by Dr. JL Knight | Feb 4, 2019 | Productivity, Uncategorized
Nighttime is magical. We’re all so wise at night. We can plan out the perfect day, but then our plans go awry once the day gets here. The reason for this is that we try to make decisions on the fly, and we’re too influenced by what feels good in the moment.
Consider these ideas for effective planning at night and then following through with those plans:
- Know your goals. What do you want to accomplish? You can’t make effective plans until you know what you’re trying to do. If you don’t know what your goals are in the short and long term, now is the time to set them.
- Set aside time each night to plan the next day. Each evening, at a certain time, plan out what you’re going to do the following day. Do this with the same regularity as brushing your teeth.
- Be ruthless with prioritization. It’s imperative to prioritize your activity. Time is at a premium, so it’s important to maximize its utility. There’s a limit to how much you can accomplish each day. Ensure that you’re getting the most important things accomplished. You can determine the priority based upon your goals.
- Ideally, your list will be quite short. If you have 10 things on your list, you have things that are minimally important. Stick to the most important things.
- You can make another list for things that can be done after the items on the first list are accomplished.
- Make your evening decisions count. At night, it’s easy to decide that you’re going to go to the gym the following day. It’s easy to decide that you’re going to eat in a healthy manner. It’s during the day that you struggle to make wise decisions.
- How many times have you planned on going to the gym at a certain time, only to talk yourself out of it when the time came?
- The solution is to make as few decisions as possible during the day. Make your decisions at night and then just focus your energy on executing during the day. Avoid giving yourself the opportunity to change your mind. Just believe that you made the right choice the night before.
- You can defeat procrastination. You made good decisions last night, so there’s no reason to delay beginning your day. When you prioritize your activities, you can be confident that you’re spending your time well.
Make your decisions when you’re decision-making powers are at their best – at night. It’s obvious what you should eat tomorrow to be at your best. It’s obvious that you should go to the gym, read a chapter of a certain book, or meditate for 20 minutes. It’s much harder to follow through on them when that time comes.
Make your plan at night and then focus on executing it. Avoid allowing yourself to make decisions regarding those items during the day. You already thought about them and made your decisions. There’s no reason to re-negotiate them.
Sit down and make a plan each night for the following day. Fight like mad to stick to the plan the next day. You’ll love the results!
You Can Do It!
By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight
Copyright © 2019 The Business Transformation Coach, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
by Dr. JL Knight | Jan 28, 2019 | Resolve Challenges
We have a process for getting ready for work, getting ready for dinner, setting the table, and shopping for groceries. However, most of us don’t have a process for dealing with challenges. This is a shame because challenges are a constant in life.
Besides resolving the issue at hand, overcoming a challenge also provides momentum – one solved challenge eventually leads to another.
A significant challenge can be quite stressful. A solid process can help to ease the anxiety that challenges often provide.
Use this process for facing the challenges in your life:
- Identify the challenge. It’s not enough to know that you’re not happy. What is the real cause of your dissatisfaction? Is the problem that your transmission broke, or is it that you don’t have any savings?
- Identify the desired outcome. You won’t know if you’ve resolved your challenge if you don’t define what success looks like. How will you know that you’ve been successful? What are the milestones that have to be reached to know that you’ve succeeded?
- Identify your resources. You have more at your disposal than just your wits. Think about everything and everyone that you have in your life. How can you utilize them effectively? Trying to deal with challenges using only yourself and your grit is rarely the optimal solution.
- Create a goal. Set a goal to resolve your challenge. Your goal might be to buy your daughter a prom dress by May 1st, or it might be to save $1,000 by June 15th. Set a goal that is specific and has a deadline.
- Execute daily. Create a plan and work on achieving your goal each day. There’s a lot of progress to be made by simply moving forward a little each day. Avoid the urge to procrastinate. Get busy and work whenever you have the opportunity.
- Visualize success. Be able to clearly see the outcome you desire in your mind’s eye. Create certainty in yourself that you can be successful. Imagine being the person you need to be to experience success. Do this at least once each day.
- Review each day. How well did you do at resolving your challenge? What did you accomplish? What do you need to accomplish next? How can you improve on the effort you made today? What do you need to learn? Whom do you need to contact? Fine-tune your efforts to meet your needs.
- Don’t give up. Most people are good at finding excuses to give up. This is the only way to fail. As long as you’re still fighting, you’re winning. Learn to persevere until your goal is achieved.
- Avoid falling into the same situation. You may have resolved your challenge, but have you ensured that it won’t happen again? The key to making your life better and better is to avoid making the same mistakes over again. What can you do to prevent a future occurrence of the same challenge?
What do you do when faced with a challenge? Most people resort to some sort of distraction or avoidance. This is never effective.
Having a system in place for dealing with life when it gets hard can be a wonderful thing to have in your toolbox. A process eliminates much of the chaos that challenges can bring. Do yourself a favor and build a process that you can use to overcome the obstacles in your life.
You Can Do It!
By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight
Copyright © 2019 The Business Transformation Coach. All Rights Reserved.
by Dr. JL Knight | Jan 23, 2019 | Success
Are you doing what needs to be done to ensure your success? Or are you doing the things that are easy? Or maybe you haven’t given it any thought at all.
Most of us don’t examine our choices to see if they stand up to scrutiny. We tend to do the same things over and over because they’re familiar and comfortable. However, it’s possible you haven’t been making the best use of your time.
If you want to experience greater success, it’s important to use your time wisely. Are you certain that you’re doing the things that really matter?
Effective actions bring the desired results.
Consider these ideas to gain greater success:
- Define success. You can’t tell if you’re focused on the right things if you don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish. Think about what success means to you. How will you know when you’ve succeeded? Once you know the destination, the path becomes more defined.
- Determine the most important actions. Using your definition of success, what are the most important steps along the way? Make a list. Ignore whether or not the activity is enjoyable. That’s not what’s important. What activities are the most relevant to your desired result?
- Ask yourself, “What do I gain by doing this?” Before you undertake any action related to your goals, ask yourself, “What do I gain by doing this?” What is the outcome you can reasonably expect to attain by taking this course of action? Is that the best use of your time?
- Identify the things that aren’t adding value. Look at your current tendencies and habits. Which ones are a waste of your time? We all have things we do habitually that aren’t the most effective use of our time. Examine your daily routines and eliminate those actions that don’t support any of your goals.
- Overcome internal resistance. The things that matter the most are frequently the least comfortable things. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you need to do something you really don’t want to do? The ability to act in spite of that feeling is critical to being highly successful.
- Identify distractions. Distractions are often those things we like to do but don’t move us toward success. Some are pure time wasters, like watching TV. Others are thinly disguised as productive, but you know in your heart they aren’t. Redirect your attention to more productive activities.
- Measure how much time you spend on the important tasks. You might be surprised how little time you actually spend on those tasks.
- For example, one of the best ways for real estate agents to get new listings is to call expired listings. Of course, most agents find it so uncomfortable, they won’t do it. There are tons of rejection.
- Even if an agent made 10 calls each day, that’s only about 10 minutes of their time. It seems like a lot of work, but it’s only 10 minutes.
- How much time are you really spending on the “right” things in order to be successful?
How much time are you spending on the most important tasks to improve your life or reach your goals? Most of us spend a lot less than we think.
Be aware of how you’re spending your time each day. Examine each thing you do and ask yourself if that is the best use of your time. You’ll quickly separate yourself from the pack.
You Can Do It!
By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight
Copyright © 2019. The Business Transformation Coach, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
by Dr. JL Knight | Jan 14, 2019 | Overcome Negativity, Personal Transformation, Transformation
We live in a society where value and status are placed on
material things like cars, homes, and clothes and we all dream about having
more – more money, bigger homes, more cars – yet we never seem to be happy. In
fact, instead of being thankful for what we do
have, we feel envious of the people who have more than us.
Being in constant competition with neighbors, coworkers, or familymembers can be exhausting! Eventually, you’ll lose sight of the importantthings in life, such as your children, relationships, and health. If you place astrong value on things, you won’t feel very fulfilled and you’ll end up creating an inner tension that will onlydrive you away from happiness. After all, happiness isn’t defined by the amountof stuff you collect.
Remember What You’re Grateful For
If you had to list what’s good in your life, right now, and you weren’t allowed to mention any material possessions, would you have a hard time coming up with the list? Do you have a hard time just being happy and grateful because you’re always longing for something bigger or better?
We all have big dreams for ourselves, but we can’t begin to work toward our goals until we accept who we are and where we’re at right now. That acceptance begins with a sincere appreciation for the life lesson’s of yesterday and the talents and skills we have today.
Sure, we all want a big house, nice furniture, big-screen TVs, better paying jobs, luxury cars, gourmet food, fancy jewelry, and designer clothes – but how can we appreciate the finer things in life if we can’t be thankful for the simple things? After all, a big-screen TV won’t matter if you didn’t have your eyes to see and your ears to hear! Of course, desiring goodquality items isn’t wrong, but your focus should be on living and enjoying yourlife, not things.
- Expressing your gratitude
doesn’t have to be reserved for Thanksgiving dinner. Share with your family why
you’re grateful today and really listen to what your family says
in return.
- Encourage your kids to dig
deep in their souls to find their gratitude. Kids need to learn
how to take their focus off of material items and onto influential people,
positive experiences, and quality of life.
Refocus Your Thoughts with a Gratitude Journal
A gratitude journalis simply a notebook where you write down everything in life you’re thankful for. It doesn’t have to take more than 5 minutes in the early morning or beforebed each night. The idea is to clear your mind, reflect on the day, and see thegoodness in life.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Buy or make yourself a
nice, attractive journal so you’ll take care of it and will look forward
to journaling everyday.
- Reflect
on anything new that came your way: new friends, clients, or opportunities.
- Don’t
be shy about repeating things from previous days; praising your good
health and loving family never tires.
- Did a friend do something nice for you
today? Did you find a lost item? Did you handle a difficult situation well?
Gratitude isn’t reserved for
really big things; you can be grateful for the small things, too.
- Periodically,
go back over your journal and read all that you’re grateful for. It’ll be
a great pick-me-up on especially difficult days.
The more you add to your journal, the more you’ll teach your mind a new way of thinking. Your outlook on life will become morepositive and you’ll feel a deeper sense of connection with those around you. And you’ll discover the sheer beauty that already exists in your life.
By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight
Copyright © 2018 The BusinessTransformation Coach, LLC
by Dr. JL Knight | Jan 7, 2019 | Overcome Fear, Personal Transformation, Transformation
If you begin to use affirmations in your life, you’ll
unleash a power that can eliminate the control fear has over you. You can
use affirmations to get you through the tough times and gain self-confidence.
Why You Have Fears
Throughout life, many situations will cause fear, but fear isn’t always bad! It can actually play an important role in your life.
Fear can instantly get your heart pumping faster and give you the adrenalin rush needed to get you away from a threatening situation. If someone were to chase you down the street, your fear could push you to run faster or think on your feet. In fact, fear may be necessary to drive you to safety.
Unfortunately, fear also comes at times when you’re in no danger at all. That’s when fear becomes destructive. These types of fears can hinder your daily lifestyle and make you act in ways that you wish you didn’t.
These are the fears to overcome. Irrational fears, like the fear of being in an elevator or a fear of speaking in public, could cause you to avoid situations that could provide tremendous value in your life. Instead of avoiding fearful situations, learn to conquer your fears and live your life to the fullest.
How Affirmations Can Help
Affirmations can help you overcome your fears by keeping your focus on being positive and in the present moment.Affirmations are short, positive statements that are written in the presenttense. They describe how you want to feel as if you already experience thoseempowering emotions.
You can find affirmations that pertain to your specific fear, or you can write your own. For example, if you fear elevators, you can recite to yourself: “I feel calm and relaxed right now.” Repeat this phrase along with other affirmations next time you ride in an elevator. Find the courage within yourself to face the fearful situation.
The Importance of Believing in Yourself
Affirmations only provide power for you if you bring to them a determination to get over your fears. Repeated on a daily basis, affirmations program your mind to believe and act differently in the stressful situations you’re seeking to overcome. But you must be consistent and keep an open mind for them to work for you.
People get over their fears every day. You can find the courage and strength within yourself to finally declare that you’re free from fear! Even if affirmationsseem kind of silly at first, stick with it. They might not make you feel courageous immediately, but give it some time. Keep repeating them and you will see positive results.
Affirmations for Any Fear
You can find affirmations for almost any fear or negative emotion. But it may be more effective to write your own. Simply imagine yourself in the situation, responding perfectly and feeling peaceful inside. Write a positive, present tense statement, in the first person, describing what you see in your mind’s eye.
Create a few affirmations and repeat them to yourself over
and over again. Repeat this exercise every day, and soon you’ll begin to notice
yourself feeling differently about the situation.
Once you’ve worked through one fear with affirmations, you’ll possess a tool that can conquer any fear that you have.
Begin harnessing the power of affirmations today! Start small and allow the positive results to motivate you to use them more and more in the future.
By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight
Copyright © 2018 The BusinessTransformation Coach, LLC
