The Typical Corporate Life?

Brian’s the epitome of the stressed out Corporate guy in his mid-thirties. He’s time-starved. He’s at the mercy of every request from his boss. He’s constantly being nagged by his spouse at home. Not really surprising…. he’s hardly ever there, and when he is, he’s never truly present. And the worst thing is, he doesn’t do anything about it….

Things started out so well…. he did great at University, landed a job in the corporate world with plenty of prospects, and thought he was ‘going places’.

Fast forward 15 years, and our man Brian is pretty pissed off.

Okay, he’s moved up a few rungs in the company structure, managing a team, and taking home an extra 40k every year…. but he still has a boss. He’s bored. Frustrated. He’s still confused as to which project he needs to Focus on next….

He dreads the daily commute. He loses an hour a day on the road dreaming of better shit.

The lunch breaks are filled with idle chit-chat from ditzy colleagues….. people that he has zero tolerance to – spending most his his time wondering how they got through the job interview in the first place.

He lives for his weekends (even if those weekends to involve little more than watching Soccer Saturday, painting the garden shed, or on the odd ‘lucky’ occasion…. being allowed to visit the pub.)

He still trades his time for money. And what’s worse – he’s stressed and tired as hell.

Brian doesn’t go to work because he wants to. There’s no genius at work here trying to cultivating his craft with incredible passion. He doesn’t do it because it’s an easy ride for a hefty pay cheque each month.

And he certainly doesn’t do it because of the enlightening banter he has with the boys and girls he works with.

He does it because it’s ‘the done thing.’ Little did he know when he was sold the ticket 20+ years ago that it would turn out as miserable as this.

Life of the Uber-Successful

Brian is far from stupid. He can see that there are guys out there that seem to have it all…. guys out that are absolutely crushing it…. pulling in the big bucks, living on their terms, taking holidays all the time, and having fun…. but how the hell did they create all this freedom?

Shouldn’t they be glued to their computer screens 18+ hours per day, walking round constantly on their phones, or taking Skype calls and sending emails while they’re queuing for coffee?

They make this lifestyle seem so bloody effortless. It’s not the case that they can create more time. Rather, they leverage their time more efficiently.

Much more efficiently than you and I…. oh, and Brian for that matter. And that’s where the problem lies …

Are You The Stereotypical Underperforming Corporate Slave?

Let’s start with a little quiz. Answer ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ to each of the following statements….

• The first thing you do when you get into the office every day is open your inbox (actually, chances are, you have your work email hooked up to your phone, so the first thing you do on WAKING is check your emails).

• When you’re not emailing, you’re in meetings (that always over-run!)
• When you’re not emailing or in meetings, you’re planning emails and meetings.
• You leave more or less every single meeting feeling distinctly under-whelmed, and not too sure if you actually accomplished anything.
• Most meetings end with no concrete decision, and so you think “Screw it – let’s have another meeting.”
• You say “yes” to every single assignment you’re asked to do. That includes those from colleagues and employees below you too – you just want to be the nice guy.
• When you finally get down to the stuff that you need to do, you rush it, and often sacrifice your own free time to get it done, to make up for 8 hours wasted on all the above.

So how did you get on? If you’re like most modern day corporate employees, it can be a worrying insight. In fact it reads like an exact blueprint of most middle managers in the corporate world.

Most guys break out into a cold sweat even thinking about it.

The #1 Secret of the Uber-Successful: Obsessive Focus

It’s a vicious cycle – and one that 99% of the corporate world will never break…. their only escape is the retirement plan.

Sure, you might talk about how you’re going to leverage your time better, say “no” more, give two fingers up to your boss, or stop attending all non-critical meetings, but deep down you know you won’t.

You don’t have the balls to stand up for yourself…. or do you?

You see the one thing that the uber-successful practice and develop and master is Obsessive Focus.

Here’s how they get to work less, get more done, and have more fun along the way….

Try this…. 4 tricks the successful rebels use to work less, get more done, and have more fun….

FOCUS ON NO MORE THAN 3 PROJECTS AT ANY ONE TIME

It’s what differentiates the uber-successful from the likes of you and me. It’s why Richard Branson has been able to create an incredible portfolio of global businesses around the Virgin brand. It’s why the retired CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, sold Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo to turnaround the ailing Ford brand. It’s why Steve Jobs cut the product portfolio upon his return to Apple in 1997. It’s why Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid has won the Balloon D’Or for the past two years. Love him or hate him, you can’t question his obsession to better his game.

We live in a world of constant distraction. We often prefer to be ‘busy’ rather than actually doing the real work to better ourselves or our business.

Branson, Mulally, Jobs and Ronaldo knew what it took to become successful.

It’s that Obsessive focus….

…. obsessive focus on those vital few priorities….

…. those vital few priorities that clearly take you closer towards your ultimate end goal.

Have YOU clearly defined your vital few priorities?…. or do you prefer to live life as a victim in your world of overwhelm?

You simply can’t expect to do anything well if you’ve too much shit going on in your life.

BE RUTHLESS

If it’s not part of one your vital few priorities, then don’t even consider doing it. Say ‘NO’. Easier said than done, I know…. especially for all you corporate guys reading this who don’t have the balls to say no to their boss or their work colleagues.

There’s an expectation in modern society to say ‘YES” to any request that comes your way…. BUT that’s not going to get you where you want to get to….

Here’s a pertinent quote from George Bernard Shaw….

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man”.

So instead of doing something that the world expects of you, adapt the world to you by saying NO, and instead focus on those vital few priorities where you’re going to create the greatest value.

Let me be clear…. if you want to take your life to a different level, you’re going to have to do something different…. you have to take the action you need to take.

You have to focus on the work you need to get done.

Without exception, the successful people have this ruthless ability to not play by the unconscious rules that many or most people in society make for themselves.

Being ruthless is putting your outcome first and foremost.

And let’s be candid here….

ARE YOU?

DON’T ALLOW OTHERS TO CONTROL YOUR DAILY AGENDA

…. and it starts with your email inbox. Gone are the days when we got excited when an email arrives. Now, there’s a certain amount of dread and fear every time you go to open your email provider…. “Am I in the shit for something I’ve forgotten to do”.

It’s email access at all times….

…. as soon as you wake up

…. as soon as you hit the office

…. running in the background throughout the day

And you know the worst thing about this obsession with email?…. it’s allowing other people to control your daily agenda. 99%+ of all emails that hit your inbox are a request for your time, your attention, your advice, or for you to answer a question.

The bottom line is that email has become the habitual constant distraction. It stops you from doing the real work…. the stuff that drives your business, your passion, and your projects forward.

Start to play the email game well…. allow yourself to check your email once, or maybe twice a day at most, and never in the morning. Only answer emails that require a quick and easy response, or relate to your big 3 projects. Focus on hitting that DELETE button as much as possible. If it’s that important, they’ll call you.

How are you ever going to create an obsessive focus when you don’t devote the quality time because you’re living in a world responding to everyone else’s requests?

Reclaim what’s rightfully yours…. YOUR TIME AND YOUR AGENDA.

Lost time you can never get back. So protect it.

Your agenda can only be yours if you say ‘NO’ to the requests of others…. whether they be by email, by telephone, or in person.

BLOCK TIME AND DO THE WORK

Congratulations….

• You’ve defined your 3 key projects
  
• You’ve developed the ability to say ‘NO’ to other people’s requests
• You’ve reclaimed your daily agenda

So what do you do with your newly found freedom?

DO. THE. BLOODY. WORK.

It’s best to block time. Block out 3-4 hours every day where you’re uncontactable. Yip, you heard me right…. uncontactable.

This is your time. Your most valuable time. Make this time your most productive time. Don’t answer the phone or check your emails.

Put the sign on the door….. DO NOT DISTURB.

It’s your time to do the work.

If you’re a corporate guy, get out of the office promptly. Do things that really matter to you like spending time with your friends and family. And do stuff that you’re passionate about. Who knows…. you may want to create a little income-generating venture on the side.

…. and remember this…. to my knowledge, no-one has even been stupid enough to say this on their deathbed….

“Shit, I wish I’d spent more time in the office!”

Obsessive Focus… Makes Sense, Right?!?!

All this makes absolute sense. But there’s no point sitting there nodding your head in agreement with every word I’ve said if you don’t do anything about it.

And this is typically where the bullshit excuses kick-in…. “but I have a job, a boss, a wife, a mortgage. I can’t just start doing stuff on my terms…. can I?”.

Absolutely. In fact, it’s even more important for those still working in the corporate world to implement this shift in mind-set.

You can still live your own life, have fun, and get more free time working in the corporate world. This isn’t exclusively for the self-employed entrepreneurial-types. It 100% applies to anyone who wants to grab life by the balls.

You just need to be RUTHLESS…. ruthless with yourself and with others.

And that comes with saying no… and saying ‘NO’ often!

Be ruthless with your time, your agenda, your meetings, the people you’re willing to talk to, the projects you take on, the assignments you’re willing to do…. But before taking anything on, first consider this….

“Is this getting me closer to, or further away, from where I ultimately want to be?”

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