Four Ways To Change Your Business And Life

There are four ways to change your life and your work. There are only four things you could do or refrain from doing that can be put under one of these four headings.

Number one. You can do more of certain things. So the question is, what should you do more of? You should do more of those things that have the highest payoff. Those activities are working successfully to bring you the results that you want. The natural tendency of many people is to work for months and years to find a success formula and then promptly abandon it and try something new and different. For example, many people will find a consistent, predictable way to generate leads and convert those leads into customers. They will work hard to build up the reputation and sales volume of a fast-moving, profitable product. And then, for some perverse reason, they\’ll stop doing what\’s working so well and start trying something else. So what things should you be doing more of?

Number two. You could do less of other things. What should you be doing less of? Obviously, you should do less of things that are not working. You should spend less time selling products or services that are hard to market and have low margins. You should do less of things that do not give you the kind of rewards and satisfaction you might have expected even though they might have been successful in the past. So, what things should you be doing less of?

Number three. To change your life is, you can start doing something completely new. It\’s hard for most people to break out of their comfort zones, introduce new products or services, or try new ways of doing business. Starting something new requires courage and resilience, especially since most new things don\’t work, at least at the beginning. Based on what you\’ve heard so far, what things should you start doing to improve your business and personal life?

Number four. You can change your life if you can stop doing certain things altogether. This is sometimes the greatest time saver of all. Simply discontinue an activity that consumes much time but contributes very little value to your life or your work.

Remember, your dance card is full. Before you embark on something new, you must discontinue something old. Before you pick something up, you must put something down. Before you get into a new activity, you must get out of an old activity before starting any new task. You must ask yourself, what task am I going to have to curtail, downsize or abandon completely to have the time to do this new job?

Get better at your key tasks. The law of three says that three primary activities contribute most of the value you give to your company. The quality and quantity of your work in these areas are critical determinants of your success. So what are they?

One of the best time-saving techniques of all is to get better at your key tasks. The better you become at an important task, the more of it you can do in less time. The more you do, the better you will become and the fewer mistakes you will make. When you become excellent in a key area, you get more and better results and make an even greater contribution. If for example, prospecting and lead generation are vital to the sales and profitability of your business. Commit yourself to become better and better in those areas.

• Read, listen to audio programs
• Attend seminars
• Ask for advice from people who are doing well in those areas.
• Test new methods and techniques
• Set goals and targets.
• Measure your success and self-correct.

Resolve to become absolutely excellent in lead generation until you have so many prospects that you don\’t have enough time in the day to talk with them all. Profit from the learning curve. The highest-paid business people in our society have taken the time to become absolutely excellent at the most important things they do. As a result, they moved down what is called the learning curve or the efficiency curve. When you start at the top of these curves, it takes tremendous time and effort to accomplish even a small result. But as you get better and better, you move down the curve, achieving the same results with less and less time, effort, and expense. At the bottom of the efficiency curve, you can make more sales in one day than you used to make in a week. You can generate more sales and income in a week than you could originally generate in a month. Your business can generate more profits in a month than you used to earn in a year. And this is because you have become extremely good at performing those key functions that contribute most to your sales and profitability.

What functions are key for you and your business? Hire competent people. Remember, you cannot do everything yourself. When you begin your business, you will have no one to whom you can delegate. But as you grow your business, hiring and keeping excellent people is the key to leveraging and multiplying yourself. It\’s a great time management tool.