Are You Doing Too Much to Get Anything Done?

As a responsible, self-respecting business leader, manager, or team leader, you work hard for your money! In fact, you have worked hard most of your life. You are a doer. If it needs done, you step up. You are known for your willingness to help and your ceaseless effort and activity. Do do do do, and do some more is your ongoing mantra!!! My question is this: In all of this activity, are you getting the results you want? If not, this article may be helpful.

Take a moment and slow down, and think about this distinction: ACTION vs ACTIVITY. Your lack of desired results might be that you have too much activity, and not enough focused action. The replacement for too much activity is not inactivity, but focused action.

Focused action is intentional. It is the fruit of defined purpose and outcome. Mere activity can be anything from lots of busy work to running vigorously in circles. Many people have developed a habit of busyness for the sake of busyness. A person trapped in a pit can increase the activity of digging and end up deeper in the hole. A housefly trying to escape a room frantically continues hitting the glass window and goes nowhere. The hamster on the wheel runs faster and faster and only grows weary with no forward progress.

Right now, I encourage you to stop what you are doing, and then consider these questions: What results are coming from your current activities? Based on those results, does it make sense to continue doing the same activity? For example, is your current marketing, advertising, networking, and social media activities resulting increased profit in your business, or are you just really busy with lots of advertising and no results?

Frankly, most people are too busy to be successful. They are doing lots of activities that prevent them from taking focused action. Focused action is activity that has been carefully selected based on core values, mission, and purpose. It is strategic action designed to produce a specific, desired result.

Extremely successful people understand leverage; how to get more with less. Leverage results from taking focused action, and ceasing all other activity. If non-strategic activity is not identified and killed, it creates weakness through dilution.

Make a list of what you could stop doing today that would strengthen your position and improve your situation. Less is more. Stop doing so much and take action.