There comes a day when it hits you:
• You are doing too many things.
• Projects are hovering around you partially finished and you are moving at hyper speed from one to another.
• You lose focus and have no time to dedicate to the thinking required to add value.
• People around you seek out your help and experience, and you have no time or energy
• You are losing touch with important people outside of your work – friends, spouse, kids. This is slow and imperceptible to you
• Hobbies that were once relaxing are now demanding time you use to have available.
• And oddly, you find you aren’t motivated when the pressure is not intense
That day that it hits you is a strange day and you are not going to like it. Take my advice. First say a big thank you to your creator (cause many people never have that day) then step back and figure out what you are going to WORK TOWARDS and what you are going to GIVE UP. Simple as that.
But you know that. You’ve known that for a long time. Why haven’t you done it yet? Simple – because giving things up is hard, really hard. You are a wired yes-man. That’s a key reason you are overcommitted. There is always a way to help out and make something happen. Last thing you want is to be is a quitter; let someone down, fail to live up to expectations.
But guess what? Successful folks say no – a lot. You can group them into a couple of categories. Some have tunnel vision and drive towards a goal, some accept more than they can handle but are expert at delegating away that which can be done by others and finally some are just very selective about what they say yes to.
How do they find the courage to say no (cause it does take courage)? They are so passionate about their goals, they would never do anything to deviate from them. This includes personal goals and family committments, by the way. (Hopefully there is lots of passion in your life for them, too)
Simple stuff – Tough stuff – but it will change your life.
