I always find it helpful to build a good foundation from which to achieve my goals. I have relied on two books to keep my foundation strong. Those two books are The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Getting Things Done by David Allen.
Most people have heard about the 7 Habits – it was originally published over 25 years ago. I won’t give away the ending, but the seven habits are:
- Habit 1: Be Proactive
- Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
- Habit 3: Put First Things First
- Habit 4: Think Win-Win
- Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
- Habit 6: Synergize
- Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
I find many of these themes run through most of the strategic initiatives I undertake (personally and professionally), so I know they are deeply ingrained me. My weakest habit will be a focus of mine in the upcoming months – Sharpen the Saw. This habit really focuses on the importance of balance and refueling so you can continue to push to higher goals. You can keep running fast in life, but unless you stop to rest, you’ll eventually burn out.
Getting Things Done (GTD) focuses more on creating processes for reducing stress through reducing clutter. For many of us, clutter takes an electronic form in emails, especially in that inbox that pops up when we start our work day. In the pre-GTD days, everything stayed in my inbox and I looked at literally tens of thousands of messages sitting in queue. That number is completely unmanageable and creates mental stress as you try to juggle too many balls at once.
In my post-GTD world, I usually have no more than 30 emails in my inbox at the end of the week and a peak of no more than 125 emails at any point during the week. Those emails are activities that are currently being worked, have actions that I need to take, or are awaiting responses from others so I can take action. On a daily basis, I take time to file unimportant emails and set electronic reminders of things I need to do at a later date so I don’t have to think about them – reducing stress. On Friday afternoons, I take 1-2 hours to ensure I’ve wrapped up outstanding issues, set my actions for the next week, and make sure I’m making progress towards short and long-term goals.
Actionable Idea: There is no shortage of business books that will give you the shortcut to success (?), but getting good at the fundamentals – the “blocking and tackling” of positive behaviors, is critical to positive results. With strong fundamentals, you’ll figure out apply the techniques to your specific situation to achieve your goals.
Read the Classics. Learn them. Live them.
(Photo by moi.)
