You probably make lists of things to do and follow them through. But what about the things you should stop doing? Successful people do not do the following things but chances are you still do. Make a decision to add these to your “stop doing list” these from today going forward:
- Making Excuses. Successful people do not blame others or make excuses or complain about their bad luck. They take full responsibility for their lives. They know that success and failure lie in their hands. So stop being a victim, stop whining and stop making excuses.
- Drifting. Winners have a plan. They have a direction and a purpose. They do not drift through life hoping for the best. They set goals and then set about achieving them. If you approach each day in a happy go lucky way then stop. Stop drifting and start planning. Develop a vision of a successful you. List what you have to do to get there. Plan your work then work your plan.
- Sitting in Front of a Computer All Day (or worse still…a TV). Sure there are some important things you can do sitting at your screen but do not spend all day there. Get out and meet people, network, learn. Do things with the people you want to lead or help or do business with.
- Putting Things Off. Procrastination is the enemy of success. Decide on your objective, list out the tasks you have to complete, prioritise them and then get on with the top ones. We all suffer the temptation to put off the jobs we fear or dislike. Bite the bullet. Eat the frog. Do the job.
- Just the Easy Stuff. Which tasks do you spend most time on? The important, the urgent, the easy or the routine? If you spend most of your time on easy or less important tasks then stop. You should focus first on the most important jobs, the ones that will move you towards your strategic objective. You should delegate or ignore the low value activities.
- Sitting in Ineffective Meetings. Do you waste time at work in low-value meetings? Most office workers do. Every meeting should have a clear purpose, an agenda and a skilled chairperson who keeps the meting focussed on delivering its objectives. Do not go to poor meetings – just ask for a summary of agreed actions.
- Limiting your Ambition. Successful people have enormous self-belief, drive and ambition. They hold themselves to high standards. Are you holding yourself back? Have you lost some of your self-belief and confidence? Start afresh. Set yourself ambitious goals. Remind yourself of your skills and achievements. Motivate yourself every day.
If you can eliminate the low value activities and the negative things you do then you will free yourself to succeed. Stop doing the things that you know are wasting your time and start building your success.
(Photo credit: Stop via Shutterstock)
Hey Paul, really like what you wrote about drifting. If I had to pick one thing on your list, it would be that one for me!
Short, sweet, and to the point.
Number 4 kills me. I try and put things off until everything seems perfect to me. I know it will never be perfect yet I still put it off. I’m going to try my best just to do it.
Great post though Paul.
This is a great list because it’s making me think about some of the bad little habits I engage in instead of getting the job done!
I needed this list!
wow, nice list. thanks. just skipping meetings alone will make a big difference ;)
Hi Paul,
That’s
a great way to shift the paradigm of how people approach getting things
done, a to-don’t list. I can relate to number 3 which leads to number
4. Often people think if they do more work they will get ahead, but the
time spent is not always spent in the right direction. Do you have a
similar to way for people to check if they are drifting? We try at
AwayFind to help people surface the emails that are truly deserving of
their attention, but haven’t tackled life attention yet…
Great list
Your 6th thing may be a little difficult to do. If your manager or supervisor wants you in those meetings you may have no choice. Your boss doesn’t like being told their meetings are meaningless or ineffective.
great list
I was really moved after reading this list of 7 Don’ts. The last one about limiting your own ambition really did speak volumes to me. I was really a natural go-getter out of the gate. I never let self-doubt or anyone else’s opions of me limit what I would seek to attain. But Now that I am a little bit older, with a lot more to lose, I find that I play it safe a lot. I really need to reach back to that fearlessness that I used to hold near and dear.
Thank you very helpful