It’s one thing when you’re winging it not putting in the effort. Then it’s ok to not see the results.
But when you work hard, put in long hours and say ‘no’ to things you really like… and you still don’t see the results, it can get pretty frustrating.
I don’t know about you, but this used to be my reality not so long ago. Long hours, loads of effort and lots of frustration.
Until I decided to have a closer look at what’s REALLY going on and change my reality.
Today I want to share with you top 3 roadblocks you should watch for if you want to improve your results without exhausting yourself.
1. Working hard, not smart
This might sound like cliche, yet it’s super powerful. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a strong believer in hard work. It’s impossible to create the results without action. Yet, it’s important to take action that will lead you in the right direction and produce the results you’re looking to create.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say that you have an event coming up. Events are so easy to bring overwhelm and stress into our lives… unless you set your priorities and focus on what truly matters. You can spend time on content, decorations, researching venues and meal plans, deciding on the dates, length and marketing, you can even spend time designing all the marketing materials or updating website. Yet, unless you spread the word about your event, send out invitations or hand out your flyers, nobody’s going to come.
Based on the old 80/20 rule, 20% of your activities will create 80% of your results while 80% of your activities will create 20% of your results. To avoid overwhelm you MUST figure out what the 20% of your activities that create 80% of your results are. In this case it will be marketing. Connecting with people and letting them know about your event. Everything else is a distraction, keeping you away from achieving desired result.
Question: What are your 20% activities that will create 80% of your results? Where should you focus your time and energy?
2. Lack of creativity
Everything is harder when your natural flow of creativity is clogged. Whether we talk about individual or team, work gets harder with lack of inspiration.
I believe that we all are creative. Every human has his or her own dose of creativity. Our creativity varies in form – some create in-depth research studies, some create systems and processes, others innovate, while some build, paint, or who knows what else. We all are naturally creative.
This being said, I don’t believe that each of us is USING our creative talent. Some get stuck undermining their skills, while others keep trying to fit the square peg into the round hole hoping that if they learn different way of creativity, they will be more satisfied or more successful.
Your best way to keep creativity going in to stay true to your own unique talent. If you’re a tinker, this is what you will be really good at naturally. (Those of you who don’t have little girls at home, this is from Tinker Bell movie and I highly recommend you watch it to see how messy it gets when we try to be who we are not meant to be.)
3. Overwhelm
Overwhelm is a huge enemy to productivity, performance and creativity. Overwhelm means that you’re trying to bite more than you can handle and you don’t take time to rest and re-energize.
Our energy is limited. You can’t run yourself to the floor for long. You only have one body and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
It’s crucial that you take time off. Smell the roses, listen to music, take a walk or read a good book. Enjoy life because if you will, your body and mind will get the necessary break and will burst with renewed energy and higher creativity level. You will be surprised how you can create better results faster.
If you enjoyed this post, check out my 5 Tips to a Better Performance Training here.
