Over the past seven weeks I have explored each of the 7 keys to living a productive life from my book, The Productive Life. As I wrap up this series of messages, let me suggest a few things that could sabotage your efforts at living a Productive Life and remind you of what we covered:
* Struggling with Guilt. Many people feel guilty when they are not working a hundred-hour week. For many years I was a recovering workaholic. I was the worst possible taskmaster and I kept driving myself to work non-stop – even when I was supposed to be off. Thankfully, maturity and a desire to live a truly Productive Life have helped me leave that way of thinking and living behind. Maybe you are in a different place in your career and don’t yet feel the need to balance your life. Hopefully you will learn from others who have gone before you and learn to pace yourself and pay attention to all areas of your life. When you work, work hard and smart, but when you rest, rest well!!! Make sure you implemented the strategies you learnt in Key #1: Live Your Mission.
* Dealing with Overwhelm. My wife and I have a blackboard in our kitchen where we write motivational quotes for each week. Last week we chose to use a quote from the Productivity Paradox Podcast by Tonya Dalton: “Overwhelm is not having too much to do – it is not knowing where to start.” This book should have given you practical tools and strategies to know what action to take in any moment as we explored in Key #2: Manage Your Actions.
* Battling with Habits. My daughter, Ashley, often speaks of how our bodies have muscle memory and the negative effects that can have on our efforts to get or keep fit. Our minds have something similar going on and we will need to work consistently at the new ideas and habits that we are developing to overcome old ways of thinking and living. Don’t forget we referenced research that suggested that we need to repeat an action for at least 66 days before it become a habit. You may need to revisit Key #3: Build Your Habits to refine your best practices around mastering good habits.
* Neglecting Key Areas. Maybe you are doing well in some areas of your life but you are really struggling in other areas. Remember we have been talking about the Productive Life and not just the Productive Employee. It may be helpful to revisit Key #4: Plan Your Time where you learnt to include a wide variety of life areas in your planning to set and achieve your goals.
* Getting Easily Distracted. The world is not going to suddenly stop shouting for your attention. You won’t wake up tomorrow with no messages or demands for you to respond. You will need to continually revisit Key #5: Focus Your Mind and keep working on avoiding distractions.
* Fighting Your Nature. If you don’t appreciate how you have been wired and spend too much time trying to overcome your natural strengths and tendencies you will end up being frustrated because you have spent too much time trying to change who you have been uniquely created to be. If this become an issue then Key #6: Know Your Self could be the game changer you have been looking for as you embrace who you are and work with yourself rather than against yourself.
* Running on Empty. If one day you remember your good intentions to live a Productive Life but you find yourself thinking: “I just don’t have the energy to show up and deliver anything today” then it would be time to revisit Key #7: Renew Your Energy and do things that will generate the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy you need to live a Productive Life.
I trust that you have benefited from this series and have either invested in a copy of my book or have an intention to do so! As I mentioned in a previous message, if you honestly can’t afford to purchase a copy, then send me a direct message and I will send you a digital copy for free!
Here are some places where you can purchase a copy if you are able to:
Amazon (http://bit.ly/TPLBOOK) – eBook and Paperback for global shipping.
Takealot (http://bit.ly/TPL_Takealot) – Paperback for South Africa shipping.