We are masters at the art of distraction. In most of my coaching sessions lately my team has shared with me their difficulty in staying focused on the behaviors they know lead to success. This struggle is not foreign to me either. It is so easy for my attention to get distracted from what I know to be important for me to focus on and instead be pulled towards other interests. The world in which we live in is no friend in this battle. Today’s media is especially gifted in creating a sense of “urgency” around every news story. They have mastered the art of distraction and created a need to “stayed tuned” to the latest and most up to date information regarding whatever they have deemed important on a given day. Without systems in place to help me stay focused on my priorities and high-payoff activities, I’m quite certain I would get very little done and what I did get done would be of poor quality. Knowing that this is a common struggle, I thought I would share six systems that I have in place to help me avoid distraction.

1. My Life Plan helps me stay focused on my personal and professional priorities. In my life plan I identify my vision and purpose for each priority (account) and the behaviors that I need to engage in to help me make regular deposits into these accounts. The necessary behaviors are scheduled in my calendar, they are a part of my business plan, and I have a great coach to hold me accountable to them. I review my Life Plan monthly to make sure I am staying on track and engaged with the people that are most important to me. A great blog post on developing a Life Plan can be read on Mike Hyatt’s blog, click here.
2. I use a One Page Business Plan to manage my staff, my sales team, and help me be a contributing member of our management team at Prudential. My one page plan outlines my goals for the quarter, the activities that I must do on a regular basis to help me reach those goals, and the improvement projects I’m working on during the quarter. I love the one page plan because it summarizes everything that I striving for and need to do and is easy to read and reference. There are so many choices on how to spend our precious time each day. Having the one page plan helps me make the right decisions and stay focused on the high-payoff activities that ensure me the highest probability of success. A great blog post for creating your own one page plan can be found on Daniel Harkavy’s blog, click here.
3. My sacred Planning and Preparation Hour occurs every day from 4PM to 5PM. My goal is to stop work and to assess the days achievements and events. I look at my week ahead and start to make my to do list for the next day. I use this time to return my final emails and voice mails of the day. Most importantly though I mentally prepare for the next day so that I can focus my attention on my family when I get home. I don’t want to be distracted when I am with my family and this hour helps me leave work at work. This one hour of planning and preparation has helped me be more productive at home and work.
4. I work from a To-Do List each day. My list includes the people that I need to engage and the tasks that are most important to achieve on that particular day. I screen this list against my Life Plan and One Page Business Plan to make sure I am focusing a large portion of my time on the right priorities. There are days when the list is overwhelming and many of the items seem to lack a focus on my priorities, but that is okay occasionally. Brian Buffini taught me that we cannot win every single day but we can win enough days  to say we’ve won the week, and enough weeks to win the month, and enough months to say we’ve won the year. Perfection is not possible for us.
5. My Calendar is King in my life. I schedule everything on my calender. My date nights with my wife, my coaching sessions, my drive time to different appointments, my weekend plans, client meetings, reflection time, literally everything. This helps me stay focused on what I must accomplish and allows me to spend time turning business off to focus on surfing the net, reading my favorite blogs, and doing other non-business related stuff so that I feel connected to the outside world. If I don’t schedule time to check out then I am more likely to get distracted and sucked into “distraction” trap.
6. I practice Candidness with everyone that requests a part of my time. If someone asks me if I have a minute, I am frank with them and tell them Yes, No, or not right now but I will at this certain time. It was really tough for me to do this at first because I thought I had to respond to everyone and everything immediately. By living my life in the tyranny of the urgent though I was getting nothing done and what I did get done was of such poor quality. My goal is to never be rude but always truthful with everyone making a request. Most people are happy to wait if you tell them when you can speak with them.

I do not enjoy being a master at the art of distraction. I would much rather say that I am a master at getting the right things done at the right time with the right results. As I continue to work on these systems and use different tools the more empowered I feel and the less distracted I am each day.

What tools or systems do you use to stay focused and not get distracted?

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

Avoiding Distraction is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

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1. You’re At The Top – Now What?
2. Is Your Business and Life Plan Still Working?
3. 8 Key Areas That Affect Performance
4. 6 Steps to Better Decision Making
5. Learning from Failure

Over the past year I’ve been recording successes and failures, prayer requests and answered prayers, and challenges and blessings in the hope that I will be able to see the bigger picture of what is going on personally and professionally in my life. I’ve decided that this will be my last blog post of the year and that I will be taking a sabbatical from all social networking and media. My goal during my sabbatical is to spend time reflecting, meditating, reading, praying, and listening. I will be with my wife, children, friends, and family deepening relationships and making wonderful memories.

The 13 questions I’ve listed below will be my homework for the remainder of the year. On January first I will begin to put into action a plan to ensure that in the near future I am able to answer “Yes” to all of these questions and the team that I lead can answer “Yes” as well.

I will return to blogging and the social media world the first week in January. Until then, I encourage you to answer these questions, spend time reflecting on 2009, and prepare to engage in 2010. I challenge you to take the steps necessary, so in 12 months you can answer “Yes” to ALL the questions below.

1. Do you belong to a team of professionals that encourage, support, and challenge each other to be better?
2. Does your manager or leader articulate the vision of your team during these challenging times?
3. Do you trust your coworkers to help you with your business while you are on vacation?
4. Are you working in a culture where there is recognition and celebration of success?
5. Does your leader provide you with a personal and business development coaching program?
6. Are you working from a written business plan that identifies your high-payoff activities and improvement projects for the coming year?
7. Does your company/leader provide you with consistent relevant training?
8. Does your company/leader provide you with tools to help you be successful and different than the competition?
9. Do you trust that your manager/leader is looking out for you and sincerely wants you to be successful?
10. Do your coworkers and your leader consistently live out the convictions and values of your organization?
11. Do you have the desire to be engaged with your coworkers and contribute to the overall success of the company?
12. Are you receiving value that is equal to or greater than what it costs to be at your current company?
13. Are you willing to do what it takes so you can answer “Yes.” to all of the questions listed above?

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Coach Dan

13 Questions and Goodbye is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

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1. Facing Your Reality
2. Learning from Failure
3. Is Your Business and Life Plan Still Working?
4. Bringing Out The Best In Your Team
5. Reflect, Plan, and Connect

I read this post from Rick Warren last week and thought it was so good that I needed to share it on my blog. I recently took some time to outline the convictions (values) and purpose for the teams I lead at Prudential and it was a fantastic experience. It helped me to refocus and be recharged about what we do each day in serving others. Rick’s message below was a confirmation of the process I went through as well as challenge to look at my personal convictions (values).

Coach’s Questions: What influences are defining your values? Have you identified 3-5 core values that will stand the test of time and that you are willing to live by no matter what happens?

Success is Living Your Values by Rick Warren

“We should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good” (Job 34:4 LB).

Everything you do is influenced by your values. Your actions in life are largely determined by the values you hold. Every time you make a decision, you’re relying on your values to tell you what to do.

Unfortunately, some of the values you operate by are counterproductive to your success and a hindrance to your satisfaction in life. You see, many of the unconscious values you live by are ones you didn’t choose; they were imposed on you by parents, peers, and the culture around you. (Today television is the #1 values shaper in our society.) You may be operating on incorrect information and values that don’t stand up under pressure.

Just like the set of the sail determines the direction of a sailboat, your values chart the course for your life. The question is: In what direction are your values leading you? Are they going to deliver what you hope or will you eventually be disappointed?

Here’s another fact about values: they cause a lot of your stress! Stress occurs when what you say you believe and what you actually do don’t line up. For instance:

• When you say, “My family is important to me,” but you’re always too busy or too tired to enjoy them.

• When you say, “I value my health,” but you overwork, overeat, and never exercise.

• When you say, “I’m not materialistic,” but you become so in debt you must worry constantly about finances.

When two of your values conflict, that’s called a dilemma. My experience is that these incongruent values are the #1 cause of emotional tension among believers. What’s the solution?

Identify what is really important in life. “We can choose the sounds we want to listen to; we can choose the taste we want in food, and we should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good” (Job 34:3–4 LB).

You need to come up with a personal definition of success, not someone else’s definition but your own. Remember this: “Success is the feeling I get when I live out my values.” It’s not a destination. You can be successful at any stage of your life, based on your own personal values and goals. Begin by making a list of what you value most in life. Ask yourself “What is going to last?”

Begin eliminating those things that really aren’t important. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

—end of article by Rick Warren

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

www.PurposeDrivenBroker.com

e: dfoster@prunw.com

t: www.twitter.com/coachdanfoster

f: www.facebook.com/purposedrivenbroker

Success is Living Your Values by Rick Warren is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

Visit www.PurposeDrivenBroker.com for related posts.

“To reach your potential, you must first believe in your potential, and determine to live way beyond average.” – John Maxwell.

I’ve been re-reading a great book by John Maxwell entitled “Talent is Never Enough “. The quote above is from the book and it struck me as a truth that is easy to overlook during these challenging times. One of the greatest obstacles to success in life and business is your attitude towards yourself and more importantly your Belief in Yourself.

In my coaching sessions I have the opportunity to engage people with high self-esteem, belief in themselves, and knowledge of their potential. These people are on track in their business and life and have a plan to achieve their goals. The greatest asset they have though is not the plan but their belief in themselves and their commitment to take action towards achieving their plan.

As a coach, I also have the opportunity to engage with people that have a horrible addiction to negative “self-talk”, a poor attitude, and overall have no belief in themselves. This type of person imposes limitations on themselves that prevents them from ever achieving long-term personal and professional purpose and success. Usually, this lack of belief comes from negative influences and experiences in their past which they chose to never overcome or address.

It is one the most heartbreaking aspects of coaching to see someone with such amazing talent and potential but a lack of self-belief. Talent is wonderful but without belief in yourself it means nothing. You must combine your talent with a positive belief in yourself to be truly purposeful in life and business.

If you struggle with a poor attitude or with believing in yourself, I recommend the following steps to start the process of healing and growth:

1. Take full responsibility for your attitude and situation.
2. Make the choice today to change the way you talk, think, and act as it relates to your attitude and belief in yourself.
3. Make a list of your personal talents and gifts and a list of the activities in your life and career that bring you the greatest joy.
4. Embrace these areas you’ve listed above and take action in these areas. Remember hope is not a strategy for success. The only thing that will lead to change is to take ACTION.
5. Feed yourself daily by listening to positive music, reading encouraging books, spending time in prayer and meditation, and surrounding yourself with positive people.
6. Finally, SERVE someone by using your gifts and talents. Give away what has been given to you and you will discover an inner peace, joy, and sense of purpose.

Question: “What has contributed to your positive attitude and belief in yourself? Was it your family, faith, personal conviction, or personal experience?”

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

www.PurposeDrivenBroker.com

e: dfoster@prunw.com

t: www.twitter.com/coachdanfoster

f: www.facebook.com/purposedrivenbroker

Belief in Yourself is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

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2. You’re At The Top – Now What?
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Last night my wife and I had the honor of hosting my entire sales team and staff for our annual appreciation dinner. We held the event at our home and spent much of the evening outdoors in our backyard where we shared a meal, laughed, and shared our successes and challenges over the past year. The event reminded me of how important it is to share time with your team outside of work in an environment where you can meet spouses and learn more about each other personally.

Here are just a few things I was reminded of last night as it relates to fellowship:

1. Fellowship must be intentional. It does not happen by accident or by mistake. Taking the time to break away from work and the busyness of life is something that we must schedule regularly in order to renew our purpose and minister to one another.
2. Fellowship requires transparency. Last night was not an evening to put on a mask. It was a time share hopes, dreams, and challenges in our personal and professional areas of life. There is no room for false fronts in true community and fellowship. You can only grow strong as a team when everyone is candid and honest with one another.
3. Fellowship should lead to renewal and inspiration. Last night we all had the opportunity to encourage one another, talk about our family, share our plans for the summer, our hopes for the future, and leave the party renewed and inspired to keep fighting the good fight.

I feel very blessed to lead my team of sales leaders. It was a great evening of fellowship and a wonderful opportunity for my wife and me to show our appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our team.

Here are a few pictures

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

The Importance of Fellowship is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

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3. 13 Questions and Goodbye
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