This past weekend my wife and kids were off on a little vacation, so I knew I’d have the entire weekend, Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, at my disposal. So what do you imagine I did? That’s right, I got to spend the weekend working on my yard! And I must say, I enjoyed it immensely. The experience was both necessary and cathartic, and I took some lessons from it that I thought you might find useful.

1. Something to look Forward to is Great for Your Attitude

This weekend had been set up about 6 weeks ago. So I knew for quite some time that this weekend was happening, and though a weekend of landscaping may not sound like your ideal way to spend a couple free days, I personally was stoked. For reasons I still can’t fully understand, I couldn’t have thought of a better or more enjoyable way to spend this time than cutting, mowing, pulling, mulching and cleaning.

The closer this weekend become, more fired up I got. Looking back, it is no coincidence that last week was my biggest sales week and my best attitude week in a while. Anytime someone gave me the procrastination objection, canceled a sales appointment, didn’t call me back for the third time or anytime any of the myriad little things that can get under one’s skin would happen, it just didn’t matter. I had a plan for something I was really excited about, and I was unflappable.

Have you ever noticed how you become super productive right before a vacation? That happens to nearly everyone, and it’s no coincidence. The energy of looking forward to something infuses everything you do and makes you powerful.

What are You Looking Forward to?

What do you have coming up that you are truly excited about? It doesn’t matter what it is, a vacation, a long weekend, a date, an afternoon by yourself, can do the trick. What matters is that there is something. If you don’t currently have something coming up in the next 4 to 6 weeks that you’re jazzed about, make time and PUT SOMETHING on your schedule.

2. Taking Control of Your Environment is Good for Your Mind

It’s been said that a clean environment (desk, car, home, etc) is a reflection of a clean mind. I re-learned that the reverse is also true. Taking control of your environment can help you take control of your mind.

The activity of working, the measurable and highly visible progress and the knowledge that what was happening was making your world more orderly is highly therapeutic while the work was going on. I was tired at the end of the day, but what a good tired. Once the yard was done, there was a tangible feeling of lightness and calm. Plus the neighbors are suddenly a lot friendlier.

So allow me to encourage you to take an aspect of your environment that is currently disorganized and make the time to fully clean it up. I promise it will positively influence your business and your income.

3. Cut Back the Overgrowth

I wish I would have taken before and after photos to show you what we’re talking about, but suffice it to say that the place looks and feels WAY better on Monday than it did on Friday. It’s almost not the same home.

Some of this is because of the mulch that got laid down to cover the blemishes and the few weeds remaining, some is because my mom planted a few flowers, but the vast majority of the improvement came from the 8 foot high and 10 foot wide pile of branches, leaves, plants and grass clippings that simply got eliminated. The best improvement tools were the lawnmower, the pruning saw, and the hedge trimmer.

What do you need to cut out?

What needs to be cut from your LIFE? Do you need to eliminate some TV watching? Some snooze alarming? How about some operating without clear goals? Should you cut out starting the week without a plan? Are there any people you need to get away from so you can invest your time with a more inspiring crowd? Seriously, what patterns have you fallen into that would serve you best if you just took a scalpel to them? At least as important as the “To-Do List” is the “Stop-Doing List”- use it.

Guess it goes to show that life lessons can show up anywhere. I hope this post finds you well, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Be Free!

Roger Seip
Instructor