Newsletter for November 2006: Success Is In The List

1. This Months Thought
2. Success Is In the List
3. Quotes of the Month
4. Strictly Business: Eliminate the Bottlenecks
5. Humor: Amazing Factoids

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Nothing is more important to your ultimate success than living your life, and spending each day, the way you truly want to. Success is achieved not by doing extraordinary things, but by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well, day by day, every day. What's on your Daily List?

In the movie, "Schindler's List", about Oscar Schindler's heroic effort to save thousands of Jews from the Nazis during World War II, there is a line that says, "the list is life". Any person whose name was on the list, was saved. Their value and contribution were recognized. They were safe.

Many people have discovered the value and contribution of a daily "to do" list. By organizing and writing down your daily tasks, you achieve far greater productivity and success. There is no question. A daily "To Do" list is vital for your success.

But there is an even more profound List you need to know about. It's an idea that has simplified my life, clarified my goals, organized my thinking, enhanced my health, made me money, and enriched my life. And, it has nothing whatever to do with a list of daily errands or minor projects.

I'm talking about a "Daily List". My current list has 10 items on it, but over the years it has varied between six and twelve items that I am committed to doing every single day. The list keeps me focused, reminds me of my priorities, and organizes my dayevery morning.

I have a copy of my current list on nice card-stock on my bathroom mirror, another copy on my desk and a copy taped to the dash of my car. The point is that I see the list often, in various formats, but always with the same reminder:

Tony Robbins says that most of us "major in minor things", and it's true. We get caught in our daily chores, our daily projects and errands. We focus on the trivial distractions of life, and lose yourselves in the process.

Only rarely do we think about who we are, what we value, and where we are going. Only rarely does life invite us to slow down, think about the big picture, design our lives, and be certain our choices actually reflect our deepest values.

My Daily List is designed to do precisely that. Every few months, I take an afternoon to re-think and review where I'm going. I scan my goals, and my recent past, to see if they match.  Then, I look for a handful of daily disciplines that will take me in the direction I want to go. I write them down, make a few copies, and post them where I will see - and READ - them every day.

The point is to be CERTAIN that I am reminded of the big picture every single day.

1. Meditate and pray

2. Exercise, stretch, eat well and floss

3. Read, learn, grow - personal development comes first

4. Create & produce value-added stuff

5. Enhance my relationships (Call at least one friend every day)

6. Maintain the nest (pick-up, fix-up, neatness counts)

7. Expand my network; strengthen my community

8. Serve my customers

9. Monitor, maintain and grow the biz

10. Dream, clarify, plan and commit to my preferred future

What items are on, or should be on, your Daily List?

A short list placed where you'll see it often, in formats that wil catch your eye and make you smile and remind you to focus on your most important items is powerful. And, after a while, if you notice you aren't reading it any more, change it! Re-word it, rewrite it, up-date it so it's current and the language again has the power to energize your day.

Nothing is more important to your ultimate success than living your life, and spending each day, the way you truly want to. Success is achieved not by doing extraordinary things, but by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well, day by day, every day. What's on your Daily List?

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." -- Richard Bach

"Ideals are like stars. We may never reach them, but we use them to chart our course." -- Unknown

"It is yourself that must constantly be transforming. You cannot bring the same stale self to the world and expect the world to benew for you." -- Deepak Chopra

In any process, there is an upper limit to your results, and the limit is always the same: A bottleneck.

In watering your garden, the smallest point in the line limits how much water passes through the hose. The bottleneck may be the valve on the side of your house, the diameter of the hose, the little washer inside the joint, or the nozzle on the end. Wherever the bottleneck occurs, it limits the flow through the entire hose, and the solution is always the same: increase the flow at that one critical point, and the results are instant and dramatic!

The same thing is true in business and in your career. No matter how smart or skilled or passionate you are, there is always one critical point, one item that limits you more than all the others combined! Fix it, and like the flow of water through your hose, the results are amazing!

1. Not Acting as a Business. Many professionals and entrepreneurs have a dream, not a business. They work without focus, and without results. For tax purposes, the government makes a distinction between a hobby (no matter how hard you work at it), and a business. Customers can tell the difference, too. The bottleneck is lack of clarity. Work the business!

2. Ineffective Marketing. If you aren't getting enough new customers, the bottleneck is in your marketing process. Find a way to let more people know about your business. Everyone wants great service at a fair price. Help them find you!

3. Inadequate Value Added. To achieve unusual success, you must transform casual customers into life-long partners. If people are trying your product or service, but don't become repeat customers, something is wrong. It may be a skill problem, a pricing problem, or a delivery problem, but it must be fixed!

What are the bottlenecks that hold you back? Find them, and fix them. You can not afford to allow one small "pinch" to limit on your potential. Eliminate the bottlenecks!

A friend sent me this list and as long-time readers know, I love totally useless stuff like this! Did you know that:

• More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

• The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.

• The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language...try it!

• No word in the English language rhymes with month.

• Shakespeare invented the words 'assassination' and 'bump'.

• "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand, "lollipop" with your right.

• The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

• The words 'racecar' and 'kayak' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.

• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters from only one row of the keyboard.

• There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

• There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs five times: "indivisibility."

• The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable".

• A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second

Rodger Blaker works with executives, small business owners and professionals who want to grow in their business and create an extraordinary life!

For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.rodgerblaker.com or call me at 214-485-2238.

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