Just finished reading George Cloutier’s ‘Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing’, and it got me thinking about how I usually address profit. I’d say mostly as an afterthought – but not any more!
Aren’t we in business to make a profit? I’m not sure where ‘profit’ got its bad rap but going into 2011 – I’m changing my mindset.
By keeping profit in the forefront of my mind, is helping me decide what I should do first second and third. Think about this in the context of a typical day. Whenever I have a productivity discussion, most people complain about their inbox being the death of their existence. How those awful emails can ruin their day. Hey – by the time they get through checking and responding to emails, it’s noon.
After reading this book you’d probably ask yourself – how much of that activity really results in business and can you justify ALL the time you spend in your inbox and truthfully say that ALL that time is spent dealing with customers? I think if we were to be truthful we’d see that most of it is busy work. Skim emails for the most important ones – deal with that – and get out! Stop checking emails every hour. That’s like opening the refrigerator and standing in front of it every half hour. Nothing much has changed. Same stuff that was in it half hour ago IS STILL THERE.
I am not even talking about rigid time management techniques here.
I am saying simply consider everything you set out to do in the context of how profitable is the activity to your life and how doing that is going to help you towards your goals.
As much as I am a ritual run individual I often found that something was missing. And then I realized what that was. I had all the ideas in my head about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go but one – I didn’t write them down and two – I would often forget that that’s where I said I was going in the first place.
You know what I’m talking about – writing down your goals.
Yes! You know all about goal setting but if you’re not keeping your top four goals in front of you:
- How are you planning your day?
- What activities are you gonna be involved in for that day?
- What things will actually lead you closer to these goals if they’re either vague in your head or on a card somewhere – wait – now where’s that card?
And the insane question at the end of it all would be:
Do you, given your present actions, still expect a profit in the end?
If you want to change some things in your life – you need to change some things in your life.
Nuff said. 🙂
Your expertise is your business! 