Do Less, Achieve More

Yes, it is possible to do less and achieve more.

As I’ve touched on recently, the general mantra for professionals in today’s world is “grow, grow, grow.”

Expectations, at least as far as I know, certainly aren’t going down in most companies and industries. Targets are met, or even exceeded, only to be brushed aside for the next period’s target that’s often bigger and more intimidating than the last. Achievements are often barely celebrated or acknowledged, and often overshadowed by mistakes, errors and the pressure of an upcoming goal or “busy period” in an organization.

We’re constantly connected. “Clocking out” is becoming less and less common and the “always connected” world is becoming increasingly prevalent. A client sends an email with an urgent subject line well into the evening, a boss sends a text early in the morning with something that needs to be done before your coffee is finished brewing…these aren’t uncommon occurrences in today’s world!

The point being, many sales professionals, regardless of their position, are overworked, overtired, overstressed and haven’t stopped to smell the roses in years.

And, while I always admire a strong work ethic, I think there is often a capacity for driven people to take it to the extreme and forget to, well, live life!

As my mentor Alan Weiss often states, “real wealth is discretionary time.”

In other words, wealth isn’t necessarily limited the number you see in your bank account, but rather has much more to do with the amount of time you have to use at your own discretion.

Look, I’m not telling you to put the brakes on your pressing sales goals, or to email your boss immediately informing him or her you’ll be taking a 4-week vacation based on the advice you read on a sales blog, but I am telling you that if some of the scenarios I described above are hitting “too close to home” then it may be time for you to take a short time out. Or, it simply could mean that it’s time to inject some more of what makes you happy in your life.

You can do this in a variety of ways:

• Block off your 2020 vacation time now, rather than later and begin its planning.
• Drop or delegate a time-consuming activity which can either be pushed back or delegated to someone else.
• Make more of the hours you dedicate to work, so that you can free up some of your time to spend with family or friends.
• Take up a new hobby, a physical or a creative one, for example.
• Reconnect with past passions which you may not have fully explored.
• Wake up an hour earlier so that you can get a head start to your day.
• Try adding some healthier food options into your diet.
• Exercise more often.

Oftentimes, we are constantly searching for the next great sales or prospecting strategy to maximize our results.

Just as often though, the real secret is in maximizing ourselves to achieve those desired results.