Don't let others Steal Your Sunshine

Recently while running a couple loops around Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun and enjoying the beautiful sky line and luxury homes that line the lake, my i-Pod was playing to help deliver the adrenaline needed to complete the 6 miles. A pop song from the 90’s called “Steal My Sunshine” by Len was playing when the following lyrics caught my attention and caused me to play the song again. The words were …of course you can't become if you only say what you would have done, so I missed a million miles of fun.”


Those words kept running through my head and I laughed to myself thinking how such a great message was right there… almost hidden in an insignificant pop song. These words speak to a key difference between success and failure. Looking back, my professional successes and failures (and there have been plenty of both) come down to how my time was spent and where my focus was.

 
To ensure that you are getting desired results, ensure that your time Is being spent on items that are important and be sure to schedule and block time for the non-urgent activities like planning, giving feedback, checking performance of key metrics, following up and so on. Human nature will cause us focus on urgent matters at hand which are often other people’s priorities. If something is important, block time for it and refuse to let other matters take priority over it. This little time management pracice will produce real results and allow you to accomplish your goals. This way you will be able to avoid saying “what you would have done and having missed a million miles of fun.” Don’t let others steal YOUR sunshine!

Jim Pascale is a 20+ year veteran of consulting with small business owners and has comprehensive knowledge of small business management and franchising. Contact Jim at jimpascaleminnesota@yahoo.com.