The update

A quick tool to improve your business...

Recently, I came across a great little tool in managing yourself or your team. Well, actually, it's about managing our focus...the ultimate time management strategy. We can't do anything with time, other than manage what we choose to focus on during that time. That being said, I've got something that can help us manage our focus...

Commit to the following exercise:

At the end of each day, send yourself(or have your team send you) a daily business update. The update consists of three questions.
1. What did I do today? These are your results.
2. What challenges/problems did I come up against?
3. What questions do I have as a result?

Simple, yes. Powerful, yes. It's powerful because it drives activity. I don't care what business endeavor you're involved in, activity is the key to driving revenue. The more activity we create on the front end of our businesses, the more opportunities we get to land new deals. It's a numbers game, plain and simple. The more deals we pitch, the more we end up closing. Just knowing you've got to fill out the update will be enough to make sure you're out doing the deal...seeing enough prospects, making enough phone calls, creating awesome solutions for clients, etc.

Now, as a tool for leading new people(other than yourself), the update is extraordinary. First, you'll see if they even have the stones or wherewithall to send you the damn thing. You'd be amazed how many bullshit artists there are out there who talk big game and do nothing. You'll weed these losers out right off the bat. If they do send it, you'll know if they've got the courage and consistency to make it long-term. If they're not coming up against challenges, if they're not coming up with questions - good questions, you'll know they're not doing what they should be doing to make your business grow. The challenges/questions portion will allow you to sift through the bullshit, in case they're putting more focus into lying on the update than they are the actual gig.

The update will make you a better business person...period. The guilt would be overwhelming if you had to bullshit yourself on your own update. That'd be more than I could handle. If you haven't noticed, these are difficult times out there. Millions of good peeps are without work, and would do just about anything to take your job away from you, given the chance. We must step up our game, regardless of how well we may be producing currently. We owe it to ourselves, to our families, to our partners, to our employers to get better and go out and beat the bushes. The update will only help us in this endeavor.

Flip the switch