I LOVE the Holiday Season. The Parties, the charitable work, and the look on my kids faces when they open their gifts. I love the time with family and friends, the food, the cookies, and the time off to simply be grateful for the blessings we have.
But the Holiday season is also very stressful. You have to add shopping, cooking, and traveling to your already busy schedule, and what ultimately happens is your business, your health, and your life, gets put on hold until "after the Holidays." We allow ourselves to get so stressed out that we eliminate the important tasks that shape the life we live and the health we have. We skip the gym, stop watching what we eat, and forget to focus on growing our business. In addition comes the end of year reporting, tax preparation, and a slew of other non income producing activities that have to get done. It is so easy to put our lives on hold until the new year, and ultimately that is usually what happens.
If you don't believe me, take a look at your gym attendance in December vs January. In December you move from machine to machine at will, but in January there isn't a treadmill to be found. But one thing I noticed is that the January people usually don't become February people. Why is that? Because they have "After the Holiday-itis." They know there are important tasks that need to be done to benefit their everyday life, but they brush them aside when life gets too busy. What they don't fully understand is that Life always gets too busy, and after a few weeks of calm in January, life will heat up and the important tasks get brushed aside once again. The super successful don't brush aside important tasks based on the time of the year or season. They know what needs to get done, and they find a way to do it... ALWAYS.
So what can you do to avoid "After the Holiday Itis?" Here you go...
1. Determine one NON NEGOTIABLE action item that you must accomplish daily to improve (not just get bye) your Health, your Family, and your Business. For example, I promise to:
1. Exercise 20 minutes at high intensity every day.
2. Take 20 minutes to disconnect from the world and be present for my family.
3. Commit to one hour of interrupted work (no phone, email, no Facebook), I will shut the office door and go to work.
Write all three on a sticky note, place it where you will see it most often, and COMMIT to it. NO EXCEPTIONS.
My example above will take up less then two hours of your entire day, but will pay high dividends throughout the year. They are very small tasks, but will serve a very big purpose. By completing these small tasks daily, you will feel accomplished, and when you feel accomplished, you tend to accomplish even more. Not to mention you will have a months head start on your competitors who are most likely suffering from "After the Holiday-Itis."
Give my sticky note a shot and be sure to let me know how it works out.
Take Flight!
Mark Scuderi
