As 2009 winds down I’ve taken the opportunity to do what I do every year and set the trajectory for both my business and my personal life. The economy affected so many people’s business’ and I wasn’t immune. I was, however, lucky. My business is still going fairly well, but there were a couple of months there where my wife and I were a little worried. The good news is that this offered me an opportunity to ponder. For when business is good we tend to party, but when it’s bad we ponder. And ponder I did.

I didn’t write much for the FOol during these last few months because, as luck would have it, I was busy. But I also wanted to look at my business and see how I could improve it, so that the next time the economy flies south for the winter, I would be prepared. The question on some people’s minds I’m sure is, “Did I sit?” Yes, I did. Regularly and probably more intently than I have in the past few years.

Pondering my business forced me to ask myself the question of fulfillment and how it relates to my business. How I focus on my business, my life, and my family as well as where the focal points should be, and when. These were the points that stood out.

Getting stuff done has less to do with discipline and more to do with our motivation.
What’s the difference between motivation and discipline? Motivation moves us; from the Latin motivus–to move. And discipline comes from, Latin as well, disciplina–instruction or knowledge. It’s the difference between a get to and a got to.

Even during the times that I’m working out a lot, making more money, and sitting a couple of times a day, I always think of those activities as get to’s. There is strong motivation behind them in terms of the outcome, but the activities take precedence because I love them and they become part of my life’s purpose. I’m able to find ways to make them about what and who I am. Running becomes more than just running it’s that time to enjoy the morning and concentrate on breathing, move my body. I don’t think I could get myself to run if it was just to loose a few pounds, it’s not nearly as much fun.

Define Your Roles-act them out as part of your purpose
Before my daughter started preschool I would schedule two hours in with her in the morning (scheduling the time in ensures that we’ll do it). Many of the park moms thought I was a stay at home dad and that my wife worked, which is almost unheard of in Japan. This time with my daughter was the high point of my day and it was my Dad Role. I had the opportunity to influence her and we would go to the park with absolutely no agenda. Then I would go to my office from noon and use the energy I had just built from a get to on another get to. I’d put my copywriter hat on and write, and the cycle goes on.

Failing to have a plan will inevitably put you in someone else’s.
It’s happened to all of us we go along with something because we’re not sure what we want and wham the next thing we know we’re in a situation we don’t know how we got into or how to get out of. Knowing our outcome desired outcome is something that people have been driving into me since I was a teenager. We have to get emotional about the plan. I laugh when I hear of companies hiring an outside consultant to devise a corporate strategy. Chances of employees feeling invested in a corporate strategy that they had nothing to do with are probably pretty slim. Whether it’s losing weight or increasing income or sitting daily we have to be invested. It has to fit into our purpose. If we’re not emotional about it we are likely to find ourselves following the crowd only to wonder how things got so fucked up.

Throw away your task list.
Yes, many gurus of GTD would be calling me a blasphemer. If you have a task list look at the reasons you have those tasks. I was watching a “motivational video” where this man was talking about all the stuff he had to do and how stressed he was about it and the moderator started helping him group items together to make it easier to digest. The things he was stressing over made me laugh a little. This man obviously didn’t have children. He had to finish is business plan, make his vision board, enroll in some Power of Wow class, and on it went. If your stressed about making your vision board, JUST DON’T F’n MAKE IT. Stressed about taxes, or the upcoming deadline, I’ll give you. Stressed about getting your morning run in or making a vision board. If that’s not fun either find away to make it a get to or drop it.

I actually schedule a couple hours a day in with my daughter a day. People think it’s kind of weird that I write it into my schedule. But I do it so that I know that the purpose is to spend time with my daughter. If she wants to go to the park we go to the park if she wants to watch a DVD we watch a DVD. It’s time well spent and I know not to schedule meetings in during the time slot.

Find your purpose and enjoy your roles.
I challenge you to find your purpose this next year and make your life a get to!

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