My One Hundred Things: Create Wealth in Less Time and Without Burnout

create wealth time is money Create Wealth in Less Time and Without Burnout

We’re addicted to work. I’m included. There seems to be a prevailing mentality that if you want to get somewhere, you need to not only drive 100 miles an hour, but you also need to drive all night. In other words, we work too much. I contend that it is possible to create wealth without killing yourself in the process…in fact, I would argue that if you burn yourself out along the way, you’re not only NOT going to enjoy the ride, but you’re also not going to like where you end up, because you’re going to be too thrashed when you get there…if you get there at all.

You May Not Make It. But Even Then, You Can Still Make It!

Look, it’s important to consider this…you might not get there. You might NOT make a million dollars, or 10 million, or whatever you’re shooting for. You might not achieve world domination like your business plan entails. Sometimes things do not work out. If you want to create wealth, do it now. Don’t push it off into the future. Wealth is not a destination, it’s a lifestyle. Just go live it and enjoy where you’re at, always. With all the negativity out there (there’s a lot of negative to report these days), it’s easy to not see the opportunity and the greatness all around us.

Turn the computer off and hang out with your kids. Sit down at the end of the day and play guitar instead of watching TV…these are two things I’m beginning to do more, and when I do, I’m reminded how awesome my life is. My kids, my wife…are amazing. My guitar playing is…kind of amazing. Kidding. But the point is that if we spend all our time striving, we don’t have any time left for living.

Wealth is not a destination, it is a state of mind. Do you think Trump was poor when he was broke? Think about that. When he was billions in the red, what did he do? He made it all back, and while he was doing it, he still spent his daily time with his kids, still went on vacations…it’s not about money. That’s all I’m getting at.

If You Keep Doing What You’re Doing, You Keep Getting What You Got…

Getting to the point where you’re effective in less time requires a commitment to get there. Work will always expand to the time you allot for it. See how that works? If you only allow yourself half the time to get a job done, it’s amazing how much you can get done. If fires your creativity up and gets your blood flowing. It enables you to be more effective than you would be otherwise. Unfortunately most of us don’t ever behave this way until we HAVE to. Well, you can choose to become more effective today. You can create wealth, run your business and become just as effective in half the time if you just decide to do it. No doubt you’re heard of the Four Hour Work Week. This is the basic principle. Here’s the thing: it’s not automatic. There are surely things you will need to learn. There will be new things you’ll have to try, risks that will need to be taken. Maybe you’ll need to hire some help. Maybe you’ll need to automate some things that you prefer to do manually. It will be a paradigm shift, and it will force you to stretch your mind a bit. But that’s the way it always goes. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you keep getting what you got. If you want new results…better results…you have to learn more, and you have to do new things.

A Time Management Tool That Has Served Me Very Well

Here’s one great tool I’ve used to become more effective. It’s simple, and it’s a good example of what I’m talking about, because it initially required a big paradigm shift for me. It was uncomfortable for me, and TO THIS DAY, a lot of people just don’t understand why I do it this way, but it enables me to focus and get more done. Here it is: I stopped answering my phone. I make calls, I don’t take calls. If I am expecting a call, I will take it, but this does not happen very often as you know…most calls come in unannounced. They interrupt you all day long, and it is a rare day indeed that a stream of incoming calls and emails don’t keep you flying every which way. It’s quite literally impossible to focus on anything this way.

So here’s what I did: I make a call list each day, and then I make calls. My call list includes all clients I’m currently working with, all prospecting calls I plan to make, everything. Then I sit down and make them. Guess what’s happening in the meantime. That’s right, my phone is ringing off the hook, and they all go to voicemail. They hear a message that I will call them soon…and I AM calling them soon. They’re on my call list, see?

Then in the late afternoon, I go through all my voicemails and emails, and I can just delete most of them, because I’ve called nearly everyone and addressed everything already. If something I hadn’t anticipated has come in, then I call them back at that time. This way I take care of business instead of my business whipping me around all day. Guess what else…all the stupid telemarketing calls, hey-I-just-wanted-to-say-hi calls and all that all get filtered out, and I listen to them on my own time, instead of being distracted all day. Here’s the net result: I used to rarely if ever find time to make all the calls on my list. Now it is a rare day indeed that I do not make all the contacts I need. I’m able to build a business and focus. I get more done in less time. It’s pretty simple really.

How ’bout you? Do you have any time blocking tips to share? Do you agree that it’s possible to try new things and actually learn to get a lot more done in less time?

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