Are you BUSY???

Whenever I present to or facilitate groups of CEOs or other business leaders, I love to ask this question.  Typically, a minimum of 80% of the executives will raise their hand.  Most believe they are really busy.

“Busy” is an interesting word.  The concept of busy-ness inspires all sorts of interesting conversation.

• Is it good to be busy?

• If so, why?

• How does busy-ness affect your energy level?

• What would you do with your time if you were not busy?  Would you be bored, or would you become more productive?

• How does busy-ness relate to effectiveness?

• If you are busy, are you in control?

• How does busy-ness relate to happiness?

We know that in selling, self-talk has a huge effect on a salesperson’s ability to be productive.  Great salespeople have empowering self-dialogue.  Weak ones have all sorts of limiting self-talk. 

In training and coaching sales executives, we dramatically affect sales results by helping them identify and eliminate their head-trash.  They quickly realize that the conversation that they have with themselves is MORE important than the conversation they are about to have with their prospects.

The same goes for business leaders.

If you are a CEO who feels you are always really “busy”, I suspect you spend a good portion of your day reacting to urgencies, chasing deadlines (many of which are self-imposed), solving problems, and spending a good portion of your day doing things you wish you didn’t need to do.  In other words, you’d probably rather be doing something else.

This does NOT need to be the case.   If you currently feel “busy”, and if you’d like to improve your situation, here are few tips to gain control, improve effectiveness, and feel better:

• Start by removing the word “busy” from your vocabulary, especially from your self-dialogue.  Whenever you are feeling busy, tell yourself that you are “in demand”. 

• Evaluate other limiting self-talk, mind-warping words, and dis-empowering beliefs and phrases you carry today.   They are likely sucking your energy and creating ineffective behaviors.

• Ask yourself if you have an Addiction to Urgency (for a survey to learn how addicted you might be, email me and write “Urgency Addition” in the subject line).  Remember, Urgent does NOT mean Important. 

• Get out of the weeds and review any activities that you consider to be “busy-work”.  You will likely learn that many of these items can be delegated, outsourced, or perhaps even eliminated. 

• Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the top right side place a plus sign, on the other a minus sign.  On the minus side, list all of your recurrent activities that suck your energy.  On the plus side, list those wonderful activities that GIVE you energy.  Then get to work on spending 100% of your time where it belongs.

Limiting self-talk and urgency addictions are serious.  On a business level, they can have huge effect on your top and bottom line.  On a personal level, they will not only harm your efficiency and productivity, but can also have a detrimental effect on your happiness and your health.

Copyright © Joe Zente 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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