This week, my wife and I had a visit from a good friend that we hadn't seen in a while, and when I was asked how I'm doing, I responded "I'm just managing the stress" or something like that. My wife looked at me. I have no idea where that came from, and I don't know why I would say that.

Here's the reality though... "I'm just managing through the stress."

I am experiencing some stress. I'm in another "busy season". I've been traveling and travel again this weekend. I haven't been eating great. I haven't been to the gym for 2 weeks. I'm not sleeping well. My "to do" list is long. I'm working long hours. My daughter is getting married in 6 weeks! There's some financial pressure....

I could go on and on, but when I honestly look at my life today, I have every reason to be experiencing some stress.

It's January 28th, ALREADY?

I feel like the year just started, and here we are, winding up January in just a few days.

We've been talking about priorities and getting things done this month. 

Did you know...

- That 80 percent of peoples New Years Resolutions fail by February? (US News & World Report)

- January 12th is the day most people "ditch" their resolutions. (We passed that day over 2 weeks ago)

- Only 9.2 percent of people keep their resolutions throughout the year

A RESOLUTION is defined as "a firm decision to do or not to do something".  In leadership, we call this a GOAL.  We focus more on the aspect of "aiming for something for a desired result".

JUST GET MOVING

The year was 1976, and as a 7th grader my dad took me to see a new movie that had just come out.. Rocky.  The story of an boxer who was given the chance of a lifetime to fight the world champion.  The movie was a great story and inspirational. The morning after watching the movie, I joined boys around the world by starting the day drinking 5 raw eggs, just like Rocky did.

This past week, my wife and I had about 3 hours in the city of Philadelphia. We were there at 6:00am on a Sunday Morning, so we had to settle with a drive by of the Liberty Bell and some of the sights in the city, but we did get to see the iconic Rocky statue.

There are a couple of scenes in the movie that show Rocky training. In an early scene, he's working hard, he's barely able to make it up the steps in the city, but later in the movie, after his training, he's ready, and we see him run up the steps anticipating the fight.

VISUAL PRIORITIES AND WHITE BOARDS

I heard from one of our readers and a friend of mine this past week that by putting a white board in her office, it has helped her with her tasks, goals and her to-do list.  Thank you Linda for your comments.

This got me thinking about the power of putting your lists, goals and action items in front of you as a way to remind you, to inspire you and to keep you focused.

Many of you know my love of technology. I try to keep up with the best apps, I take advantage of multiple devices, and am always looking for electronic tools that increase productivity and effectiveness. 

However, many of you also know of my love of white boards. I couldn't survive without a large, white surface to write, think, dream, erase and plan.  My office at one time had an entire wall of white boards on it, and now I have a couple that serve me well.  I even have a small one that fits in my carry-on bag that I can carry with me and use with a one-to-one meeting with someone.  I know, a little obsessive.

PRIORITIES

This morning I had coffee with a friend that shared with me the importance of his "to-do list". He uses a blend of paper and electronics to determine what he does each day, and he shared how good he feels when he gets through that list each day.

Last week I listened to a podcast of Gary Keller (The One Thing/Keller-Williams) and he talked about his "to-do list" and how important is was for him to define that list and work it each day.

Today I want to share how I manage mine:

I use my computer and phone to take notes of things that I need to do, then I bring it together with my calendar.

I use an Action Planner Pad from NeuYear to write out my daily plan. 

#4) PRIORITIES: Learning to Say No

Let's wrap up these 4 conversations. Today is simple:

Instead of reading a post by me on PRIORITIES, why don't you get away from your computer and do something SIGNIFICANT:

- Serve Someone

- Show Love to Someone

- Take a Long Walk and Enjoy the Day

- Lay on Your Couch And Read Fiction

- Enjoy Your Family

- Take a Nap

- I could go on and on...

Next week I'll dive into PRIORITIES as we launch into a New Year!

Today, turn it off and do something that will make a difference in your life or the lives of those you care about.

I'd like to spend the next few weeks sharing some things I've learned over the past year and encouraging you to consider engaging with me as we prepare for a New Year!  Each of these things has implications for both our personal lives as well as our professional lives.  Here are the 4 conversations:

December 10th:       RHYTHM:  The Pace of Life    

December 17th:        IMPACT:    Measuring the Results

December 24th:       HEALTH:  The Power of Your Body

December 31st:        PRIORITIES: Learning to Say No

Let's continue....

#3) HEALTH: The Power of Your Body

Bad timing!  It's the week of Christmas Week and I'm talking about health! Part of every Christmas Celebration is all of the food tradition that we enjoy with our friends and family. I'm not going to tell you to stop eating.  I simply want to share some things I've learned this year.

I've been on a "health quest" all year. I began the year by working hard and losing 25 pounds of weight. I spent time at a gym with a trainer, I worked on my morning routine which incorporated some new stretching. I've worked hard to balance my sleep, my movement each day and have felt pretty good.

I then hit a 2-month stretch of time that had me making 4 trips on 4 different continents (South Africa, Philippines, Ecuador, and the USA).  I fought jet-lag, I didn't eat the way I knew I should, my exercise routine got messed up and I pretty much gave up and ignored the things I had learned throughout the year around my health.

I'd like to spend the next few weeks sharing some things I've learned over the past year and encouraging you to consider engaging with me as we prepare for a New Year!  Each of these things has implications for both our personal lives as well as our professional lives.  Here are the 4 conversations:

December 10th:       RHYTHM:  The Pace of Life    

December 17th:       IMPACT:  Measuring the Results

December 24th:       HEALTH: The Power of Your Body

December 31st:        PRIORITIES: Learning to Say No

Let's continue....

#2)  IMPACT: Measuring the Results

I had an interesting experience this past year when I was invited to attend a Venture Capitalist event, and I was able to listen to a number of business leaders pitch opportunities that were being offered to potential investors. I was intrigued with the simplicity of the presentations, but was then blown away by the "PROOF" that was shared when they got to numbers.

The investors were asking really clear questions about outcomes, about impact, about growth, about challenges, and I saw and heard each of these business leaders answer their questions with clear data and full knowledge and understanding. They were prepared for these questions.

I've been working in the non-profit world for so long, and I think I've just gotten lazy when it comes to measuring impact.  I know there is significant impact and great results, but I don't take the time to capture it, communicate it and learn from it.