I've asked the question before: Are
you too busy to be successful? We
often confuse busy-ness with productivity --
in our selves and in others.
When we get busy, three things happen. First, we suspend the rules and
procedures that we know will be in our best long-term interest. That is, we work
projects out of order; we allow ourselves to be interrupted; we move back and
forth between projects (lowering our effectiveness in both); and so on.
Second, we lose focus. We lose track of the most important thing (whatever it
is) we should be doing. And the second
most important thing, and the third
most important thing. So, while we remain
busy, we are actually less productive!
Third, we lose consistency. In breaking our procedures and losing focus, we
decrease our own consistency. For example, we might say that we're too busy to
hold our weekly staff meeting, or too overwhelmed to exercise today.
Why is consistency so important? Because success is not one big, glorious act or
achievement. Success is the gradual and regular achievement of habits that move
you toward your goals. In other words, it's not one big "thing," but lots and
lots of little things.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Tom Peters:
The
essence of sustainable competitive advantage is:
-
The
obvious;
-
The little things;
-
The
accumulation of little things over the years.
-- Tom Peters
|
Making one really big
sale, for example, is good. But consistently making dozens or good size sales is
better. The same is true for almost any aspect of your business or personal
life.
A grand act of love is
good . . .
Consistent small acts of love are better.
One big act of faith is
good . . .
Consistent small acts of faith are better.
In many ways, it is more
difficult to be consistently good than to perform occasional grand performances.
Consistency means that you can be relied on to perform at a specific level and
in a specific manner. As your skills and commitment improve, you will
consistently perform at a higher level.
Consistency is One of The Muscles of Success
As with all other
muscles, your consistency will improve with regular, daily practice. And when
you take a day off from consistency . . . well, it's the same as exercise. Every
day that you exercise the little habits that contribute to your success, the
better you get.
Every day that you put
off these little habits, you become a little less successful.
Just what are these
little habits? They vary from person to person, of course, but they are all the
"details" of your success.
- Getting to work on
time.
- Telling people that
you appreciate them.
- Sending invoices and
thank you notes in a timely manner.
- Not losing your
temper.
- Doing employee
reviews.
- Holding regular staff
meetings.
- Organizing your day
before it begins.
- Returning phone calls.
- Treating people with
respect.
- Telling your family
that you love them.
And
so forth.
Now
you see what I mean when I say that these little things are more important than
a few big, visible actions. There are so many little things, that it is
sometimes difficult to do them all every day. In fact, it's almost impossible to
execute them all every day.
So if
you want a big, difficult challenge, here it is: Do all the little stuff
consistently well and you'll find yourself in the top 1% of all
the people in world.
Consistency isn't easy.
Good luck!
As
a side note: November is a great time to travel. We have done some great
traveling around "turkey day" and always enjoyed it. There are no lines
at Disneyland, for example. And since Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday,
it's not a huge travel time in other countries. 
