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How many times have you wasted energy and time because you let our mind focus on things out of our control?
How many times did the event you were stressing over turn out to be nothing?
How much lost time and revenue has your business lost because of this issue? I would say a tremendous amount.
I was traveling the other day and my first plane had mechanical issues so I changed flights. As a result of this change, I had to make my connection with a shorter layover.
If I missed my connection, the next flight was not for six hours later. That would not fit my schedule. My mind began worrying about missing the flight and that I shouldn’t have changed flights and on and on.
I began to become pre-occupied with my decision when I learned that the first plane took off before my new one would. Even after the decision was made and there was nothing I could do about it, I still was focused on this issue. I then lost valuable time working on a project I had set as a priority to do while at the airport.
I finally cleared my mind by realizing how foolish I had been by keeping focused on things out of my control and chastised myself for wasting this productive time that I would never get back.
The reason this is important for managers and everyone in business is that there are so many things that can distract us from our purpose and we have to be vigilant to know what is important to focus on.
We all can get locked into excuses as to why something did not happen. However, if you were honest with yourself, it was because you were focused on non-productive things.
Maybe you are so obsessed with your competition and what they are doing. This is not helpful because you are not focused on what you are doing to refine your brand, execute better or deliver value. You need to be sold on what you are doing as the most important this to drive your business towards success.
Get rid of these phrases in your vocabulary: “If only”, “I wish” and “Why not us?”.
These are all focused on non-productive things. There is nothing in these words that focus on any actionable tasks. If you want to look at competition, make sure you decide on a plan of action and what you need to accomplish.
Focus on what you can control. Things out of your control will happen anyway. You have limited impact on the universe as a whole but you surely have control of your mind and actions.
Focus on your mission. Ask better questions like:
- ·Did we deliver on time?
- ·Did we execute as directed or expected?
- ·What can we do to improve performance?
These questions impact success and as a leader you need to make sure you and your team are focused on actions, not things out of your control.
Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Management Trainer