
3. What does it mean to me?
Focusing my effort and applying a strategy means, I am learning to be more efficient and effective working on the business. This frees me to have more opportunity for enjoying outdoor coaching, where I engage in the business with a Climate Focused Approach. I am aware of how being in nature feeds my positive health systems.
Positive Health Coaching is a Whole Person Approach. It involves work and play.
This Charokee story demonstrates the importance of priority and the choices we make.The boy is aware of his two conflicting sides, the two wolves.Which Wolf will win Grandfather? Answer: The one you feed is the one that wins.Feed both and there is no conflict and they both serve you well.
Clever Elder!
Different strengths, (sides), are needed at different points. We all have 24 Character Strengths. The ones we use most are automatic. The others take intention and focus. The strengths we need depend on how we focus and plan ahead. Coaching supports this discovery. Obstacles can lead to procrastination and feed imposter syndrome, but coaching can support different perspectives leading to growing a new way of doing. The wolf that we feed can impact mood. Mood can impact motivation, cognition, decision making and communication.
Nothing gets done, until it is started and practicing like most things, supports one to be more efficient and more effective. It reduces the risk of burnout, by not being overwhelmed. To be effective and efficient we need restoring and creating spaces to flourish that bring us to be well.
Wellbeing is about how we see ourselves in our life. It is personal and subjective.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist researcher, studied how to document happiness. He concluded that when one’s challenge meets, a skill level at a central point: this is when arousal meets control, then this Flow Experience. This is an inner state where one merges with the activity. He identified 7 conditions that are required to be in flow state. ( See Ted Talk).
So the process of doing and learning and creating is important in experiencing happiness. Process is valued in steps and takes time. It is not about an end production.
I wonder how a ChatGpT creation measures against a process of writing and redrafting; when assessing the flow experience of a writer/ student or business guru.
What will be my legacy…? How will I be remembered?
Well hopefully I added value, shared my gifts and was kind.
In conclusion, creating opportunity for what is most meaningful in our context, is positively healthy.
Coaching helps you find out why, so you can design the how.
Measurement and efficient use of coaching and business tools provides opportunity. Doing with focus is a flow experience that supports engagement when working on or in the business. Having a strategy provides freedom to do the other things I need for my health and wellbeing.
Positive Health Coaching provides a framework for a Whole Person approach, in moving forward.
Personal Development Coaching affords the opportunity to find meaning and what is important and to bring forth the strengths that lie hidden. Drucker (1909-2005), a published authority on business management theory and practice, advocates for leadership focusing on people and ethics, rather than on profits, rules and structures.
What does Freedom mean in business? Applying a growth mindset and having a strategy to move forward. As a coach reflective practice is a core practice. It is part of how I think, rethink and grow.
Have a strategy and set a time. Review and learn. Be SMART sole traders and don’t be soul traders.
Words make worlds, as we say in coaching!
However in The Psychobiotic Revolution by Scott C. Anderson with John F. Cryan and Ted Dinan, it’s our microbes make our worlds. This is material for another blog on Woof! Walk the Talk
Resources.
The Law of Forced Efficency further information: https://entregurus.com/the-law-of-forced-efficiency/
Book. Eat That Frog: by Brain Tracy. https://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/the-truth-about-frogs/
Chose your definition of focus. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/focus
An interview with Michael Ficara about focus: https://www.scalearchitects.com/secrets/99-the-entrepreneurial-cliches-that-are-holding-you-back-with-michael-ficara/
Book. Mindset by Carol Dweck.
Business Support: https://www.mantrastrategy.ie
You Grow and I Support.
I would love to hear your tips for moving forward in living with a business.
Please do share in the comments box below.
2 Responses
Awesome, it is amazing how three little questions can form a scaffolding for an effective, efficient, and timely approach to our daily business of life!
Focusing on “What can I do and only I can do, that if done well, can make a difference?”
This is a super and impactful way to focus on the “What is important to me right now?”
Thank you Declan,
Being able to focus on what is important early in the day, supports us to be more effective and efficient. Opportunity arises when we feel freedom.