Rules for efficient living
Whys and hows of efficient living
It was in the middle of my interview with Robyn Pearce, where we were discussing the various strategies and techniques that would assist our readers in becoming better time managers, that I came up with the statement ‘efficiency breeds super-sufficiency’.
You see, that is why I love hanging around winners. Because by simply putting yourself into an environment such as that, the most surprising and beneficial thoughts are arrived at by yourself, without you even knowing at times what is happening on the inside of your own heart and mind.
Winning associations create winning thoughts. Winning associations produce winning promotions.
And as I was about to prepare writing this article, I received an email from my friend Robert G. Allen. Attached to that email was his and Mark Victor Hansen’s marketing plan for their latest book.
These 13 sheets of paper, which include 4 of their publishing objectives and a 28 point action plan, got them an advance from the Random House publishing company, before the book was even written, for $1,000,000.
As I hold the document in my hand I say to myself, ‘This is what one million dollars feels like and IT FEELS GOOD!’
Robert is already the New York Time’s best seller of Nothing Down, Creating Wealth, Multiple Streams of Income, and Multiple Streams of Internet Income.(1)
Mark, along with his co-author Jack Canfield, have already sold over 80,000,000 copies of the Chicken Soup series of books.
So with that mindblowing material buzzing around in my own head, I come to you today to write this week’s Motivational Memo. Hang on to your seats, for we are going to go for a ride of all rides. I am HIGHLY motivated!!!!
WE ALL NEED A MENTOR
Our lives are an open and blank book when we are born. It is at that point that the responsibility of writing our own best selling story begins. Each of us have been given the qualities and abilities to write our own best seller, and the title is: MY LIFE. But in order to write it, we must first learn how to take command of our circumstances and bring them in line with our goals and our dreams.
We must, as my friends Bob and Mark so eloquently put at the front of their marketing proposal, ‘Let’s begin with the end in mind…’
An efficient mind is a mind that plans in advance. It is a life that is directed, not by chance, but by design. A great life can be designed if you simply take the time to do so.(2)
DESIGN YOUR DESTINY IN DETAIL
So here are five keys that will help you to live efficiently. The outcome arrived at, because of your diligence, will be a life of super-sufficiency.
1.BEGIN WITH THE END FIRST
Before I leave for any trip, whether it be in Australia or overseas, I always plan my destination first and foremost. When I go to L.A. or London I go to my travel agent and ask for a plane ticket that will take me directly to those cities and return me home. I always start with the end first.
This same principal needs to be applied to every other area of your life, if you are going to get the results that you desire.
Apply this to your physical self. What weight do you want to weigh? See it.
What house do you want to live in? Get a picture of the house you want, pin it up and see the end at the start.
What lifestyle do you want? Photograph it. Go to your travel agent and get magazines and pictures. Hold them before your eyes constantly so that you can see the end first.
Get your photographs with your mentors-to-be. Visualise their friendship with you. See it now. See it wow!
I am always reminded by the movie ‘Schindler’s List’, where Schindler had his photo taken, time and time again, with all the top brass of the German army as he showered gifts on them. He got their business, and although he was an unknown at first, he suddenly became a man of great influence through the power of association.
As Robert Allen said in a recent seminar that I attended, ‘If you’re going to have goals, have BIG HAIRY GOALS.’
So the question I would ask you is this: how BIG are your goals and how HAIRY are they?
As I thumb through Mark and Bob’s marketing plan for their book and use it as my benchmark for my next best seller, I have been challenged to pour quick hair growth lotion on my marketing plan and to send my marketing plan off to a personal trainer so that those muscles start to bulge. Before I know it I will be the proud owner of an Arnold Schwarzenegger marketing plan.
Mark and Jack recently urged me to write 101 goals, so I sat down and wrote 102. I always like to go the extra. Try it for yourself. Write 102 goals and don’t stop until you’re done.
3.SECURE THE SECONDS
Don’t allow any time to be wasted. Secure the seconds, manage the minutes and hone the hours so that you live an efficient and productive life. Quantity is not of the greatest importance. Quality reigns supreme when it comes to time management.
When I sit to write, I am totally focussed on writing and nothing else. When in full flight, in writing my next book, I will write a 1,000 words in a sitting. And once that is done, my writing for the day is over. I can then focus on other important activities.
Stick with what you’re GREAT at and you will live a GREAT life.
Many tasks, that we don’t enjoy doing or don’t find easy to do, need to be delegated to those with appropriate skills.
Find for yourself a team of people who can work alongside you, within their own areas of expertise, to help you to secure the seconds and achieve your dream.
WHEN YOU ADD THE LEVER OF EFFICIENCY TO AVERAGE YOU HAVE LEVERAGE
4.TALK THE WALK
Speak your future into being. Declare it done. Only allow a positive confession to fill your mouth. And let it flow constantly. Declare the dream done and the goal got.
For as you promote your dream with your mouth, you are in fact creating a pathway on which you will walk towards your dream.
It is like the path that led Harrison Ford to his ultimate goal in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’. The solid path only revealed itself as he put forward his foot in faith into what appeared a deep chasm.
The Bible tells us that, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue.’ That’s so true. When you open your mouth you can either kill your dream or inspire it.
Negative, fear-filled and doubt-filled words stop dreams in their tracks. Positive, faith-filled words make the dream alive and vibrant, producing an atmosphere that is ready to receive the culmination of that dream.
5.WALK THE TALK
A dream without action is dead. A marketing plan without applied effort will never produce anything.
If you write it, then ignite it through doing what needs to be done.
Pick up the phone. Conduct that interview. Write that article. Create that advertisement. Hire that publicist. Secure that agent. Send that e-mail. Ask that question. Get help in those areas that you are lacking. And in doing, do them consistently and constantly.
A flash in the pan is just that….a flash.
Don’t be a flash. Be an evergrowing fire that warms those who come in contact with you. Be upbeat in your conversation and train those who work with you to do the same.
Seek to serve. Give at every opportunity. Go to give, not always to get. Search out for alliances that will benefit all involved. Be a friend. Mentor others as you are mentored.
Live the life that you have planned and live it passionately.
These five keys will help you to live efficiently. And as you are consistent in applying that efficient action to your daily activities, you will know the joy of living a life of super-sufficiency.
Motivational Memo: Super-sufficiency is created by a life of efficiency.
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