Refocus: Getting Clear About Your Priorities

Well, June is ending and we are about to enter the month of July. Personally, this is a time where I am laser-focused on ending the second quarter strong. Also, I am evaluating my goals and assessing my productivity for the first half of 2021. Summer started about a week ago and this is the time in the year when many people start to fall off. The sun is shining, the beach is calling and the productivity level for most people plummets. While I know we all love the warm days of summer, I hope that you will remain committed to your goals and prioritize the things that will produce progress and results in your life. I am counting down the days until my vacation and looking forward to the opportunity to recharge and reset. Take some time to assess the last six months and strategize for the second half of 2021. I hope these insights will help you position yourself for greater results in the days to come.

1. Get your life out of neutral. As I stated before, we are getting ready to hit the peak of summer. While this is a great time for travel and vacations, this is also the time of the year where productivity drops substantially. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand that this is the time of the year that it is often difficult to reach key contacts and clients. Nobody is in the office and everyone is taking vacations or clocking out early. Honestly, it is not very hard to get distracted with summer fever. However, as I often say after the summer fever ends I hope you have some results to show for this season of your life. I cannot deposit excuses and I cannot withdraw good intentions. Yes, this time of the year puts us all in a relaxed mode but we cannot forget that we still need to be getting results. Take your life out of neutral and shift gears. You should absolutely plan some downtime for the summer if you get the chance to do so. On the other hand, understand that time away from your business or your job is a tradeoff. Make sure that you are scheduling results just like you are scheduling vacations. Neutrality will ultimately negatively impact your business, career, and your life.
2. Take the time to assess the last six months. As I am sure you know by now, we are ending the second quarter of 2021 and heading into the third quarter of 2021. If you are following the news, then you know that travel is at an all-time high. After being locked down for a year, people are ready to get out and get back to enjoying their lives. I am not saying that it is anything wrong with traveling and enjoying yourself. At the same time, I hope that you will set aside some time to assess the last six months of this year. As an entrepreneur, I am assessing the goals and results of my business over the last six months. I am looking to see what has worked, what has not worked, and what could be better. You cannot expect to advance in business if you never take the time to assess your business. Even if you are not an entrepreneur you should be taking time to assess your progress. Assess your career, personal life, finances, relationships, etc. Often we are celebrating but not gaining clarity about what is really going on in our lives. I am not only assessing my life and business but also assessing other organizations. As someone who serves on multiple boards, I am also evaluating the goals, objectives, and results of these organizations as well. Evaluation is absolutely critical for adjustment, ascension, and advancement. So evaluate so you can elevate your business, your career, and ultimately your life.
3. Determine what adjustments you need to make and make the adjustments. While it is good to assess your progress, it is more important that you make adjustments. Simply identifying that something needs to change and not implementing a plan to change it will continue to cause you to be unproductive. Making adjustments is never comfortable or convenient. Adjustments force us out of our comfort zones, challenge assumptions, identify obstacles, spotlight patterns, and expose excuses that are holding us back. Just identifying something that needs to change will keep you average. Conversely, making the adjustments is what will empower you to be a high achiever in life. If the next six months of your life are going to look different, then it will be because you dared to do something different. So right now I challenge you to make the shifts that will set you up for success in the third quarter and beyond. More importantly, pinpoint the areas you need to pivot to progress and prosper in the days to come. Adjustments always bring you to new altitudes and new possibilities.
4. You must get clear on your priorities. If you have followed my work for any length of time, I am sure you have heard me talk about priorities. Essentially, I believe that the progress and prosperity of your life are defined by your priorities. Many people are in love with their potential. However, our lives are not a reflection of our potential. Our lives are a reflection of our most important priorities. Your priorities get both your focus and your energy. On the contrary, whatever is not important to you will never get your interest or the investment of your time. We say that certain things are a priority in our lives; however, we show through our actions that those things were not precious to us. The last six months of your life are a reflection of what you have chosen to make a priority. Notice that I said what you have chosen to make a priority. In other words, you always get to choose what you concentrate on. More importantly, what you concentrate on is what will consume your life. I challenge you to stop making excuses and start engineering new possibilities for your life based on your priorities. If it is important to you then you will find a way to make it happen. If it is not important to you then you will find an excuse for not making it happen. Our priorities determine our commitments and define the cycles and seasons of our lives. Priorities shape our focus and decide our futures.