The "project card": Why life will never be the same again

One of the things that makes creating and maintaining a planning system like "A life well led" is the myriad of discoveries that I make over time.  One of those flowed from my reading James Altucher's excellent new book "Choose Yourself (my thoughts about this book and a a link to it on Amazon can be found HERE and HERE).

One of the primary success factors that I've found have led to consistently goal completion is to revisit your goals often (I wrote about this recently and you can find those thoughts HERE), and the "project card" concept is one that has made that effort significantly easier to attain.  As you can see from the pic below, the front of the card is about the "macro" of what I'm trying to accomplish this month... And doesn't change much over time.  

Built primarily around Altucher's concept of looking daily at what you are trying to accomplish, the goal is to do several things daily including:

Assess daily the 4 legs of your life:

- Physical needs

 - Emotional needs

 - Mental needs

 - Spiritual needs

In addition to looking at each of these "legs" daily, I also try to do the following each day:

 - Read for 2 hours

 - Document 10 ideas (I've been this far unsuccessful at nailing down 10 ideas per day, but having lofty goals is what helps us shoot higher right?)

On the back side of the card is a breakdown of the "big" projects that I've got underway and this piece changes as I reset my system each month (more on that in a future edition).  It also helps to "limit" me in that there is a finite amount of room on the card and keeps me from "biting off more than I can chew" - which is a challenge I've faced repeatedly in my career.  Each day I take the card out and have in front and center either on my laptop, or in one of my notebooks, which helps keep me focused on my daily efforts as well as the larger projects which won't get done in one day.. But need attention each week to complete them. 

This card had changed my life.  One of the main issues I've had in completing large volumes of work across multiple projects had been keeping track of what needed attention when...and by having this card available for a quick glance at various times each day... My ability to focus, execute against each effort AND ensure that I'm making progress daily is assured.

So do you have a "project card" in your efforts that helps you achieve success?  Have a online/offline tool that makes your life easier to manage?  I'd love to hear about it either directly - donegalhold@yahoo.com or in the comments section below.

Here's to you.. And another day in a Life Well Led.

Thanks for reading.... And make it a great day!

The art of the "personal offsite"

So we've all done them right?  We take time out with our Team, coworkers even sometimes the entire company and invariably we find ourselves asking "why don't we do this more often" right?.... or at least I hope you do.  I've been a big fan of these events and in my reading in recent weeks ran across a concept that I'd been practicing for some time...I just hadn't come up with a cool enough name for it...and that is the personal offsite.

For a number of years my wife and I have held what we have come to call 'goals retreats' where we head off to some exotic locations (at least exotic for us) and plan the next year.  In the last 60 days I've switched over to using a new goal setting methodology - The 12 Week Year (which if you haven't heard of it take a moment and check it out HERE) - which has altered both my approach to goal setting in general as well as the way I approach our annual planning.  It also fit perfectly into my renewed focus on reviewing goals constantly.

This week I'm in the midst of weeks 8-12 of my first "12 Week Year" (more on that journey in future editions), but suffice it to say that I've had an epiphany about both my work and the life that I've been fortunate to build and expand on since my "new" journey began from the nadir of 2001 (you can learn more about where my personal philosophy got its start HERE).  I now have a system - which this blog will seek to document - without which my life would have turned out quite differently.

Personal offsites are now a part of that effort.  Held at the beginning/end of each 12 week planning cycle, these checkpoints are crucial to ensure that I'm proceeding towards my larger goals... One major one is to share the wealth of what I've been fortunate enough to collect and put into practice over time.

As you think about how setting aside time every couple of months to think about how you can get more from your life, ask yourself this question - My company thinks that its important enough to the future of our business to spend time "thinking about the future" without distractions... Is my personal life and career any less important?

Some food for thought and would love to hear your thoughts.  Think personal offsite (or even planning) are a waste of time?  Have a great story about how planning and goal setting have made a difference for you?  Drop me a line directly at donegalhold@yahoo.com or leave a comment below.

Here's to you.. ..And another day in a Life Well Led.

Thanks for reading.