Do You Live By The Acronym CANI?

Have you ever noticed how few people improve their lives? I don’t mean simple natural and even accidental tweaks.

I’m talking about noticeable, tangible improvements.

When I first heard this acronym, I was young and really didn’t understand not only what it really meant but how important it would mean the rest of my life.

I was listening to a cassette series (yeah, I just dropped the word cassette) by Tony Robbins and I absolutely loved it.

I was in my twenties, ambitious, and hungry to learn. The only problem is life hadn’t really challenged me yet and my responsibilities were limited.

But as I got married, had children, changed jobs and basically grew up, I found this acronym became much more of a challenge.

So, you ask, what is the acronym?

CANI = constant and never-ending improvement

You choose the category. And it may be a different area each day. But it’s four letters you choose not to live without once you truly own the acronym.

Here are 3 Key Observations About CANI:

 

1. Improvement Doesn’t Happen By Accident

So little happens on accident especially anything that deals with growth.

It’s not something that you can do when you “have time.” When has anyone ever “had time?”

Don’t believe me?

Have you read, worked, or learned a new skill every time you had time?

Time is relative and always fills itself with ease. It takes the path of least resistance.

So, if the strategy is “I’ll improve when I have time (aka: on accident), good luck with that. It’s in word only not in true application you will improve.

We just need to accept that improvement is just not going to happen all by itself.

2. Improvement Isn’t a One Time Occasion

This may be the case for some people. They learn something because they have to and they’re good. They had their fill.

Take a new job or role for example. The learning curve is high but eventually you figure it out and it’s easy to go on auto-pilot.

But for those committed to “constant and never-ending” improvement, it’s a daily process.

This is just too much work for most people. And hence why most people just stay the same. They log another day off their life with the only gain is their weight.

I’ve not only accepted but embraced that improvement is a consistent process in my life. I desire it and look forward to it.

I can sense when my learning has diminished. It’s like being parched and longing for water. I will sneak even 10 minutes to read something to grow and challenge my mind in some way.

Improvement once in awhile is obviously better than nothing. But it’s like having a healthy salad “once in awhile.” There’s benefit but not what it could be with consistency.

3. Improvement Does Require a Plan

 If you’re truly serious about CANI, it’s going to require a plan. Remember, it doesn’t happen on accident and it’s not a one time occasion.

Let me give you an example. Every day for my early morning rhythm, I journal, read my Bible then spend 30 minutes reading a book. My reading time is vital to my day getting off to a great start.

I also schedule 30 minutes within my day for a learning block. It usually consists of going through an online course or simply reading to develop my potential.

Often I’ll listen to an audiobook while I run or bike for 30 minutes. This is a GREAT way to improve both the body and the mind.

But none of these examples happen on accident nor a one time occasion. They’re part of a growth plan to improve on a daily basis.

They’re intentionally entered into my schedule every single day to make them a constant and never-ending part of my life. CANI in daily practice.

So, do you have a growth plan? If I were to ask you to spell out in detail how you will improve this week, how would you respond?

I encourage you to really think through a growth plan which is a system to implement CANI. You would be surprised of the value of using Think Space to create a growth plan.

Closing Challenge…

Most people would say they’re learners and they improve themselves most of the time. But is it really true?

If I were to look at their schedule over a one month period of time, what would I find? Would I see a pattern of intentional growth or a spot here and there?

Motivated, busy professionals must fully commit to a life of “constant and never-ending improvement” to reach their potential. There is no other way.

So, do you really live CANI? Do you want to?

If so, accept that it won’t happen by accident, it’s constant, and requires a plan.

How much better and richer your life will be as a result of living a life of constant and never-ending improvement!

Closing Questions…

What if you lived your life asking “how can I improve my life today?

What if you ended your day by evaluating “how did I improve today?

Six Engaging Questions to Measure the Quality of Your Day

 

How many times do you find yourself just going through the motions of your day? Then the next day. Then the next week. Month.

I do not like looking back at a day or especially a week and try to remember what happened. Why? Because the day just happened. I wasn’t really there and definitely not engaged.

But what if we could measure the quality of your day? Could it break the cycle of going through the motions and even better, help me be more engaged in my day?

I just finished a great read called Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts, Becoming The Person You Want To Be by Marshall Goldsmith.

The book is packed with useful information and was a good audiobook for me to listen to during exercise every morning for 30 minutes. I knocked out the book in 10 days.

The author coaches executives and has found when his motivated, busy professionals implement six engaging questions, they were far more conscious of their productivity and calling their day a true success because the quality of their day dramatically increased.

He made one seemingly minor change to the front of his questions from “Do I” to the words “Did I” and specifically to “do my best.”  This changed everything.

Here Are Six Engaging Questions to Measure the Quality of Your Day

 

Q1- Did I Do My Best to Set Clear Goals?

Since a majority of people just go through their day, having clear objectives is key for productivity. Did we provide clarity in the direction of the day by setting clear goals?

If the day started with clear goals, the quality of the day almost always ends positively.

Q2- Did I Do My Best to Make Progress Toward My Goals?

Teresa Amabile in her book called The Progress Principle did research that has shown that employees who have a sense of  “making progress” are more engaged than those who don’t.

Marshall Goldsmith responded, “We don’t just need specific targets; we need to see ourselves nearing, not receding from, the target.”

The quality of our day increases if we see we’ve made progress in whatever we worked on within our day.

Q3- Did I Do My Best to Find Meaning?

We want to be part of something bigger. And even if our job is not saving the world in some way, we desire to be doing something meaningful.

We can even find meaning in something else we do within our day but we long for meaning and purpose within our day.

But we need to ask the question. The natural route is to simply go through our day and do our deal. It’s not looking for meaning. This question will challenge this pull towards meaning and not coasting through life.

Q4- Did I Do My Best to Be Happy?

If our work is meaningful but we’re unhappy, we feel like martyrs and have little desire to stay in such an environment, Marshall Goldsmith continued.

According to Daniel Gilbert in Stumbling on Happiness, we’re lousy at predicting what will make us happy. We always assume the source of happiness is “out there” in other things.

Only when we take responsibility for our own happiness and quit waiting for someone or something to to bring us this joy do we find happiness on our own.

Why not strive to be happy within our day? What a difference it would make not only for us but for our co-workers and family!

Q5- Did I Do My Best to Build Positive Relationships?

The Gallup company asked employees “do you have a best friend at work?” They found the answers directly related to engagement.

If we’re active in relationships, we will be more engaged in what we do and ultimately be more fulfilled within our day.

This question is pro-active. We must build these relationships and people will ultimately add to the quality of our day.

Q6- Did I Do My Best to Be Fully Engaged?

This is on us and only us. No one can control our level of engagement within our day.

As Marshal Goldsmith added, “It’s a self-fulfilling dynamic: the act of measuring our engagement elevates our commitment to being engaged and reminds us that we’re personally responsible for our own engagement.”

Shouldn’t this be a major goal to be engaged in everything that happens within my day? I don’t want my day completely filled with people and things that I don’t want to be part of my day. I want to be alive and engaged to maximize the quality of my day.

Closing Challenge…

After 2500 participants used these daily questions for ten consecutive days, the results were incredibly positive:

• 37% participants reported improvement in all six areas
• 65% improved on at least four areas
• 89% improved on at least one area

Just after a short amount of time, people improved in the areas in which they reflect and measure. So can you.

Are you doing your best within your day? I don’t mean looking at others but for you. Did you do “your best?”

These questions do not require a lot of time at all but can produce exponential results for the time invested.

What if you looked back at your day and began to measure the quality by reflecting on “if you did your best” in these key areas then made the necessary adjustments the following day?

Imagine where you could be in a week, a month, or year to meet your potential!

Closing Question…

Are you willing to improve the quality of your day by asking these or a variation of these questions each day?

 

Four Must Ask Productivity Words

Any given day we could move from moment to moment and be completely unaware of any adjustments we could change to make the day more productive.

We just keep plowing forward and then wonder why we weren’t more productive (if we even dare to ask ourselves that question?)

Why though?

Because it’s just SO easy to just Do Life. Every minute, hour, day, week, and month just blend into each other. And we find ourselves asking “Where did the time go?”

This is avoidable. And even correctable. But it doesn’t happen by chance.

There are four words I continually ask myself for nutrition: Make the Healthiest Choice. And they have made a HUGE difference on every meal and snack that I eat now.

But there are also four words I ask myself for productivity. When these four words are asked, I have the opportunity to make instant changes on the direction of my productivity.

Who knew just four words could make such a difference.

Here are the four words:

Return on this Moment

These four words have the power to stop your day in an instant from going down an unproductive path. 

What “Return on this Moment” means is asking is this moment the best use of my time right now.

Here’s a Pre-requisite: AWARENESS!

So many times a change could be made but lacks one major detail: we’re simply not aware in the moment.

In order for these four words to be truly effective, we must learn to be aware. For me, I had these words on a post it note until they’ve become second nature to me.

These four words mean nothing unless I can bring them to mind.

Here are Three Ways to Implement “Return On This Moment”

1. ASK THE QUESTION

Throughout your day you need to train yourself to simply ask the question: What is the Return on This Moment?

This is not natural. Remember, we typically just plow through our day.

To stop and ask this question will be out of habit so you need to put it front and center.

I suggest putting it on your desk in a visible place. Mine is on the left corner of my computer so I’m forced to see if often and train myself to ask the Return On This Moment question.

Asking “is this the best use of my time right now?” has been huge for me.

2. EVALUATE YOUR ANSWER

Only you know the answer so be honest.

Many times my answer is: “what are you doing right now? Or “how did you lose THIS much time on something that should’ve been done awhile ago?”

The goal of the question is to stop you in your tracks and force you to be accountable for your time.

Once you’ve asked the question, you have the opportunity to look at what you’re currently doing and and evaluate if this is the best use of your time right now.

What needs to change to get a return on this moment?

But I must honestly evaluate the answer of what I’m actually doing right now.

3. ADJUST YOUR ACTIONS

You could ask yourself the question.

You could even evaluate your answer.

But unless you adjust your actions immediately, the question will be of absolutely no value to you.

Let me give you an example.

You’re at your desk working on a project. You remember you needed to return an email so you do.

Then you see a certain tempting web browser open and you look for “just a minute”.

The next thing you know, you see the new Post It Note you had written that simply has the four words “Return On This Moment…”

You ask the question of “what am I doing right now? Is this productive?”

Then if you were to answer honestly, “nowhere close. In fact, I’m so far away from what I was doing, I don’t even remember what I was doing in the first place!”

So, you realize you were working on your project and you refocus and get back to what really needs to get done and get at it.

This is adjusting your actions.

Closing Challenge…

Changing our behavior at any given moment sounds so simplistic. And it truly is simple. But actually doing it is not at all and must become a habit.

In order to be productive at the highest level, you must constantly ask, evaluate, and adjust your actions to be the best Return On This Moment.

Lastly, sometimes you have may a few free moments and asking ROTM should come to mind. How could you use this gift of this time to be productive.

It’s learning to capture each moment with the mindset of the biggest return of your time.

A motivated, busy professional will learn to add these four words into their routine. As a result, productivity will hit a whole new level.

Closing Question…

How can you implement today asking What is the Return on This Moment? (ROTM)