If you’re looking to become more effective in your personal and professional life, the first step is to start making conscious decisions. Many people assume that decisions come naturally, that all they need to do is recognize the benefits of a particular choice and the decision will flow from there. However, this mindset can actually be detrimental to personal success and effectiveness.
To truly be effective, you must be as conscious as possible about your choices.
Your power of choice is one of the most important personal powers you have, and it’s not always in play. You have to be as conscious as you can be about your choice of getting things done now. This means deciding which tasks need to be completed first, and then stepping up the quantity and quality of your output.
Increasing the quantity of your output is important, no matter what your profession may be. Whether you’re a sales rep, lawyer, doctor, medical professional, janitor, or mall owner, you need to do more and produce more output. This output needs to be quantifiable, meaning it must be measurable in some way, such as sales or website views.
However, it’s not enough to simply increase the quantity of your output. You also need to step up the quality of your output. Producing substandard work, even if you multiply it a million times, will not lead to success or promotions. Therefore, it’s important to focus on improving the quality of your work with each task you complete.
To truly become more effective, everything you do must relate to the big goals of your life. Becoming a more effective person means becoming a more purposeful person.
You’re not just completing tasks to meet a quota or earn a paycheck, you’re doing so with the intention of reaching your personal goals. Understanding why you’re completing a task is just as important as understanding how to complete it.
The big goals in your life are completely personal, so it’s up to you to zero in on them. These goals may be deep and meaningful to you, but they might not mean all that much to the next person.
However, as long as you’re clear about your goals, you should be able to benefit from the sense of emotional urgency that they produce.
Once you understand the reasons why you should become more effective and have identified your personal goals, it’s important to set a timeline to start acting more intentionally.
Feeling a sense of urgency is key to actually making progress towards becoming more effective.
All the insights you’ve gained up to this point won’t be enough to change your life unless you feel this sense of urgency and take action.
In summary, becoming more effective requires making conscious decisions, increasing the quantity and quality of your output, and connecting everything you do to the big goals in your life. By doing so, you’ll become more purposeful and motivated to succeed, and you’ll start to see real progress in your personal and professional life.
