Martial Arts Professional Magazine

Project Forward Five Years
Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, the strategic planners who wrote the book, Competing for the Future, encourage decision makers to project forward several years when they strategically plan. The authors encourage executives to imagine that their company is the top company in the industry some years in the future. They then identify the products, services, markets, and especially skills, talents, and abilities that they will need to be industry leaders five years from now. Finally, they encourage business leaders to begin immediately to develop the core competencies they will need to be market leaders in the future. You should do the same.

Focus On the First 20 Percent
In setting priorities, remember that the first 20 percent of any task usually accounts for 80 percent of the value of that task. Once you begin working on the task, the first 20 percent of the time that you spend planning and organizing the resources necessary to achieve the task usually accounts for 80 percent of your success. In setting priorities, always focus on the first 20 percent of the task. Start immediately and proceed to the conclusion. The next 80 percent will tend to follow smoothly, once the first 20 percent is complete.

If you are in sales, scheduling the initial appointment, when you meet face-to-face with the decision maker, is the first 20 percent of the transaction; but it accounts for 80 percent of the value in the sales process. The presentation, the closing of the sale, the followup, the delivery of the product or service, etc., represent the second 80 percent that only accounts for 20 percent of the value.

Forget About the Small Things
In setting priorities, never be tempted to complete small things first. Don’t start at the bottom of your list and work toward the most important tasks at the top. Don’t allow yourself to become bogged down in low-priority activities. Don’t major in minors. As Goethe said, “The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least.”

Human nature tends to follow the Law of Least Resistance. In time management and personal work, this means that you are compelled to start with the small tasks, thinking that as soon as you are warmed up, you will launch into your big tasks and be more productive.

What I have found is that when you start with little tasks, they begin to multiply, like rabbits in the springtime. When you begin completing your small tasks, you seem to attract more and more small tasks that require work. The longer and harder you work, the more small tasks seem to arise. By the end of the day, you will be exhausted, and you won’t have accomplished anything of value. Start with your most important work first.

Learn more about how to grow your school from Brian Tracy
Go to: NAPMA.com/BrianTracy.

Five Key Questions for Setting Priorities
Ask yourself the following five questions, regularly, to ensure that you are working on your top priorities and achieving the most that you can possibly do.

Why am I on the payroll?Ask yourself if what you are doing right now is the most important thing that you have been hired to do. If your boss were sitting across your desk, then what would you do differently than what you are doing at this moment?

Try this exercise. Make a list of everything you think you have been hired to do and take it to your boss. Ask your boss to organize this work by priority. Have your boss tell you what is most important and what is least important. From that moment forward, work single-mindedly on those tasks that your boss considers to be more important than anything else.

What are my highest value activities? Remember, there are only three things that you do that account for most of the value of your work. Which of your activities contribute the greatest value to your company? If you are not sure, ask the people around you. Everyone knows the most important things that other people should be doing.

What are my key result areas? What are the specific results that you must achieve to do your job in an excellent fashion? Of all those key result areas, which are most important?

What can I, and only I, do that if done well will make a real difference? What is the one thing, hour by hour, that only you can do and, if you do it well, will make a significant contribution to your business? This is something that no one else can do for you. If you don’t do it, then it won’t be done. Doing this task, doing it well and doing it promptly can have a major impact on your career.

What is the most valuable use of my time, right now? This is the key question in time management. Every time planning and management skill is oriented to help you to determine the correct answer to this question at every moment of the day.