Make It Into A Game (WT753)

Make It Into A Game (WT753)

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by Shirley Dalton | 29 Nov, 2024 | Blog, Business

WT 753 Make it into a game

When I first started my business, I used to have a game with myself, where I challenged myself to give out two business cards to people who didn’t know me or didn’t know what I did, each and every day.

That was in the days of physical business cards.

I realised I haven’t played a game for a long time, so I decided to make up a new game.

This game is called “Call To Action” or “CTA”.

The rules are, that I must complete at least two calls to action each day.

My game was inspired by Cham Tang, who encouraged us to get into some sort of action to propel our marketing and grow our businesses.

“Action. Action. Chop, Chop”, he would say.

A Call to Action doesn’t mean that you’re asking somebody to buy from you, although that could be a call to action.

Other calls to action could include:

  1. Inviting someone to join my Weekly Thoughts list
  2. Requesting a testimonial
  3. Inviting people to like my social posts.

It doesn’t matter what the CTA is, what matters is that every day I must ask.

To keep myself accountable I record the requests because the more calls to action you do, the more successful you’re going to be in whatever it is that you want.

Nothing happens without action.

So, my call to action today is to invite you to reply and tell me about the game you can play for yourself. If it will help, join in the CTA game.

Remember, it’s much more fun and easier to take action when you make it into a game.

P.S.  Mark your calendar.  Our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience will be held in February 2025.  Tuesdays 4, 11, 18, 25.  Early Bird Discount ends 31st December.

P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

Separate The Decision From the Doing (WT731)

Separate The Decision From the Doing (WT731)

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by Shirley Dalton | 28 Jun, 2024 | Blog, Systems and Processes

WT 731 Separate the decision from the doing

This week’s thought comes from Cham Tang, Co-Founder of Authentic Education.

Cham is a marketing and productivity expert.

He was conducting a group coaching session when someone asked about organising their time.

Cham’s answer sparked something within me.

He said, “Separate the decision from the doing”.

At first, I didn’t understand it and neither did the questioner.

“Separate the decision from the doing.”

Lots of people waste time when they sit down to work because they spend time deciding what to work on.

Decide before you sit down to work, so that when you sit down to work, you can get stuck into the task.

I’d not heard this before and yet it made so much sense to me.

When I thought about the days when I’m my most productive, they are the days when I know exactly what I have to do at the time.

Since I learned this, I’ve been practising.

I write a list of what I need to do and then I schedule the work.

It has made an immense difference to me.

I no longer sit down, clean my desk, make a list and end up not having enough time to do the task.

Because I now know what I am meant to be working on, I can focus. I am no longer allowing myself to get distracted.

Your task this week, if you’re up for it, is to schedule half an hour to sit down and go through your tasks and work out when you will complete then.

Your second task is to sit down and complete them at the assigned time.

Let me know how you go.

“Separate the decision from the doing.”

P. S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

When You’re Short On Time (WT716)

When You’re Short On Time (WT716)

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by Shirley Dalton | 15 Mar, 2024 | Blog, Mindset

WT 716 When you're short on time

I’m always looking to grow and develop and of course share what I learn with you.

This week I learned two things which I think will benefit you.

The first is a concept called “Power Pocket Rehearsals” by Lisa Pezik.

Lisa attended “World’s Greatest Speaker” training with Brendan Burchard, Bo Eeson and Roger Love.

She enrolled with all three for their coaching programs.

Bo encouraged the group and asked, “What if you could achieve your 10 year goal in one year?”

Lisa didn’t really think this was possible, however she did the work and created her own vision board, by sketching it and then set about sharing her goal and working towards it.

Lisa wanted to write a play and star in the play in live theatre as a one woman actor.

She achieved her goal in just less than one year. Amazing!

She shared her strategy – “Power Pocket Rehearsals”.

Instead of scrolling on Facebook for 20 minutes of a night, she rehearsed.

If she only had 7 minutes between meetings, she practised her voice warm up exercises.

Lisa found the pockets of time that previously she felt she wasted.

How often do we do that?   Waste time on something that isn’t “essential” when we could be doing something towards manifesting our dreams.     

The second thing is “Learn To Love It”.

In my coaching session I wanted to know how to get myself to take the action I know I need to take.

Mentor, Cham Tang replied, “Learn To Love It”.

I was puzzled.

He explained, we find the time to do the things we love, so learn to love the things you need to do and yet don’t do that are good for you.

When Cham was younger he enrolled in acting classes. He and another student had to practise their roles.  The other student enthusiastically said, “Oh, I just love practising. I’ve been away from acting for a while and I just love it.”

At the time Cham didn’t love the practise and yet he continued to the point where he did start to like it and eventually love it.

What’s something you are putting off that is good for you or will take you to where you want to go and yet you can’t get yourself to do the work?

Can you find some power pocket rehearsal times or practise enough until you learn to love it?

In fact, the only reason I got to hear Lisa’s presentation was because we turned off the nightly television shows and decided to watch something that was good for us.

What is it for you?

Reply and let me know.

Regards Shirley

P. S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

Time to F.O.C.U.S (WT713)

Time to F.O.C.U.S (WT713)

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by Shirley Dalton | 23 Feb, 2024 | Blog, Mindset

WT 713 Time to F.O.C.U.S.

Do you struggle to focus at times?

I do.

I have a plan for the day and often it goes by the wayside.

I intend for a task to take 30 minutes and hours later, I find I’m still doing the task.

What does it mean to focus?

According to Dictionary.com, the meaning of “focus” is “a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity.”

According to Cham Tang, co-founder of Authentic Education, F.O.C.U.S. means to “follow one course until successful”.

I love this definition because we can use it to help ourselves defeat overwhelm and procrastination.

When we have too many things to do and feel overwhelmed about getting them finished, often we distract ourselves with meaningless tasks, like cleaning the oven, doing the washing etc. that are not priorities at that time.

If you were to F.O.C.U.S. where would you start?

What is the one thing you could follow through until it was completed?

I was always impressed with Dugnea McGrath when I worked with her and Kip. Dug had a list of things she had to do in a day and she simply started at the top of the list and worked on one item at a time until it was completed, then moved on to the next item. She didn’t leave the office until her list was complete.

Now that’s F.O.C.U.S.

Another way I trick myself into focussing is to set deadlines.  For example, I always meet the deadline of sending the Weekly Thought. Sometimes it is written well in advance, other times I just make it. Knowing that it has to go out on a certain day and time helps me to focus to get it done.

What other strategies do you have?

One of my colleagues likes to work on Sunday. His wife works away from home on Sundays so he uses the quiet time to be creative as well as work on tasks that require uninterrupted attention.

We’re all different, so finding your thing is important.

Again, I ask. What’s the one course you’ll follow through to success?

P. S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

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