The Art of Getting Things Done (Part 9) – Hour 1

Audio Transcription

Move #63

Don’t drive around looking to save two cents per gallon on gas.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.” – Tim Ferriss (The best-selling author of the The 4-Hour Workweek would reach No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and No. 1 on the BusinessWeek bestseller list. It has currently sold over 1,350,000 copies and has spent nearly 4 years on the New York Times bestseller list.)

In the event that you do save those 2 cents per gallon and you are driving a boat to work every day, you saved a massive $3.00 (if you bought 50 gallons of gas). Then as you drive your boat to work (assuming that your boat gets 20 miles per gallon) you will soon do the mental math to discover that the 3 miles you drove to save those 2 cents per gallon has quickly been negated by the fact it cost you all that time to only save $3 on the cost of filling up your boat. I would business coach challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Get out your finger, prick it and sign it in blood. Henceforth, I will not drive around for miles and miles to save 2 cents on the price of gas.
   1. Name ________________________________
   2. Date _________________________________

Move #64

Take the cumulative time that you would spend doing pointless networking and driving around looking for gas and read the following 8 business coach books that have the power to change your mindset which will change your life.

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Why don’t have you have the time needed to read books that have the power to change your life?
2. When will you begin reading the following books?

Book #1 – Start Here: The World’s Best Business Growth & Consulting Book: Business Growth Strategies from the World’s Best Business Coach by me (Clay Clark)

Book #2 – Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Book #3 – How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Book #4 – Soft-Selling in a Hard World by Jerry Vass

Book #5 – The Service Profit Chain by James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser

Book #6 – The Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Book #7 – Winning by Jack Welch

Book #8 – Boom by Clay Clark

Move #65

Don’t let problem employees perpetuate their poor performance.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Poisonous people do not deserve your time. To think otherwise is masochistic.”- Tim Ferriss (The personality behind The Tim Ferriss Show. The show was voted “Best Podcast Episode of 2015” by users of Product Hunt in their “Golden Kitty Awards.)

If you have a poor performer on your team they are going to irritate your clients and customers to the point that they will fire you if you do not fire them. Thus, fire them and move on as soon as possible…QUICK BEFORE THE CUSTOMER FIRES YOU. I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Who on your team needs to be punted? _______________________________
2. Who on your team have you let poison your culture and your customer base to avoid having that one “tough discussion?” _____________________________

Move #66

Don’t promote your sexual partner to be the head of your company just because you’re infatuated with them and love having sex with them.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “People around you, constantly under the pull of their emotions, change their ideas by the day or by the hour, depending on their mood. You must never assume that what people say or do in a particular moment is a statement of their permanent desires.” – Robert Greene (The best-selling author who has written five international bestsellers: The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law (with rapper 50 Cent) and Mastery)

Oh the awkwardness of writing this and reading this, but it’s true and we all know it. You know it. I know it and they know it. Everybody knows that you promoted this person to be in charge of your company because you love having sex with them. Don’t do it. I promise that their ability to score high in sexual gymnastics has nothing do with their ability to perform at work. I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Who have you promoted to a level of incompetence because you are having sex with them? _______________________________________________________
2. Who is still in charge of something because you once had sex with them? ________________________________________________________________

Bonus Fries (Super Salty Super Moves That You Can Use to Get More Things Done):

The comedian Jim Gaffigan once pointed out that we’ve all guiltily enjoyed the pleasure of finishing a large order of McDonald’s fries only to discover a miracle at the bottom of the bag…a leftover french fry just waiting to be eaten after we thought for sure that there were was no more goodness to be had. My friend, behold! The bonus fry super salty super moves that you can use to free up more time in your schedule and to get more stuff done.

• Hang up on people when needed.

When you are talking to someone on the phone and you know that the conversation is going nowhere you may want to think about hanging up your tactful attempts to end the conversation are not working. Once you have firmly established in your mind that you are never going to need to talk to this person again politely try to wrap up the conversation two time more times. If they don’t get it, I encourage you to hang up and to enjoy the next 2 minutes of “free-time” knowing that you could have spent that time on the phone talking to your angry ex-girlfriend, an ex-employee, an ex-family member, an ex-high-pressure-salesperson-acquaintance or the woman at the Elephant In The Room who continues to want to get her haircut at the men’s only grooming lounge. I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your business coach betterment:

1. Who could you have you have hung up on last week? _____________________
2. Who could you hang up on this week? _________________________________
3. Pull an all-nighter for something that must get done.

Often times throughout my career I have discovered that there is simply not enough time to get a task done unless I stay up all night while working without ceasing and thus that is exactly what I have done. As I’ve grown our businesses and have dramatically increased the number of highly-skilled team members that I can confidently delegate to the need for all-nighters has almost completed disappeared, but I have pulled “all-nighters” countless times throughout my career. I have found that when you are passionate about something the concept of pulling an “all-nighter” is not so daunting or terrible. In fact science has shown that when you are mentally and physically completely immersed in doing something you actually experience a mental state known as “flow state” where you lose track of both space and time. As an example, when I am writing music, book writing, workflow designing, mixing music, writing cold-call scripts or having pro-creating with my wife I am in the “flow state” (which is why I have five kids). Why do I have to write these awkward things? You’ll remember this principle longer.

FUN FACT: “To find out what’s going on in the brain when we remember certain things and forget others, the scientists had volunteers memorize that a specific word was linked with two different, unrelated pictures. To remember that the word “sand” was linked with an image of Marilyn Monroe, for example, someone might picture Marilyn on a sandy beach. Then, to remember that “sand” was also linked with a hat, someone might think of the hat covered in sand.

Every time the volunteers linked a specific image with a word, they formed a distinct pattern in the area of the brain responsible for storing visual information. The researchers came up with a way to identify each of these patterns (let’s call them the “Marilyn pattern,” for example, and the “hat pattern”) on a computer.

After the volunteers had linked both images with the word, the researchers told them they only had to worry about remembering the first one.

Next, they took the volunteers to another room, where the word “sand” was being flashed occasionally on a blank screen. At first, the volunteers’ brains displayed both the Marilyn pattern and the hat pattern when they saw the word. But over time, the hat pattern grew dim while the Marilyn pattern stayed clear.  

In other words, the volunteers were remembering the image of Marilyn by discarding the image of the hat. “It’s the brain’s way of keeping everything that’s up to date, and telling the rest it can go,” University of Birmingham psychology professor and the study’s lead author Maria Wimber told Business Insider.” – Scientists have finally figured out why we remember some things and forget others – Erin Brodwin – Business Insider

FUN FACT: In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one’s sense of space and time.

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. What is something game-changing on your to-do list that has been lingering that you could really knock out if you just invested one “all-nighter” into completing this task? _______________________________________________________
2. When was the last time you invested an “all-nighter” into chasing chasing your spouse around? _________________________________________________

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “The all-nighter at the laboratory must have been a routine occurrence, for the discovery was treated surprisingly casually in the lab’s notebooks.” – The Wizard of Menlo Park by Randall Stross (the book written about Thomas Edison’s prolific career as an inventor)

3. Don’t invite non-essential team members to meetings.

We’ve all found ourselves in a meeting that we didn’t need to be in and that we really shouldn’t have to be in. Just because someone is your partner, your spouse, an employee or a teammate doesn’t mean you have to invite them into every meeting.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “A man has no right to occupy another man’s time unnecessarily.” – John D. Rockefeller (The world’s wealthiest man who had to drop out of school and begin working while still in high school to support his family because his father abandoned the family and married another woman while still being married)

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your business coach betterment:

1. What specific people can you stop inviting to certain meetings?_____________ _______________________________________________________________
2. What are specific meetings that you don’t need to attend? __________________

________________________________________________________________

DEEP THOUGHT – Upon further review I believe that most of the college classes I attended were a waste of time and large expensive meetings that I didn’t need to be in:

1. Quantitative literacy – My vast knowledge of how to chart a slope on a graph has never been used in business.
2. Humanities – My mastery and memorization of the magnificent achievements of Mesopotamian River valley men and women have never been used in the world of business.
3. Psychology 101 – My understanding of the Electra complex has never been used to solve complex business problems and it’s just weird.
4. Don’t read messages until you are in a place to deal with them immediately.

Don’t check your text messages, your emails, your voice mails or open your office mail until you are in a place where you can deal with them immediately. Last night I took my daughter to The Olive Garden with her friends to celebrate her 13th birthday. There my mental capacity and critical thinking skills were reduced to that of the average buttery breadstick. Something out being packed restaurant, surrounded by hundreds of people and the constant interruption by our server asking if I want more soup, the guy next to me talking loudly about some work grievance, teenage girls having a great time talking loudly about teenage girl stuff, trying to keep my 10 year old son from having 14 breadsticks and having Come Fly with Me by Frank Sinatra playing loudly through the speakers makes it hard for me to think. Thus, I wasn’t on my phone checking messages. Stop checking your messages at The Olive Garden, while on dates or at your kid’s soccer game. Stop checking messages in the bathroom, it’s weird and it freaks me out every time I see you holding your phone up to your ear after having scene you use your smartphone while peeing at the urinal (ladies I apologize for this reference, but men need this DEEP higher-level education).

I would business coach challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. When did you most recently check messages in a place where you were not able to respond appropriately (emails in the bathroom)? _______________________
2. What places and times do you need to stop checking messages? _______________________________________________________________
3. Address concerns as immediately as possible.

We’ve all been mad about something and let it fester…this is not a move, yet we’ve all done it. In fact as an example, my brother is a person I don’t like and I am person that he does not like. However, he had some issues with my father that he decided to not bring up until my Dad’s actual funeral after his tragic death after losing his long battle with ALS. Thus, in front of all of my Dad’s family and friends and at the burial site he decides to air his grievances at the actual funeral. Thus, I physically assaulted him and thus I had to go to court for punching him in the face. Thus, I had to pay my incredible attorney Wes Carter with Winters and King to represent me in court. The moral of the story, if you have a problem with your father tell him while he is laying on the bed and can’t physically go anywhere, don’t until after he is dead and can’t defend himself or your brother will knock your the F$%& out!

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Who do you need to forgive for your betterment? ________________________
2. Who do you need to deal with now so that you don’t have a lingering issue in your life? _______________________________________________________
   

6. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb.

 

Nothing is worse that watching you try to check messages in business coach meetings or at work while trying to look like you are not trying to check messages at work. You slick person you…she sees you checking your emails underneath the table while you’re at The Olive Garden. Oh he sees you checking your emails at church. Oh yes…we all see you checking your emails at your workstation while pretending you are not. Don’t be an idiot, just turn your phone onto the do-not-disturb mode so that you can actually be physically and mentally present.

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. What are consistent activities and places where you need to turn your do-not disturb feature on? ________________________________________________
2. When was the last time you got in trouble with your significant other for not being mentally present…like responding to emails during dinner or when you are out to eat? ___________________________________________________________
3. Use a to-do list.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “You need to have one to-do list for your one life.” – Lee Cockerell (The former Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World Resorts who once managed over 40,000 cast members / employees)

My friend, we have all been guilty of double booking ourselves for something in our personal and business lives as a result of having two different calendars that we use…and this jackassery must stop today. Stop double booking yourself for things, stop saying I need to get home and check my kids’ calendar, don’t forgetting about things and start scheduling your entire life into one calendar.

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. Why are you not using one calendar for your one life? _______________________________________________________________
2. How many calendars are you currently using for your life? _______________________________________________________________
3. How can you merge all of your calendars into one calendar? _______________________________________________________________
4. Who shot JFK? (I just wanted to see if you were paying attention) ___________

 

8. Set goals.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure.” – Napoleon Hill (The number one selling self-help business coach and author of all-time before Jack Canfield’s Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books sold over 500 million copies. That total melts my mind.)

My friend, your garden isn’t going to drift out of chaos and into order. Your body isn’t going to drift into being in shape. Your calendar isn’t going to drift into alignment and optimization and your life is not going to get better if you are not intentional about setting goals for yourself in the following 6 areas:

1. Faith
2. Family
3. Friendships
4. Fitness
5. Finances
6. Fun

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your faith? _______________________________________________________________
2. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your family? _______________________________________________________________
3. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your friendships? _______________________________________________________________
4. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your fitness? _______________________________________________________________
5. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your finances? _______________________________________________________________
6. What are your goals for the next 12 months in the area of your fun? _______________________________________________________________

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill (Best-selling author of Think and Grow Rich)

9. Quit multitasking.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell (A Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone and founding the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.)

Stop trying to have a conversation with your wife while also checking your email. Stop trying to listen to your pastor preach while updating your Facebook status. Stop being physically present while mentally absent.

FUN FACT: “Neuroscientist, Dan Levitan, reminds us that multitasking is stressful, as indicated by increased secretion of cortisol and adrenalin. He cites work showing that IQ can temporarily drop 10 points during multitasking. A brain-scan study showed that new information gets processed in the wrong parts of the brain and not in the hippocampus where it should go in order to be remembered. The most insidious aspect of multitasking is that it programs the brain to operate in this mode, creating a debilitating thinking habit that is permanent.” – The Perils of Multitasking – Your Smartphone Can Make You Dumb – William R. Klemm Ph.D.

I would challenge you here and now to write out the answers to the following questions for your betterment:

1. In what areas of your life do you need to stop multitasking? ________________________________________________________________
2. In what areas is your attempt to multitask making you perform at a poor level (calling somebody while golfing, checking text messages while playing baseball, checking emails while snuggling your spouse, updating your Facebook while attempting to have a Thanksgiving meal, etc.)? _______________________________________________________________