Suzanne Bird-Harris | vAssistant Servicess last blog post..New Site: nobleMother.com!

Suzanne I’m really not omnipresent, that’s a blessing and a benevolent curse that many of my coaching clients remark on. It’s all good. I really do appreciate you making an agreement without being asked. What a wonderful client you are!

For most, the optimum adjustment point in personal productivity is to ramp up the frequency of meaningful actions.

What continually amazes me is how quickly I can lose sight of this and think I’ve had a productive day full of meaningful actions when I really haven’t. Busy does not equal meaningful actions. Meaningful actions, and lots of them, however does equal busy. I need to remember meaningful actions is but a subset of all actions available and do more of them and less of the other actions that merely keep me busy.

Another thing that struck me this morning is that I need to not only be aware of what constitutes meaningful actions, but pay attention when a deep need is being expressed to me. It happened just 30 minutes ago on a call with one of my clients – she expressed a deep need for a service that I can, but do not currently, provide and the light came on! I heard her, and immediately heard your voice saying, “Hey Suzanne…in case you hadn’t noticed – that was a deep need that she just expressed, and you’re more than capable of meeting it. So…how ’bout we make that an agreement?”

Yes, Tom, you talk to me even when we’re not on the phone. LOL And yes, I’ll make that agreement.

Ari I’m please to meet another guy who doesn’t mind taking the easy way out. Life can be a breeze, there are effective shortcuts and sometimes everything does just fall into place. But not for those who believe they have to earn everything through hard work.

Making meaningful progress regularly is tough until you just decided to commit one day and put a couple good days together. Then momentum comes and you really get a lift.

Adam thanks for researching it. Someone knows the origin I’ll bet if you ask every other Adam you meet someone will know.

Dot welcome, one way to identify the world’s deep need that you can fill, is to take your business ideas and list all the ways money is already being exchanged for anything close to what you have in mind. It’s very helpful to see the combinations that develop that way. Give it a shot! Or you could join my Business Discovery Group and know in 5 days time!

>There is an optimum way for everything, and struggle is only valuable as a lesson. Struggle is not a strategy.

This bit struck me strongly, as I think people equate success with hard work/grind, more so than they should. I tend to think that as you business mastery grows, your machines get well-oiled and you stop struggling at the lower levels. You are constantly challenged, of course, as you grow — growth pain is always a given — but that’s not the same thing as struggle. We work hard, of course, but straining or stressing is not necessary and too much of those are to be avoided, as that makes your endeavor unsustainable. You’ll burn out.

>For most, the optimum adjustment point in personal productivity is to ramp up the frequency of meaningful actions.

This bit is right on, as well. In my experience, it’s so easy to take care of meaningless tings. Making meaningful progress on regular basis is a tough habit to build, at least for me. It’s OK to grab the low-hanging fruits to get the productivity going, but if all you do is easy, menial stuff, you’re really not being productive at all.

ari

Ari Koinumas last blog post..Bliss vs. Logic: Understanding Our Emotional Nature (Digest)

Cath absolutely, I agree all business growth begins with personal growth especially for us solo-entrepreneurs.

Evelyn you also make an excellent point. It’s easy to fall prey to the prevailing winds however determining the sweet spot is a a very individual quest. Check and follow your own excellent intuition and all will be well.

Sara I know that you like to stretch yourself and I admire you for it. We’d all like to find that sweet spot sooner. But at least you’re in active pursuit of it. I like your odds!

Robin you know I stole the guts of that quote from Buechner. But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind since I also credit him.
Yes there are more excuses put forth for a lack of going for it then we have time to list. But it’s all there for the digging like most gold.

Al I can’t argue with you about the wisdom and effectiveness of being persistent. I’m glad you noted the frequency as well. That’s where many fall down.

Slade it’s always an honor to have you visit and share your take-away. That felt good writing it too.

Everything worthwhile requires more of us than we originally imagined. This is a given, and no one gets a free pass. Eventually we’re all challenged beyond our point of development and we have the choice to work through it, stall out or quit.

Tom, just wanted to share my take-away from this post. Excellent!

Slade