Business Coach : Productivity Always
-Of the entrepreneurs and business mentors that I had interviewed thus far, it’s kind of a unanimous thing– and in Forbes magazine, they did study on this, too. They discovered that almost all of the world’s most successful people have a day planner, or a to do list. They have one or the other. They either write everything on a to do list and they schedule it out that way. But I’m discovering so far, every person I’ve interviewed for Thrive has a to do list. But yet when I go out into the world, when I go around to different businesses that will hire me to consult with them, or people ask me to help them start a business, all the people who are really struggling, none of them have a to do list. That is the first thing that will be relayed to you from a business coach.
And I kind of feel like– I’ve heard it said, if you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen.
-You know, let me just say this to whomever is listing right now. There are times in your life that you’re going to say, I’m on top of this. You get up, and you really don’t know where you’re going, you have no idea of what you’re going to do to take charge of that day. And because you may not be where you think you want to be, you don’t think you need a day list. You don’t think you need to make a list. But once you start making a list of those things that you need to do, it sets your mind in a different way of thinking. And once you start that process, you will not want to be without it, because you will recognize a higher level of expectancy of yourself, and productivity of what you do. If you need help starting the process, reach out to a business coach.
-So a lot of people, they’ll say– just to make sure we’re on the same page– they’ll say, I don’t need to do list right now, because I don’t have a lot going on. It’s just me. I have this job. I’m a barista. I’m working at the ice cream store. I’m an insurance guy. I’m a muffler dude. All I need is– I don’t need a to do now. But then you’re saying if you don’t do it, then it’s hard to get to where you want to go. Let a business coach help you to get there.
-You’re trying to make Thrivers. To Thrive is to plan, is to expect, is to anticipate. A business coach can help you know what to look for. And this is what a list will help you do. You’ll see, if you only got three things on that list, that tells you, boy, this is a big sheet of paper. I could do a lot more. But if you don’t put it down, you may think your sheet of paper is filled.
-Do you ever play this little game. This is a game I play every day. I don’t know if you like this game. When I get something done, I’ll just take out my sweet highlighter and I’m just like, bam. Have that done. And I say, oh, have that done, have that done. I’m starting to feel really good. For some reason, it makes me feel good when I fill it out. And then I start running out of room, because something else happens. So I start putting stuff like, call Steve. And I start writing these– I make these additions to my– and by the end of the day, it’s just packed.
CLIFTON TAULBERT: Well, what mine did– see where the one is?
CLAY CLARK: Yeah.
-Put a check mark there.
-You do the check.
CLIFTON TAULBERT: I check. And I go through at the end of the day and I look for check marks.
-That makes you feel good?
-And when I see a lot of checkmarks, that tells me productivity has taken place.
-I learned a new secret to your heart, my friend. So the check mark is where it’s at.
-Productivity has taken place.
-So entrepreneurs have so many distractions. So for instance, in my day today, these are real things that happened, and I won’t throw anybody under the bus on a nationally re-broadcasted platform. But here we go. I discovered today that the air conditioning cannot be installed until– we have a new system coming in– it cannot be installed until Tuesday. So I have people saying, it is hot in here. I’m very aware the temperature is warm. So I got the AC problem.
Then we have a situation where I’ve discovered that the build-out we’re doing– we’re building out a second studio, that that can’t happen until Saturday. So I got the Saturday build-out going on. And then I have a client who’s upset, and I’m sure you’ve never an upset client. But a client is upset. And so I have these things. How do you decide, with all these distractions– the AC’s going out, the build-out needs to be done, the upset client, how do you decide in your life what needs to be done with all those distractions?
-Well, I don’t call them distractions. Because if you call them a distraction, you sort of predispose their importance. Because a distraction is like, I’m already going to this place. And this just is a distraction. No. I don’t call it a distraction. If there’s a problem, it’s a problem. But what I look at the problem in two ways. The air condition is a problem, but let’s see what the build-out is a problem. But what’s that last one with the two little dots and–
CLAY CLARK: Well, that’s the upset customer. Expectations were here–
-I would make that– and what I do when I have, as you call them, distractions– for example, I had a coffee guy at one of the colleges that used our coffee, he said, something is wrong. It’s not coming out the way that we thought. Well, now I have a human being that has an issue. Human beings talk to other people. I want them to say good things. The air conditioner, it’s going to get fixed. So what I do in that term, I prioritize the problem relative to the impact upon the people that I will have to associate with or take care of.
-So that’s a big red alert in your mind. That goes right up to the top.
-If it’s people focused, that is a huge red alert.
CLAY CLARK: Now I’m going to ask you this. I don’t know that I’m going to agree with you, and then I’ll probably go home and learn I was wrong. But let’s say that this person is upset, right? And this person is not somebody that you want to do business with. You go, that’s a crazy. We sold coffee to that person and I wish I wouldn’t have because they’re crazy. You know it’s that 1 out of 100. They still go to the top? If you feel like– because for me in this particular situation, it might be a one out of every nine months kind of person, where you’re just like, whoa. A business coach will help you spot this type of person.
But did your mind, any time there’s a problem with a person, you poof right up to the top? Or do you say, well, I’ll get to that after the AC?
CLIFTON TAULBERT: No, no, no, no, no. If it’s a people problem, I handle it. And sometimes if it’s a problem where I feel that I’m right and they may be wrong, I still treat it as if they are right. I take the time to write them a note, give them a call, whatever I need to do. Because people tend to be the bridge to your next opportunity.
-The bridge. People tend to be the bridge–
CLIFTON TAULBERT: To your next opportunity.
-I tell you, that’s a notable quotable from Clifton Taulbert.
Unbelievable.
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