eat that frog

After everything is said and done, nobody in the world of work really cares how nice a person you are, how popular you are with other people, or how cheerful you are – all of which are helpful. All they care about is” did you get the job done?”

Do the biggest and most difficult task first because that´s the one that makes the biggest difference.

Corollary two is that if you have to eat a frog at all (Which we all must do) it doesn´t pay to sit and look at it for too long. In other words, just do it. Get on with it. Make it the first thing that you do. We´ll loop back to this a little bit later.

The key is to stop doing things.

If the answer is no – don´t do it, or at least don´t do it until the things that do matter are done. Goethe the German philosopher once said, “The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least.” You have to watch out for that.

“If I was not now doing this today, knowing what I now know, would I start it up again today?”

Everybody is doing things today that, knowing what they now know, they wouldn´t start up again today.

One of the great secrets to success, both in time and in life, is to cut your losses.

You´ll find that 85% of your problems or difficulties in life are associated with other people in some way.

If there is anything that you would do to save your business, should worse come to worst, don´t wait until then. Do it now. If there is anything in the back of your mind that you know you should stop or get out of, do it now. Don´t wait until you have no choice.

Recognize the loss, cut your losses, and go on to something else.
Remember, never worry about something you can´t change. And your can´t change a past event.

“Is there anything we´re doing here that, knowing what we now know, we wouldn´t get into? And whatever that is, he chops it immediately. Chop Chop Chop.

Look at your work list each day and if you were giving yourself advice, imagine what you would say about what start with and get done as soon as possible.

So you may already know your hourly rate. If you don´t, an easy way to calculate it is by taking your annual income and dividing it by 2,000.

You will not make coffee, shoot the breeze with friends, read the paper, call home, and so on, because it doesn´t pay $25 or $50 per hour. The focus on making every hour count will transform your life completely.

“If I could only do one thing on this list, which one activity contributes the greatest value to my business?”

In order to be successful, according to a study out of Chicago, you must force yourself out of your comfort zone. You have to force yourself to do more of those things that are uncomfortable at first, but then you become comfortable at a higher level.

Here´s the rule: check your email twice a day; at 11am and 3 pm. Then make it clear to people: “I check my email twice a day between 11am and 3 pm.

The key to becoming better at what you do is called deliberate practice.

I spoke to a businessman yesterday who started out as a construction laborer and high school drop-out. He built a house by going and looking at how other home builders were building houses after they had shut down the jobsite at night. He would gather ideas and ask the trades people questions. Where do you find these materials? Who do you get to put in the plumbing and the roofing and the electricity? He learned how to build houses by observing and questioning.

In selling there are seven key skills. These are prospecting, establishing rapport, identifying needs accurately, presenting your product or service as the best choice, answering objections, closing the sale, and getting re-sales and referrals.

Do you know what the most important skill for sales managers is? It´s hiring the right people in the first place. 95% of a sales manager´s success or even any manager´s success is picking the right people to help them get the job done.

A force multiplier is what enables a small force to defeat a larger force. Some of the force multipliers we study are speed, concentration, and intelligence.

Number one is to work harder.

Number two is to work faster

This means that when something comes up, you deal with it now.

If a task can be done in less than two minutes, in almost every case you should do it right away.

Start a little earlier, work a little hard, and stay a little later.

Fourth is to work together. Work with other people in teams.

Number five is to do more important things. This is a great leverage factor. Remember the 80/20 rule.

Number six is to cluster similar tasks. Do all of your reports at once. Do all of your proposals at once. Do all of your prospecting calls at once.

And number seven, our old friend; get better at your key tasks.

The rule is, to work all the time you work.

Be urgent about your need to get to work and to get the job done. People will go away and waste someone else´s time.

A is an activity with serious potential consequences; something that you must do.

B tasks are things that it would be nice to do.

Next are the C tasks. These are things that would be fun to do but which have no consequences at all.

D stands for delegate.

Finally, E stands for eliminate.

Of Single handling. Single handling means that once you start on your most important task, you stay with that task until it´s complete. you discipline yourself to work and work continually on that task. If you get diverted for any reason, get back to that task as soon as you can.

Number one is to plan and organize your day in advance as we just discussed. Never work without a list. When something new comes up write it down on your list, and then returns to your most important task.
“Do it now, do it now, do it now.”

Question #1: Always ask, “What results are expected of me? And of all of those results, what are the most important results? And of all those results, what is number one?” Then you start on your number one most important result.
The second question you can ask is: “What can I, and only I do that if done really well, will make a real difference?” Remember that there is only one answer to that question at any given time.

The third question summarizes all the books and articles and courses on time management: “What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?”

So here is the final exercise: Imagine that when you come to work one day, your boss comes to you with a dilemma. He says, “I won an expenses paid trip to for one week at a social gathering yesterday, but I can´t go. It is time dated, and the person has to leave tomorrow. I want to give it to you because I like you so much, but here´s the deal. You´ll have to get all of your week´s work done by today at 5 pm. If you can get all of your work done for the week by close of business today, you can have the ticket; First class airfare and hotels, plus a spending allocation and tours if you get all of that work done today.”

Now if you were faced with this situation and somebody came in and asked if you had a minute to talk, would you stop and have a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze? Not likely. If you had a situation like that, how would you work? How much time would you relax? Would you work longer or faster? Would you work harder and focus on higher value tasks?
Would you set priorities, ignore all distractions and refuse to talk to others?
Would you forget about your email? You bet your bippy you would! You