UnitCoach

Ever been in a rut? Either with work or chores or your family or even your hobby? Oh my, but I was in a BIG rut!

For the past two weeks I have been jogging at odd times of the day, and it’s felt good. Well, odd compared to my normal “routine.” I usually do my workout in the morning - that way I’m home and showered before my daughter goes to school and I have the rest of the day to work. Plus I love the idea of being completely showered and ready to take on the day right from the start.

But lately I’d found my self resisting…strongly! Even with my clothes laid out in the bathroom the night before, my iPod all charged up, and no reason in the world not to go, I was talking myself out of my morning workout.

But I didn’t not work out. I just didn’t do it at the time I normally do it. I was jogging later in the day, sometimes in the evening. I had “changed up” my routine and it seemed to be working for me.

As I ran along a different path the other day, I realized that there is a sense of freedom in changing up your routine every now and then. As long as you still accomplish your goals and don’t let yourself off the hook, a change in your routine can even bring greater success. No more rut.

So where in your business are you stuck in a rut? What simple change to the time of day could you make for certain tasks? Maybe you just need to change the location - a different room or in a parked car by the park. Or just rearrange the furniture a bit and see things from a different perspective.

• So, what’s the best time to work out? When you’ll do it.
• What’s the best time and place to make booking calls? When and where you’ll do it.
• What are the best days to hold skin care classes? The days you’ll actually do it.

Change your routine, not your goals, and get out of that rut!

Now go have a POWERFUL day!
- Ann Vertel, UnitCoach

When you plan your booking calls, which of these two scenarios makes you queasy?

1. Call twenty people.
2. Call until you book two classes.
3. Make calls for one hour.

If you said #1 and #2 make you uncomfortable you are probably “time oriented.”
If #3 made you uncomfortable, you are probably “task oriented.”

Honoring your orientation will bring you greater results.

If you are task oriented, you prefer to work on a project until it is complete - calls, filing, cleaning, doing inventory, etc. The downside of this is you may become overwhelmed because a task seems too big. For example, the very thought of organizing your office may send you screaming because you believe once you start the work you must complete it. Task oriented people need to break larger tasks down into smaller ones. Where organizing your office may seem too huge, filing one stack of papers, stocking one shelf of inventory, or answering twenty emails might seem just right. Chunk down the task to manageable bites.

If you are time oriented, you prefer to work on a project for a set period of time, whether you finish it or not. This means you make calls, file, clean, do inventory for a set amount of time, such as half an hour, then move on to another timed task. The downside of this is you may not actually finish what needs to be finished. However, if you work on the project in set time spans you will eventually finish if you keep coming back to it. I read a great example of this, used to clean your house, from Marla Cilley, The Fly Lady, in her wonderful book “Sink Reflections.” (You can find Marla at http://www.FlyLady.com). She said to set a timer, clean a room for 15 minutes, then move to the next room and reset the timer. It works wonderfully for time oriented people.

Approach your work with the style that suits YOU. The point is to get your work DONE.

Now go have a POWERFUL day!
- Ann Vertel, UnitCoach

You may remember Tom Selleck and the show “Magnum P.I.” a number of years ago. In this one episode, Magnum had driven to the home of his boss, gotten out of his car, and was walking to the front door when two large Dobermans came tearing around the house, snarling and barking, heading straight for him. In a panic, he ran for his car, fumbling to get his keys out of his pocket.

He pulled them out and, while trying to get the right key into the door lock, he kept saying to himself, “look at the keys, don’t look at the dogs, look at the keys.” For just an instant, he turned and looked at the dogs. And in that brief second he dropped his keys in the dirt.

At the very end of a running race you can often see the finish line. You may be exhausted and drained and, although you can see the end, it still seems so far off that it is almost discouraging. My best strategy at that point is to put blinders on, look down at my feet, and watch them move one step closer to the goal with each stride. If I look up at the finish line I might stop or slow down. If I focus on each step my feet are taking I’ll finish before I know it because at the end of a race, this is what I can handle and this is what will get me to the goal line.

When Peter got out of the boat and walked across the raging water to Jesus, he was focused and he believed. But as soon as he looked on the storm, he sank.

There is a storm swirling around you, like a giant tornado in the middle of the room. If you look closely, you’ll see what it is made of - negative self-talk, naysayers, doubt, panic, worry, and all the people in your life who just can’t or won’t bring themselves to believe that you are serious about your goal. If you get too close to the tornado it will suck you in. Just step back and observe it and say, “isn’t that interesting.”

Then get back to work.

Your goal is enormous. You will not get there if you focus on the storm. You WILL get there if you focus on the action steps, one after the other, then the next one, and the next one. Take the next step, make the next call, book the next class, and don’t look at the dogs.

Now go have a POWERFUL day!
- Ann Vertel, UnitCoach