This episode of the #TomFerryShow is part two of “How Do You Do It, Tom?” where I answer questions from my team about my own personal disciplines.
If you missed part one, click here to get caught up.
In this episode, I reveal my methods and philosophies on:
- Maintaining focus
- Keeping myself accountable to my goals
- Managing multiple things that need attention
- Staying present in the moment
- Remaining positive amid negativity, and more!
Like last week, I encourage you to watch the whole video for the full experience, while here on the blog I’ll break down some of the most important answers. Let’s get started…
How Do You Stay Focused Every Day?
For me, staying focused is about building structure.
I start by asking myself what structure do I need that would cause me to most naturally and automatically achieve my goals.
Then I align my behaviors with my goals.
For instance, I hire a trainer and meet him every day.
That action creates the structure that ensures that I actually go do the work.
When it comes to business, if you’re having trouble making calls, connect with others on Zoom and create that structure to do your Hour of Power together with a colleague.
The mistake most people make is that they say they want to be wildly successful, but then they operate like a FSBO… they TRY TO DO IT ALL THEMSELVES. With a support structure around you, everything becomes easier.
Create the structure until the routine becomes a habit.
Once it becomes a habit, it’s automatic.
How Do You Keep Yourself Accountable to Achieving Your Goals?
I’m a big believer you have to make your goals public.
Share them with your team, your friends and your family.
With each of those people, I try to not only share my goal or intention, but also find a way to make it benefit them when it’s achieved.
It becomes a “When I achieve X, you can get Y” situation.
I still remember when my boys were much younger, little Michael and Steven pushing me to succeed because they knew the achievement of my goal meant they got a benefit as well: “Come on, Dad… Do it!”
I also like to share my goals with somebody who might secretly not want me to get there.
Sometimes I need a few of those “Negative Nellies” who want to see me fail. I need the haters.
They just remind me to go out and achieve my goal.
When it comes right down to it, I lean on lots of people to hold myself accountable — my coach, my executive team, my wife.
First and foremost is my coach. Together we took time to co-create goals, a vision, a plan, and architected it. It’s my job to go execute, and I don’t want to let her down.
How Do You Manage All the Things Vying for Your Attention?
The more successful you become, the more you’re going to be pulled in many different directions.
What’s most important for me are these four fundamentals: I know who I am, what I’m good at, where I’m going and what my mission is.
I like to look for pockets of time… You’re not likely to find me sitting around doing nothing. There’s a sense of urgency all the time.
If you struggle with time management or getting to everything you need to address, think about this: What if you hired someone to follow you around and write down what you did in 15-minute increments?
For most people, when you step back and analyze how they’re using their time, the vast majority are doing a tiny bit of stuff that’s necessary every day… and a WHOLE BUNCH of unnecessary stuff.
I’ve learned to minimize the unnecessary tasks so I can take on lots of people and ideas, stay focused and maximize every minute.
