Six Steps to Guaranteeing Your Biggest Win of the Day

Luke is a highly productive professional. He’s a planner and knows where his day is heading before it even begins.

One attribute of Luke is he can guarantee his biggest win of the day. He knows he will put points on the board and doesn’t leave his “most important priority” to chance.

A majority of people go in “with an idea” of what they would like to accomplish for the day. Then at the end of the day they wonder not only why they didn’t accomplish the big win, they didn’t even know where it went or possibly where their day for that matter.

This is avoidable, productivity fans.

There are six steps to guaranteeing your biggest win of the day:

1. Clarify the Win

If you don’t know what the win will look like, you don’t know if and when you accomplish it.

Clarifying asks this question: WHAT EXACTLY does your biggest win look like at the end of the day?

The clearer you can define the win, the easier it will be for you to accomplish it.

It may be something you could knock out today with determination and boundaries.

Often, clarifying the win doesn’t happen “the morning of” the day. It may be a minor step in a major project.

Or it simply may be something that is due today.

No matter when it’s accomplished, if it’s your biggest win, you must clarify exactly what the win is for you at the end of the day.

2. Prioritize the Win

So many times a professional will clarify the win (which is a minor win in and of itself) but they stop there.

They miss the VERY important next step which is to Prioritize the Win.

Prioritizing asks this question: “WHEN within the day and how often will I need to work on my biggest win?”

Prioritizing should implement the strategy of Time Blocks. You need to be strategic in choosing when you can lock in dedicated time to move your Biggest Win forward.

This one move alone will help you accomplish your biggest win far more than you even realize until you try it.

You’ll also need to determine how long the Win will take to accomplish. If it takes 2 or 3 hours and cannot be completed at one time, when throughout the day can you move the Win forward? Do you need a break? Time to process and think through it? Schedule it within your day with a Time Block.

It’s not uncommon to have regularly scheduled events (meetings, conference calls, etc.) that you’ll need to work around so it’s critical to know when you’ll circle back to your Win.

I’m a firm believer that you’re first Time Block should be starting your Biggest Win of the Day. It’s amazing what one solid hour on the Biggest Win can do for momentum in accomplishing this goal.

3. Breakdown the Win

Clarifying the win means you know both the outcome and the steps to accomplish it.

Often we really don’t know what all is involved to complete the Win and as a result, it takes far longer than we had planned.

Breakdown asks this question:What are all the necessary elements needed to accomplish my biggest win?

And this especially true when it comes to the biggest win of the day.

Breakdown the Win asks this question: “What are the needed STEPS to accomplish my biggest win?”

Using Think Space (a dedicated period of time to think and process) will allow you to work through the needed steps to accomplish the win. The more detail, the easier to work though your own process and see results.

4. Focus to Win

You could clarify, breakdown, and even prioritize the win but if you lack focus, you may only put some of the necessary points on the board.

Focus asks this question: “HOW can I maximize my time and work on ONLY the win?”

Be Prepared – what will you need and only need to work on your project? Don’t lose precious time getting organized. Do that ahead of time so you have everything you need to truly focus.

Avoid distractions – Shut the door / put the phone on do not disturb / tell others that could potentially interrupt you that you’re not available. I call this “going dark” and necessary to truly focus.

Change locations – sometimes going into another location allows you to focus more on the task at hand. Think if this could help the process.

More than anything, maximize your time when you’re working on your biggest win. You’ll be amazed at just how much you can crank out when you focus.

5. Checkpoint the Win

It’s so easy to get off course within any given day.

The reason may be your own fault (oh look, a bird!) or the interruption may be warranted by your boss or co-worker.

Checkpoint asks this question: How am I doing along the way to accomplish my biggest win?

If the Biggest Win is not accomplished by lunch, use the time right before your lunch break to do a status check to evaluate your progress (and hopefully not the lack thereof).

Often a checkpoint or fresh look will allow you to see what needs to be changed and how much is actually left to do to complete.

It may feel like wasted time but it may just be the perspective you need to knocking out the win.

6. Celebrate the Win

I absolutely love something to look forward to especially at the end of the day. And what better way than to celebrate accomplishing your biggest win!

Celebrating asks the question: How can I reward myself for accomplishing my biggest win?

It may be something small like a break, a snack, or doing something you like to do for a few minutes.

Or if it’s a big win then a big reward is in order like a purchase or an event.

The point here is creating something you can look forward to after you complete your biggest win or at the end of the day for this accomplishment. Be creative.

Closing Challenge…

Motivated professionals who want to reach their potential MUST be productive. They must also know what is the biggest win of the day and how they can accomplish it by following the six steps:

• Clarify the Win
• Prioritize the Win
• Breakdown the Win
• Focus to Win
• Checkpoint the Win
• Celebrate the Win

I challenge you to implement these six steps to guaranteeing your biggest win of the day.

Closing Question…

What difference will it make if you accomplish your biggest win of the day every single day?

Three Decisions That Will Make or Break a Good Night of Sleep

If there is one keystone habit that affects almost every other area of my life it is simply SLEEP.

It seems so simple but yet such a challenge on any given night.

I was the guy who could stay up late and be ready to go in the morning. To everyone else, I was on my game but internally, I was exhausted and not my best.

And sadly, the average person brags about their lack of sleep as if it’s a contest that really matters like how busy we really are in our lives.

But do we want others to brag about and just get by on as little sleep as possible? I fly a ton. Do I want my pilot sleeping far less than what he needs to be effective and alert like everyone sleeping on his plane during the flight?

There is a reason why there are mandatory regulations of why a pilot or surgeon have mandated periods of rest before they can legally fly or operate.

Or the teacher who teach my kids or the semi-driver on the highway next to my car? Need I go on?

Tom Rath’s research shows four hours of sleep loss is equivalent to a staggering blood alcohol level of 0.19 which is double most legal limited. Holy Drunk Insomnia, Batman!

If you truly want to be an effective professional, sleep must be a high priority.

For me, since it affects so many other key areas of my life, it’s at the top. I’ve come to that reality and as a result, I must be discipline to maximize its results like anything else of value.

For example, when I don’t sleep well, I’m more likely to have a lousy workout or even miss a workout entirely. I’m more likely to be running late and lazy on my nutrition choices.

I’m simply far less productive. According to a Harvard Medical School study, the American economy loses $63 billion a year in lost productivity.

The reality is we know WHY we need to sleep and WHAT are the benefits of a good night sleep. But what truly needs to change each night to make a difference in our days with how we sleep at night?

Here are Three Decisions That Will Make or Break a Good Night of Sleep

1. The Quantity of Our Sleep

Many of us know of the study that discuss elite performers need 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach levels of expertise or greatness.

But did you know in that same 1993 study, professor K. Anders Ericsson references another factor that influenced peak performance: SLEEP.

On average, the best performers slept 8 hours and 36 minutes. The average American, for comparison, get just 6 hours and 51 minutes of sleep on weeknights.

What if we viewed ourselves with the same mindset of professionalism?

According to a Gallup poll, in U.S. we get 40% less than the recommended amount of sleep. We can argue HOW much sleep the average person needs, but you need to decide for you YOUR SLEEP NUMBER. What is your magic sleep number to perform at a high level?

Tom Rath in his book, Eat Move Sleep, suggests adding 15 minute increments each night until you find yourself fully rested the next morning. You may be surprised where you ultimately land on the time but it’s a must to find the right amount of sleep for you.

You may not know how sleep-deprived you actually are in your life. Try the 15 minute experiment to add sleep to your night.

I’ve changed my mindset in this area and increased my quantity of sleep to eight hours and what a difference it’s made. As a result, I could determine the 2nd decision…

2. Setting a Consistent Bed Time and Arise Time

This sounds so remedial but it’s amazing how random most people’s bed time is each night. But it’s critical for consistency sake.

If I allow myself more time to be up later in the evening, I will by nature fill it with anything and everything which pushes my bedtime even later.

Yet if I know I need to be in bed by a certain time, I magically seem to get everything done anyway. Imagine that.

According to Time, a recent study from Frontiers in Psychology found that the phenomenon, which the authors define as “failing to go to bed at the intended time, while no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so,” was related to insufficient sleep.

This is actually named a BedTime Procrastinator. I used to be one and now in recovery. How about you?

You know yourself. Are you a night owl or early riser? What routines do you need to do to set your bed and arise time? I’ve gone from a night owl to an early riser due to the overwhelming benefits. One of the main benefits is the early morning quiet to read and write. Who knew, right?!

In order for me to consistently get my 8 hours, I must plan 30 minutes of dead mental space before I sleep.

Personally, I need 30 minutes in bed before I usually fall asleep. And this cannot count towards actual sleep time. This means going to bed at 9:30pm so I’m sleeping between 10pm – 6am.

A consistent bed and arise time are a discipline that must be pre-determined and a priority.

3. The Quality of Our Sleep

Just because I’m in bed for eight hours does NOT mean I actually slept for that amount of time.

In bed does not mean quality sleep. I struggle in this area because I’ve not done a good job right before bed.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than nine in ten of us use electronic devices before sleep. Two problems:

• the lights from the electronic device (TV, computer, iPad, phone)
• our minds don’t shut off – ever read an email, tweet, watched a show that kept your mind active?

Are either or both of those part of your current routine? They sadly have been mine for way too long and I’ve recently changed them to begin slowing my mind down for bed.

Research also shows your sleeping conditions dramatically affect the quality of your sleep and three specific areas:

Darkness – having a completely dark room helps you relax and fall into deeper sleep longer

Temperature – a cooler room relaxes the body

Noise – some need it perfectly quiet while others need white noise such as a fan to block out all of the other sounds. I find this particularly true when I travel and in a hotel.

Personally I’ve had to experiment with how late I can eat or have a drink before bed since it affects my quality of sleep. I encourage you to try the same experiment.

The point is really thinking through what distractions you can remove and what elements you could add to enhance the quality of your sleep. These are decisions that only you can make and what a difference some intentionality can make if implemented.

Closing Challenge…

We need sleep to keep us sharp the next day. We need to be fresh emotionally and physically. And we need to be ready to attack whatever the day ahead presents to us.

But this doesn’t happen naturally or by osmosis. It requires choosing and sticking to a consistent  time and arise time. Lock it in.

I challenge you to try these three decisions for a week and measure your results. You may be amazed at the outcome.

Closing Question…

What do you need to CHANGE TONIGHT to improve the quality of your sleep?