Happy New Year everyone!
I told this story in a recent member call…
It was when I got my first real executive job. I was reporting directly to the GM of a billion dollar business.
I had multiple levels of management in my organization and I had global responsibility. And it was a turn-around situation in the business so it was very busy and very messy for awhile.
I was overwhelmed.
I was scheduled from 7am to 7pm straight through every day, with pressure to schedule calls at 5am and 6am too, and have dinner meetings. And I was still not seeing everyone who wanted to see me.
I had no time to myself. I had no time to think. I felt out of control.
I told an executive coach, “I would be so much better at my job if I had more time to think”.
She told me, “you have to make time to think.”
I told her I couldn’t imagine how. There were so many expectations.
Here’s what she said to me…
“Patty, you are just not that important”.
Ha! It was indeed true…
I think we all can sometimes get too caught up in ourselves, and think the world will stop turning if we take the time to eat a sandwich.
She challenged me to schedule and protect 2 hours a week to think about the business, and think about what I needed to get done.
I have done this ever since. And I talk about this frequently.
You only have 2 choices.
You will be able to come up with lots of reasons why this is hard to do, or why it won’t work. But you still only have 2 choices. Schedule it or don’t — It will not magically appear. Schedule it and make your life better, or change nothing and stay in the current state.
It’s your choice.
No one will ask you do to this or specifically grant you permission. It’s one of the things that make the most successful people succeed –they give themselves quality time.
Once you get in the habit of doing this, you’ll experience the payoff. You’ll actually buy back that time and more, by getting better work done, and more of the right work done.
If you do only one thing differently this year — give yourself time to think. (and remember you have to hide.)
In case you missed it, I published the webinar on NEXT YEAR’s CAREER PLAN last week during the holidays.
It might give you some things to think about!
Thank you for reading my blog and helping me build my business. Thank you for sharing what I do with others. Thank you for giving my book RISE and memberships as holiday presents. I am truly grateful and honored by this.
Thank You.
I wish you much success and happiness in the new year!
If you found this article useful, please help me share it with others and encourage them to subscribe to this Blog for free.
About Patty
Patty Azzarello is an executive, best-selling author, speaker and CEO/Business Advisor. She became the youngest general manager at HP at the age of 33, ran a billion dollar software business at 35 and became a CEO for the first time at 38 (all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk)
You can find Patty at www.AzzarelloGroup.com, follow her on twitter or facebook, or read her book RISE…3 Practical Steps for Advancing Your Career, Standing Out as a Leader, AND Liking Your Life.
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