Ditch Your To-Do List

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Summary:

• Mistaking movement for achievement and productivity
•  #EattheFrog
•   Begin with the end in mind
•   Maximizing your to-do list
•   The fundamentals of productivity
•   Brand new subscription service: Morning Mindset Mastery (linked below!)
•   Watch the video for the full training!
• If your to-do lists are leading you nowhere, then this training will show you how to make them work for you! Complete a weeks’ worth of work in just a day!

Transcript:

Welcome to The Path To Mindset Mastery! My name is Brad Bizjack! I’m a mindset strategist and coach, inspirational speaker, and creator of Appreciation Academy and I help online business owners breakthrough all the negative self-talk holding you back from your dreams so you can finally see the success you deserve!

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Let’s chat about your to-do list and how it is a complete waste of time!

When I was starting out my personal growth journey (almost a decade ago), what I would find is that I would complete a to-do list (even in corporate America) and I still didn’t feel like I was making progress.

Sometimes I did, but a lot of the times I would complete the list and still feel empty. I felt like I was not making progress on what I wanted most. Then on the following day, I would again complete my list and start looking at my to-do list for the next day. I would do this again and again and I would write items on my list, just so I could cross them off!

I got really obsessed with checking things off the list. It just felt good to check things off the list and I would go through, and I would do all the small things first and check them off the list.

What I found was that I was completely wasting my time because sometimes I would not complete my to-do list at all and yet I would still feel completely fulfilled. I would only get 1 or 2 things done on my list and still feel great and accomplished!

Why do you think that was?

When I was checking things off (going through my entire to-do list), I was focused on what was urgent and demanded and I was getting them done just for the sake of getting things done. I was mistaking movement for achievement & productivity.

When I only got a few things done on my list but still felt accomplished was because they were IMPORTANT things on my list. Things that were moving me toward my big goals.

Brian Tracy talks about this in his book, Eat that Frog. It's an incredible principle of success!

It is very very important that you do things that are in alignment with what you want most.

So, to make this work for you, you need to realize that just having a to-do list for the sake of having one is a waste of your time. You still might get some things done that are important (which is great), but you will not be highly effective. You want to get the maximum amount done in your day.

What I encourage you to do at the start of your day is begin with the end in mind. I want you to think “What do I actually want from today?! What is the result that I want from today?”

Stephen Covey talks about that in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

He talks about beginning with the end in mind.

Let's say you’re starting a business and you’re going through the business activities (things you need to do on your list). You complete the entire list, but feel like your business isn't growing in some way. This is because you were focusing on what was urgent and demanded INSTEAD of starting your day with the outcome in mind (and aligning your actions to meet your goal!)

This is how successful people go about their day.

It's why they get more done in a week than most people can do in months.

They focus on what they want- the result.

Also, think about what this does to your energy. If you are just checking things off your list (to feel momentum), but honestly (and I see this all the time), you’ll really just have a lingering sense of guilt because you know you haven’t done the most important task of the day. If you get to that task after all the smaller items on your list, you will have lower energy. You will be pooped by then!

So, what happens?! You put it off until the next day!

The most important task of the day that will move the needle in your business… and you put it off until the next day! This is how procrastination gets started. Brian Tracy tells us to do the opposite of this… he tells us to “eat that frog!”

You can number the items on your list, most important task first (with your desired outcome of the day in mind), and start there! EAT THAT FROG!!

It’s typically the thing that you avoid. It's typically the thing that you don't want to do, but if you do that (scary/hard) action, what will happen to your energy?! It will go way up!!

You will feel accomplished!

You will feel productive!

This will bring more energy to the next important task you need to do… and the next! Real momentum!

This is how you go about your big dreams and big goals!

So, my recommendation?! Ditch that to-do list if you are doing it just for the sake of doing it!

Make a priority list with the outcome in mind!

Thank you so much for tuning into The Path to Mindset Mastery!

My name is Brad Bizjack.

If you feel so inclined head over to iTunes and give it a rating and/or review. Share your praise about this podcast and how it's helping you in some way so more people can see this, and more people can benefit from it!

I'll see you next week.

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