Life Balance Experts

Asking for help.   For some reason we men really don’t like to do this.  We men have to admit that the women have us licked on this one. They are not afraid to ask. Think about it…directions, fixing the car,…you name it we are usually not so quick to ask for help.  When I became a life coach I learned a valuable lesson that the more I ask, and the more I listen, the more I grow.  Growth is just one benefit though, I also save a dramatic amount of time.  It’s amazing how much time we spend feeding our own egos.  Why do people feel they have to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps?  Why do we go to great lengths to figure out something that was in front of us all along.  The faster you ask the faster you get things done.  Just make sure you’re asking the right person.

At the end of a meeting when you are making your cordial goodbye and thank you (and you have 5 minutes to get where you are going) do not give the conversation extending ”oh yeah and by the way…”.  If you know you have another meeting or project…or anything to be at - don’t add that last thing you forgot to tell them earlier.  You can  always email, text, instant message, fax, or call them later.

If you forgot it to begin with chances are it was not a priority A item…move on, it can wait.  When you extend the conversation to share that last tidbit you are saying to the other person(s) in the room that it is okay if you are late, or go off schedule.  They will take that as cue that they can do the same.  They will also take that as a cue for future meetings.  Protect your time by letting the conversation (and meetings) naturally end.

Have you become a snoozaholic? When the alarm goes off in the morning do you hit snooze once, twice, three times…? If so you might be a snoozaholic. You see when we decide when to get up in the morning we make a commitment to ourselves. That commitment is broken when we hit snooze. Broken commitments begin to tear us down and create internal conflict that creates a lack of trust in our being. When we start to loose trust in ourselves we don’t believe in ourselves. Loosing that belief in yourself is extremely self destructive. If you are starting the day out by lying to yourself, once, twice, or three times then you are setting yourself up for more broken commitments. It is true each and every person has the capacity to shift out of this during the course of the day – and some do. However, why start the day lying to yourself? It is like taking 2 steps backward just so you can get caught up before you become productive – and I am not even talking about the lost time from sleeping longer. Create new habits by promising to be honest with yourself about when you are going to wake up in the morning. You can’t change the past but you can change the way your tomorrow looks. Before you go to bed be realistic about when you are going to get up – then do it. See what happens when you start to believe in yourself.

Saving time is impossible.  Let’s face it you cannot save it.  But wasting time can be curbed.  I find that many people waste tons of time wavering over decisions.  Or worse yet, sulking over bad past decisions.  Perfectionism is one of the culprits but so is playing the “victim”.

Bad decisions have to be let go.  The most successful people in life took great risks – and sometimes those risks proved to be horrible decisions.  However, their response to those decisions is what defined their legacy.  They quickly changed and made new decisions to replace the old.  It is when we allow ourselves to fall into the desires for pity (and consoling) that we start drifting away from effective behavior.  We become a drain on energy and attention instead of a source of it.  When really what we need to do is just move on.  Learn from the mistake and save the victim behavior for those that actually are victims.  Self victimization eats up not only your time but the time of everyone around you.  It is like a virus that destroys people and companies from the inside out.  Shift away from it quickly and you will save yourself and your associates hours of time.