I finally wrapped up President George W. Bush’s book, Decision Points.  I say “finally” as I am, unfortunately, a slow reader.  Nevertheless, I loved this book every time I picked it up as I always got something out of it.  One of the biggest things I learned about President Bush (who I will affectionately refer to as “W”), is that he is an incredibly smart man.  I have always believed that W had to be a smart guy – he has an MBA so I knew there was no way he was the “dummy” popular public perception wanted you to believe.  “Popular” perception can often times be wrong, as the case here.  W is very thoughtful, a deep thinker, and as the book shows can come up with sharp, articulated plans based on his, and his alone, ultimate decisions.

Some other takeaway’s I got from this book that I know will bolster me personally include:

1) Listen to all the angles / seek advice from trusted advisors - W is not a “Lone Cowboy.”  He worked hard to build relationships with people he knew he could trust.

2) Make a Plan – He collected all the input he could from people he trusted and always put together a plan.  W purposely titled the book “Decision Points” because he specifically collected all the times he was faced with issues and methodically showed you how he came to a decision.  These decisions always came with a plan.

3) Execute – W did not just make up plans and walk away.  He put people in charge of these plans and followed up with them to assure progress was made.  If the plan needed to be revised, it did not bother him in the least; it didn’t bruise his ego or pride – he just wanted to get the job done.

“Didn’t bruise his ego or pride” is a great way to close.  W is a very humble man.  Deep in his Faith, he shows very clearly that he took every decision very personally, giving credit to the people on the team when things work, and taking full responsibility, as well as very personally, when they didn’t.  He cares greatly about the people who serve in the military and grieves when one is lost.  I have always loved W, but have a full new respect for him after reading this book.  This book will really inspire the reader about the true way to get things done.

Interesting that as I wrote this it just struck me that I was just chatting with someone on Facebook about how they have not fulfilled their dreams (kind of paraphrasing in a way).  The video, and the conversation, are making me think about my own path, goals, destinations and dreams – all of which have been on my mind lately.

Question: What are your dreams and what are you doing to fulfill them?

“Being comfortable” is the best theme for the lesson.  As I have written about at least once here, David Allen himself once told me, and I firmly believe that you have to be “comfortable” with your To Do list.  You have to be comfortable with what is on it, the size of it, the importance of things on it and the “do-ability” of things on it (all my words).  When it came to Foresight, I was getting uncomfortable with it as the do-ability was gnawing at me.  I knew with a full time job, with my children and my Fiancé that I did not have the time and resources to devote to Foresight.  One might think the decision seemed easy.  However, there was one item that kept holding me back.

Challenges

You would think with all the above reasons that I would just pull the plug.  However, there were a couple of things holding me back.  The first one was money & debt.  I have a relatively significant amount of debt built up from developing and deploying Foresight.  That debt stares at me every day.  When I started thinking about shutting down Foresight, a little nay-saying voice would say to me, “But you have to keep it going; you have to pay back the debt.”  And, it is that little voice that would keep me basically frozen, which is not a good state.

Action

Lately, my Pastor has talked a lot about a two themes:

• Things must remain in motion, otherwise they stagnate and die.  (For example, think about a stream of water in nature – if it flows, it stays fresh.  If it does not, it stagnates and grows crud.)
• Action is required to make progress in all facets of life.

In thinking about this, I identified that I was not taking action and thus things were stagnating and slowly dying.  I figured action – any action – was better than none.  Does shutting down Foresight help with my debt?  Well, not on the surface; the debt is still there.  But, taking action might help in the long run.

Giving

I’ve always been a generous person.  And, over the past couple of years, I have purposely tried to increase my generosity; to give more and to be a blessing to people.  Being that I use Foresight everyday to keep many projects (27 is today’s count) successfully moving forward, I decided that my success should be one major factor in taking action.  I said, “Foresight is still a great tool as it is.   Let’s let others gain what I gain out of it every day.”  It is my hope that with giving it away, my generosity will be returned by people who find it adds the same value to their lives and choose to make a contribution.  And, in continuing with the giving desire, it is my plan to give away a portion of those proceeds to charity, hopefully keeping motion, in motion, for some time to come.

Closure

So, even though my “action” on the surface may seem like it will not address my severest needs, I have high beliefs that it will.  On top of that, it brings closure to a chapter in my life, makes my To Do list comfortable again and allows me to move forward.

– Mark Twain

How ironic — I was just watching a talk Tim Ferriss gave, and he mentioned this quote.  Then I was digging around in my blog tonight, and found this very quote sitting in drafts — apparently something I typed in November of 1999!

I hate to admit this in writing, but with everything on my plate and on my mind, I frequently struggle with, well, not quite quitting or giving up on things – but a frustration about them for sure.  I always find the “energy” to plug on with them, yet I’ve never really found a magic “igniter” that I can spark to really get back into a good deep groove.  I think Michael has.  I encourage you to jump over now and read his post as my prose won’t do it justice from here.

Thank you, Michael, for a great post and a great blog.

In the last few days, it has been really hard to ride my ten-speed bike. Actually, it’s been no fun at all and I have been dreading it! I’ve been falling way behind going up the hills, actually having to walk up a couple. It seemed like a constant struggle to just keep momentum on the straight-a-ways.

I do a spot check (squeeze the tires, brakes, chain) every time before I go out, so, it seemed like the bike was okay. At that point, the “stinking thinking” (as my girlfriend calls it) sets in:

• The bike’s 20 years old – maybe it’s seen its last days and I’m going to have to spend the dollars on a new bike.
• Maybe I’m ill and won’t be able to ride like I used to.
• Maybe I am too old like my young daughters keep telling me.

Then, after checking my girlfriend’s tires with a tire gauge and adding air, I decided to check mine.

They were flat!

I have racing tires that take very little air, but very high pressure. So, even though they “seemed” full – they were not.

The change, both physically and mentally, is simply amazing! I can blow up the hills again; the bike glides on level ground. Riding is fun again! The bike, nor I, are too old — or sick. I can’t wait to go riding again.

This made me think about projects and personal productivity:

• Does your project seem like it has enough “air” in it, yet, it is dragging?
• Do you have, or have you used the right tools, to make sure your project is on the right track?
• Is there doubt about the project, or even yourself, that you need to really analyze, find the non-truth’s in and straighten out?
• Do you need to “put some air” in yourself or your project?

Think about all of this and see if you need to air things back up. I think you will be glad that you did!

Last year, Seth Godin (probably the smartest product and marketing man to have walked, and is still walking, this Earth) came out with a book called The Dip.  He also came to Arizona for a speaking engagement that covered the book.

The sub-title on the cover really hit home:

“A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick).”

After listening to Seth and reading the quick read, I knew I was ready to “stick” with my project – one that was stuck.  I had gone through some major life changing experiences – a huge “dip” in itself.  My project was “in a dip.”  Seth’s book helped me see this and gave me the motivation to stick and get through the dip  – as well as gave me suggestions on how to do it.  I re-realized that I was the best in the world (a major point of the book) and that I had an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that was the best in the world at truly helping people get the right things done!  With all of that, I happy to say that I made it through the dip……

To another dip.

My product is out, and now the new dip is to get the word out…..

I got “the little book” back out; I’m taking a quick read through it again and I know I am well on my way to getting through this one also.

Thank you, Seth!

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If your project has been interrupted or is “in a dip,” pick up The Dip — I suspect it will have the answers you are looking for.

I have a lot of stories….

And, they are usually long stories….
And, people say they enjoy them;  that (using my words) my stories bring value to their lives. 

Yet, when I look at other great blogs, I’m impressed how these authors get such great points across with such brevity.  So, here is my attempt…

Delegation.  All the experts say this is a must.  I believe this is a must, especially to get a project back on track.  You can’t possibily do everything!  So, as Seth is preaching in his new book  The Dip, you must put laser like focus on the main project you are trying to move forward.

In the past, I’ve tried to free up my time to activate my laser like focus by hiring people and delegating tasks to them.  However, since I’m really “the brains” of the operation I always seem to end up sitting with them through the task, showing them how to do the task, then do the task.  Then this hired help sits around doing nothing.
This Dilbert like approach just doesn’t work.  That’s why I feel that you need to look at delegation in a different way.

Don’t just hire “an employee;” give them real ownership; make it a partnership; make it so they have something really vested in their tasks (besides just a paycheck that is basically guaranteed).  Make the person an apprentice so they become ”the brains” and they can get the work done without your brain.  They will succeed, and stay engaged — usually (if they are dedicated) finding more things they can take on to make themselves – and you – successful.

Side note: some would say, “great, you make them ‘the brains’ then they take off (with your brain) on their own, leaving you high and dry!”  Well, if you picked someone with that low of scruples, then shame on you.  Basically, use your gut and pick someone that appears to have your principles (i.e., believes in synergy and win / win).  Most of the time, I think you will find that it works out fine.

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Back to brevity……. getting better I think!  Let me know what you think; about my brevity and / or delegation.

My Dad gave me Timothy Ferriss’ book called The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.  An interesting and worth while read whether you are looking for some productivity tips, or truly want to change your work-life / career.

Out of it, I wanted to pass along this interesting thought:

If you haven’t identified the mission-critical tasks and set aggressive start and end times for their completion, the unimportant becomes the important.

Timothy goes on to give you the idea of asking yourself this question — at least two or three times a day:

Am I being productive or just active?  Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?

I’ve frequently talked with ( complained to ) friends about how busy I’ve been, yet feeling like I’m not making real progress in significant areas.  I’ve implemented both the thought and the task from above, and I have to say, it’s making a difference!

I’m very appreciative of the feedback I’ve received regarding my last post. 

It has all been negative!

(Though all has been delivered in a constructive and positive way.  Thanks to everyone for taking the time to contact me and be so honest!)

It has made me smile and reflect on the post, as well as my own “state.”

Basically, people said that my last post didn’t make me sound like a productivity expert.  They said it seemed out of place – “why is this productivity expert overwhelmed?”  One person had a great point.  They pointed out that I am working on a piece of software that I preach will eliminate feeling overwhelmed.  Yet, my post doesn’t exude confidence that the software was doing that – even for me!  Ha!  They are right; the post doesn’t instill any confidence that I am conquering the challenge.  However, the software does work – when I use it.

My intention with the post and the poll was to lead into another post looking into why things seem more overwhelming, especially in the past few months.  I thought maybe this might be some “worldly trend” as others I talk to seem to be in the same boat.  Yet, really, at least in my little world, there is an explanation to the way I’m feeling which lead to my apparently wishy-washy post.

I stopped using my software!

Well, okay, not completely – every day for the past couple of months I would fire up Outlook and Foresight and the same projects and tasks were staring at me.  I fell out of the habit of using 7s as well as the features of my software to keep everything (including interruptions) managed.  Hence, the feeling of being overwhelmed – or maybe a more accurate statement; feeling out of control.

Today, I started using it again……..

I’m purposely trying to make this sound a little dramatic; it really wasn’t; it didn’t take much time at all.  But, I do feel dramatically better and back in control.  Everything is back in one central system.  I took time to prioritize.  I feel back into control.  Thank you, Foresight! 

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I want to continue the “Project Interruptus” series / idea I started.  The next topic that I am personally finding important is delegation.  In order to keep multiple projects effectively moving forward, I’m finding that delegation is incredibly important.  Now, you might be saying “no duh!  Many productivity experts have been saying that for eons!”  But, I’m thinking this needs to be looked at from a slightly different angle, so, stay tuned.