Are You on Track or Running Off the Rails?

Time is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter how rich you are or how poor you are. Not even how famous, infamous or average you are. Time does not stop for anyone and you can’t get more of it. You can’t slow it down or speed it up. With each breath that you take or heartbeat in your chest, time moves forward. We all get a finite amount of it, so it is up to us to invest our time wisely.

How have you invested your time so far this year? Are you making progress toward your goals or are you just watching time march on by? Have you been committed to a plan of action and been willing to make the hard choices that are required to achieve your dreams?

We tend to waste so much of our precious time worrying about things that we can’t control or refusing to take action for fear of the unknown consequences. If you are like most people, you have allowed your fears and emotions to get in the way of doing all the things you know you must do to reach your goals.

Clients that I work with struggle with this problem all the time. They are good people with big hearts that tend to let their emotions and other people’s problems get in the way of taking the action they know is important to achieving success. One of the biggest challenges they face is prioritizing their time to get the maximum payback because they allow others to control their time.

If this is you, time is running out on making 2009 the great year you planned for. The fourth quarter has started and now is the time to check your progress. Are you on track to hit your personal, business, financial, spiritual and community goals? Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you set your fourth quarter 90-day plan.

1. What specific accomplishments have you achieved this year so far? Take stock of where you stand versus your goals and look for the gaps. Reward yourself for the accomplishments and create plans for those still needing your attention.
2. What has held you back from achieving more and what are you going to do about it? Be honest with yourself and acknowledge what is getting in your way. No excuses! This is not about finding someone or something to blame. This is about honestly assessing your behavior and skills and fixing them.
3. What have you done to increase your knowledge, education or value during the year? What books have you read, classes or seminars have you attended or mastermind groups have you joined? If you are not continually learning and growing you are falling behind.
4. Are you actively pursuing the most important issues and tasks on a daily basis? Review your schedule and analyze your day. Are you being pulled into unimportant tasks that are time killers? Is your calendar full of high priority items – even the ones you don’t really like doing – or is your time being drained by tasks that aren’t helping you get ahead?
5. What habits do you need to change in order to achieve your desired results? We all have bad habits. Find out what habits are holding you back and fix them. Should you be delegating more? Are you getting too wrapped up in meaningless email or surfing the net. Eliminating bad habits will free up time to invest in more productive tasks.
6. Who is helping to hold you accountable to taking the actions needed to perform at your best and reach your goals? Have you shared your goals with someone and are they reviewing your progress with you? Don’t try to go it alone. Your progress will take a leap forward when you get someone to help keep you on track.

Your success this year will be determined by how you perform during this final quarter. It has been a difficult year for many people due to the economy but this cannot be a reason for you to give up or stop pursuing your goals. Now is the time to ask yourself the questions above, be completely honest with yourself and double down your efforts.

Time is not going to wait for you. Choose to invest your time wisely and make the tough decisions. You’ll be happy that you did!

To Your Success
Dennis