If you think success is hard, how about taking a step back and seeing what looking at yourself in the mirror 20 years from now will feel like if you choose to fail. Yep, I said choose. And this doesn’t just happen on January 1st of each year with another resolution. The choice to succeed in life and business is one I make daily. Here are 6 things that I have incorporated into my daily dose to become my best CEO.
Get Up Before
To be your best CEO at work – you need to work on you before getting there. This means whatever your idea of self improvement is. From exercise to prayer/meditation or reading educational material, those that take advantage of the before business hours are more productive and effective in their day at work.
Perform Tasks By Importance
Once you find yourself in the office environment, the best advice is to get down to work immediately. Maintaining a daily to-do list and completing items in order of their importance is a critical step in becoming your best. The question I have always asked myself is, “If I can only complete one item on this list and had to leave for a week right after, which one would it be”. The result is a significant increase in your daily results and a lack of frustration from being busy yet unproductive.
Business Lunches
Over the years I have noticed two distinct groups of people on lunch in the business district. The first are those who lunch is a welcome relief from the stress of work and the second are those who utilize the event to move business forward. The habit of a long leisurely lunch is a good way of sabotaging your best. Instead, taking the opportunity to network or complete a negotiation over a meal is a great way to improve your shot at success. An added bonus is that you learn more about a competitor, client, or potential partner over a meal than ten meetings as people’s guard natural goes down over something as pleasurable as nice meal.
Lifestyle Management
We all want to work in order to get to a point where we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. Another area where I have found as a great differentiator of mediocre from best is in lifestyle management. Most successful people know that limiting the excesses of life like alcohol, junk food, and the types of meals they choose are as important as what marketing company to hire. If you are healthy you will have less sick days, more energy, and maintain a more positive self esteem in order to assist you in the achievement of your best.
Rumor Has It
A recent study has shown that 79% of low-income people admit to gossiping in the workplace, compared to just 6% of wealthy individuals. This should make you stop and think about who you are associating with in the workplace. To be your best CEO, you may have to get some new friends. As tough as this decision was, I can personally confirm the fact that this was one of the best choices I made in my life. Being your best comes from focusing on you every day and not playing the he said, she said game.
The Disposable Hours
Everyone has those precious few hours in the day where no one else is making demands of them. How we spend them are more important than you think. Do you head to the bar or lounge on the couch in front of your favorite sitcom? Although we all need downtime and a chance to recharge the battery, the most successful of us do things a little different. They choose activities that are fun yet beneficial such as networking, volunteering, and socializing that have a far greater merit in moving you towards your best. I have personally experienced the pay it forward effect of the use of my disposable hours and have enjoyed the rewards professionally.
So take a moment and see yourself down the line. What is the picture that comes to your mind? Is it an engaged, healthy dynamo who is making his or her dreams come true? The difference is not a one time decision. When you choose daily to make the hard little choices that have been proven by so many others, you too in time will see the reward in becoming the best CEO you can be.
I am a passionate educator about mortgage and finance. I also own my own financial services company. My family lives with me on a 30 acre horse farm in Ontario where we enjoy all four seasons. Find me at Mortgage Truth.
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