Complacency Destroys Progress

Complacency Destroys Progress

I once read a quote that complacency is the enemy of success. It’s the idea that if you are complacent, then you are not forcing yourself to grow. And, if you’re not growing, whether professionally or personally, then how can you expect to have sustained success in anything that you do?

I know this can be a hard lesson to learn, but it has a lot of truth. 

All too often in life and in business, we let our responsibilities and schedules crowd out taking time to reflect on how we can better ourselves. That could be taking a new course to learn a unique business strategy, or it could be attending a spiritual retreat to better connect with yourself. Or, in my case, taking on the challenge to complete an IronMan Triathlon. The point is, if you’re not looking for (and acting on) ways to improve yourself, then you are missing out on your true potential. 

Here are the top three strategies, I recommend that you can use to make sure you are elevating your performance and productivity every day.

  1. Make block time a priority. If you’re like most business owners, you’re likely sitting in one spot all day, every day, trying to crank out as much work as possible. The problem with this is, the human body is not designed to work vigorously for extended periods of time. You will inevitably get burnt out — it happens to everyone. That is why I swear by using block time to get more done and maintain a healthy work-life balance. For each hour, I work 50 minutes and then allow myself to take a 10-minute break. How I take this break is key. I don’t spend it looking at emails or doing anything work-related. Instead, I use that time to get up, go outside, walk around the office, chat with someone, or even listen to a song or two, before I go back to working for another 50-minute block. This short break time enables my brain to relax and reset to return to a state of high concentration.

  2. Create your own success routine. I call mine the EMSR or my Early Morning Success Ritual. For me, I listen to a playlist of songs that get me focused and motivated to start knocking out my goals for the day. Not only does it help to train your brain to get ready to work, but it also helps to set a positive and upbeat tone for the day. For you, maybe there is an inspirational passage you like to read or find that spending time doing meditation before work helps to calm and energize you. Whatever the morning ritual is that gets you ready to be productive, find it, and stick to it every day.

  3. Map out your week in advance. Peak performers proactively plan as much as possible. The more you can anticipate what you have to do in advance, the better you will be prepared to execute. Naturally, things will inevitably come up. But, having a plan of action before the week starts can get you focused on exactly what you need to do to get results every week. That’s why every Sunday, I spend an hour thinking about my upcoming week and outline important tasks and goals I want to focus on. If you don’t already do this, I strongly encourage you to get in the habit of planning your week before the week starts. The more clarity and direction you can give yourself the more successful and productive you will be.

If you need more guidance on how to reach your peak performance, let me know. I’d be happy to jump on a call and share more insights. Email me at thor@thorconklin.com.

No Comments

Post A Comment