Book-End Your Days: How to Start Strong and Finish Successful

ThomasMcGregor

 

We live in fast time. Times of fast money, fast food, and people looking to move faster. When we rise in the morning we hit the ground running, attempting to beat the person living three feet from us next door. We run to the car, focused on getting to work to

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make the fast sale. After that is complete, we wont the fast money that will buy us the fast car. There is nothing wrong with fast, but as a good friend of mine told me recently, “If you go through life fast, you’ll get to the finish line first.” Amongst all of this fast moving stuff, we seemingly find ourselves caught in a vortex of speed. Never taking the time to become centered and focused, running towards someone else’s dreams. Once we identify our dreams and goals, then only can we achieve what means most to us.

One day, I was presented with the saying, “Work smarter, not harder”. In not knowing what that meant, I searched for answer. I started to read every psychology, philosophy, time management, self development, spiritual book I could get my hands on — and I still do. When I came to the answer for me, I knew exactly how I didn’t want to do things any longer. Don’t misunderstand the message, things get hard sometimes which is a needed part of growth. However, I was doing a lot[before]and not getting a lot accomplished. You see, there are two types of doers in this world:

1. People that get many things done.

2. People that get many things accomplished. 

The distinction between the two might only seem within the changes of vocabulary words, only, until you experience the change for yourself.

People that get many things done are people that make many copies, clean their dest four times in a day, or pace the floor not knowing what to do. These people aren’t productive. They are getting many thing done, but not getting anything accomplished.

The individuals that get things accomplished are proactive, goal driven people that understand what they need to do that day in order to be successful. This would not involve doing anything of the first group of individuals. These individuals understand the power of clear goals for their day and how to get to the finish line.

What is the difference? The difference in how the second group of individuals view their day, month, and year. They book in their days; setting clear goals for the day, with day ending rituals that support their suggest.

How You Refer:

Refer to the beginning and end of your days as. “Starts and Finishes” . What this does is creates a solid “book-end” format for your mind to follow. This way you have a clean set of words that you use every day to describe how you begin and end your day. The use of this verbiage is probably the most important step.

Defining Goals:

Now, to fill in each book in you’ll have to define what your goals are for that day. If you’re not sure, define your goals for the year and then break them down into action that can be set each day. For instance, if you are looking to shed some weight, your goal might be to walk every day for 30 minutes. Under START, put: I Walk 30 Minutes. It’s very important to place your goals in present tense. Under FINISH you might put, I walked for 30 minutes and now need 3 glasses of water. What you are doing here is connecting your starts with your finishes to insure accountability. Always include a gratitude statement that showcases how thankful you are for achieving this greatness.

Crafting:
Once you have defined and crafted the starts and finishes to your day, you will need to places these activities in time slots of your day to insure that they have space to happen. Allow for the maximum time you think they will take. As in the case of walking for 30mins, all you will need is 30mins. But for something like reading 100 pages in a book, you may need more time.

Release:
Now that you have this amazing strategy in place you can relax. You can release the worrisome thoughts of “I hope I get something done today”, because you wont — you will be getting something accomplished. You will be bettering yourself and the world around you by organizing your starts and stops of your day.

 

Nuance Notes:

  • Always prepare your book-ends the day previous to the next day, including a short one-sentence mission statement.
  • Make sure that you are incredibly clear as to how your goals will impact your life.
  • Make sure the book-ends are written not just in your head.
  • Contemplate on them as you fall asleep.
  • 10/10 successful people do this, and that’s the truth.
  • Consider this your pre-game prep.

Today is the day that you prepare for tomorrow. Not moving fast, not moving slow. But this is a way that you will be able to consciously move through life with a self guided plan for success. While others are rushing to get things done saying, “I have so much to do today.” You’ll be saying, “Look what I’ve accomplished!”

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