podcast

Ep 93 - Confronting My Addiction: Sharing My Self-Development for You

Phew! There's a lot in covered in today's episode. Hear how a wide range of stories in today's news related to the purpose of my self-development company. I took a raw approach today and that was to do the episode for myself! But in doing it for myself, I'm better to do it for YOU! And there's that addiction that I had to stare down.

0.52 Break-through in my journal

1.20 Confronting my addiction

2.54 Include bits of dialogue in your journal

4.50 Steph Curry award

5.35 Doing the podcast for me, for you

6.20 Meditation in the morning

7.00 Kelp forest and the imagination

7.35 Sandy Block, Master of Wine

9.20 Russia and China

10.20 Jerry Strong, actor - role transitions

11.20 Blue Mass at church

12.52 Hymn/tornado

13.30 Crawl, walk, run

15.20 Chanel's new CEO

16.40 Campbell Soup on the rise

17.15 Learned to be an astrophysicist on Youtube

17.50 Monolith demographic

19.05 Charles Morris, economist

20.15 Transition figure

21.15 My current role list

24.15 Bonbons and purpose

26.00 Global beliefs

27.20 Willy Wonka inspiration

27.40 National Film Registry

Ep 92 - Big, Bold, and Bodacious Brainstorming

Go behind the scenes today for an exclusive look at an actual brainstorming session. Follow the wandering path of a big idea I had for my business so you can do the same! Discover how to ride the wave of your imagination and follow your inspiration wherever it decides to lead you.

Brainstorming tips and brainstorming techniques:

  • You’re first idea - or first few ideas - may need not be the one you want (keep pushing through the process).

  • Never self-edit while brainstorming - all ideas are welcome - no matter how zany.

  • Spend as much time as needed for each idea and don’t be afraid to bounce between ideas.

  • Be open to seemingly unrelated thoughts - they may give your primary idea some structure and parameters.

  • Sometimes clarity comes out of chaos.

  • The more you feed your mind with inspiration in life, the more fuel you’ll have while .brainstorming. ie/ Learned this in the book I’m reading, oh - here’s a concept I heard in an interview last night, here’s an image from a movie I saw…

  • Dark thoughts just may have a place in your idea if you flip them.

  • Brainstorming is like a little kid dumping out her favorite toys on the carpet to select from.

  • Free yourself from time constraints (allow past, present & future considerations). Widen your playing field.

  • Problem/solution approach is a powerful brainstorming technique.

  • Open the floodgates for questions in your thinking. In fact, you’re mind moves so quickly - you may not even get a full question in your mind - you’ll skip to solutions!

Here are my notes for this podcast episode:
* Deep dive into an actual brainstorming session

* Start with one idea but the focus is completely different!

* Initial spark idea: driving by a big company building  - what if I could tweet the CEO instead of wasting time with 100s of people beneath him/her in the organization chart, concentrated message

* Activities for kids and how some of them are run

* Support group focused on goals, mission, balance, and sharing would be much more beneficial to kids than many organized kids’ activities

* My company wouldn’t have a vested interest in my ego or success (ie/bringing home a championship) 

* Focus would be interaction and fostering friendships, building one another up, be a model for what is possible!

* The kids’ benefits would be the primary goal not trophies and banners on my wall

* I won’t drain kids/families then toss them aside when they’re too old to give me more $

* I can be a positive force for ages 10-110!

* The core concept is the role starburst from center

* Weekly Support group feel

* Monthly/quarterly, annual - retreats?

Party/youth retreat feel, conference, uplifting - celebration, positive, Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within, solution-focused

Different groups for kids & adults, teen groups

Flow chart upon expressing interest: 

Intro info/take-in, roles, goals, p-h-i, mini-mission statements/purpose, projects on your plate, planning system, accountability, journaling, accountability partners?, group projects? 


MODELS:

Self-dev. support group

Ben Franklin group

Landmark immersive courses


Network of experts to refer clients to - main role categories (financial, relationships, mental health, tech,. MT, art Tx, family, entrepreneurial..), featured presenters/speakers?

Like a book club

Covey

Tony robbins

AA: Defined format!

Zoom support groups - meet regularly - open world-wide!!

Certifications for group facilitators

Mastermind format?

Workbook (like/AA that people can follow and fill-in their responses to assignments)

Have group format on a poster in the meeting room


Dark influences:

Scientology

NXIVM

Good! Dark side helps set parameters

Cult-like: Jim jones, dianetics (l. Ron Hubbard)

Hostel: bloodhound tattoos

Flip it for good!


Goal: Create a masterpiece life by blending and nurturing roles

Transition roles throughout day w/ intention and purpose

Focus on how decisions made by HATS are in alignment with the greater good of the customers (unlike Swarm that has kids pay hundreds for warmup outfit, uniform, outfits and thousands for travel)

Not forgetting the value of competition or the values of pursuing big goals like a championship

Group as a safe & positive Ice-breaker for kids

Allows introverts to shine, too - equanimity throughout the group’s format

Learn and apply Social skills & networking that lead to  lifetime rewards and relationships

kids adopt a “be-of-service mentality” - ie/ Giving /receiving role category

U don’t have to know urself deeply or know what u want to do with ur life - but ur learning an approach that’ll get u there 

Non-profit?


NITWITS:

How would the groups deal w/ toxic people?

Staffing and hires: keep bad apples away, deal with toxic people that may try to monopolize groups?

Maybe the HATS process and program itself could make for a good filter for bad apples - u have to prover u have done self-work to get hired!

Be transparent! - act w/a pure heart (up and down the company)

Which steps do I have to take as architect and designer of this self-development business? (Like E-myth)

Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.

Ep 91 - The Billion Dollar Woman: How Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx, Set Huge Goals

In today's episode, you'll hear how Sara Blakely built a billion dollar company from five thousand dollars cash. We'll explore thinking big, setting huge goals, and having a vision to carry you through challenges, even though, others may laugh at your idea. You'll hear creativity tips gleaned from the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and we'll end with a goal challenge for you that will give your life direction and momentum.   


Podcast Outline:

1:00 Sara Blakely, CEO, Spanx Goalsetting 

Sara set a goal of having her company be worth $20 million dollars back in 2000. She recently sold the majority stake of her company for $1.2 billion dollars. She has a wonderfully unique and authentic presence in many of her television interviews. She’s quite an inspiration for any entrepreneur.


4:26 Learn from Successes Productivity Tip

You’ve been told to learn from your mistakes but can you learn from your successes, too? Absolutely! Here are four questions you can ask after each success to foster more and more successes in your life.


5:16 Famous Pep Talk

Journey’s mega-hit, Don’t Stop Believing, got its start as a pep talk from father to son. Hear the fascinating story of how this 80s Rochelles anthem was created.


7:18 Elizabeth Holmes - Theranos, CEO

Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, showed immense promise. So much so that she received hundreds of millions of investment money to build her company. 


8:49 Willy Wonka Vision and Creativity

You’ll hear many examples of creativity and inspiration from this segment on Willy Wonka. Maybe you’ll be inspired to hang up a golden ticket in your work area to keep you on tract with your vision for your life. 


15:49 Roles & Goals Self-Development Challenge

Here’s a challenge that will help you gain clarity and direction to your busy life. Identify your 15-20 roles. There are 4 types of roles: mind/body/spirit, giving/receiving, personal & professional. And for each role you’re invited to brainstorm a few goals for each role. 

There are 5 types of goals: 

Action - ex/ I meditate for 20 minutes 

I Am / I Have - ex/ I’m a world-class problem solver

Deadline - By 12/31, I’m scuba certified

Skys-the-Limit - ex/ I took a ride in Air Force One and went in the presidential motorcade

Combo - 

ex/ 

I’m a professional speaker ((I Am / I Have)

I make 20 phone calls to book speaking gigs

By 4/1, I presented at the AMTA national conference


Referenced links:

Sara Blakely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SCthQ226hM

Game of Thrones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXpHvhjUzAI&t=295s


Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.




Ep 90 The Small Business Simplifier: Marie Leslie, Business Consultant

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Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and do you have the skills you need to grow your business? In today's episode, you'll learn many tips for building your business. Marie Leslie, business consultant, for her company, Small Business Simplifier, will give you unique insights into growing your company and serving the people you’re meant to serve.

You'll learn the following productivity tips and business lessons:

* How to know if you're an entrepreneur at heart

* How Marie grew her Twitter account to over 20,000 followers

* Incorporating affiliates into your business

* Learn if you are a broadcaster or communicator? (Hint: only one will build your business)

* Essential books about entrepreneurship

* Journaling as an essential tool for your business and for the vision for your company

* Goalsetting and prioritization

Listen to the podcast:

Podcast Outline:

1:40 Small Business Simplifier

7:30 Productivity Skills

10:15 Social Media Tips

15:25 Getting Clients

17:00 Recommended Entrepreneurial Books

18:30 Tik Tok and Teen Entrepreneurship

24:18 Benefits of Journaling

25:30 Affiliates

27:00 How Often to Post on Social Media

28:25 Triberr

29:45 Messaging and Marketing for Your Business

30:45 Selecting Your Target Audience

33:50 How to be More Fulfilled at Work and Home

Marie Leslie's Book Recommendations:
Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days - Chris Guillebeau

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future - Chris Guillebeau

The Money Tree: A Story About Finding Your Fortune in Your Backyard - Chris Guillebeau

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine - Mike Michalowicz

E-myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - Michael E. Gerber

Related links:
Triberr

Chris Guillebeau

Side Hustle School

Small Business Simplifier

Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.

Ep 89 - Peak Performance: How to Knock it Out of the Park!

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Do you want to be a peak performer at work and in all the roles you play? Let's start with the fascinating quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen. He focuses on extremely detailed issues of the mechanics of his movements with his coach. He excels at distilling large amounts of information into essential shards. Josh says there are two types of players in the NFL: those who figure it out and those who get figured out.

One curious tool for becoming more productive is to DO NOTHING! Your body and mind need ample time for clean up and restoration. Neuroscience research confirms that we need to take mental breaks. Also, activities that allow for us to meander in our thoughts are helpful. Italians call it "dolce far niente" - the sweetness of doing nothing!

One pundit said President Biden's presidency will be as transformational to the extent that he transforms himself. All politics aside, I love this idea of working on yourself first.

Satoko Fujii is a talented composer with some fascinating ideas about peak performance. She approached composition as the discovery of music that already exists. She knows it doesn't pay to be a copycat of someone else. If you can't be authentic, nobody has a reason for buying your record.

The new book, "Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation" by Panos Panay and R. Michael Hendrix looks amazing. It shows how legendary musicians have demonstrated innovation throughout their careers - including David Bowie, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake. One takeaway is the value of establishing the right environment for key players to perform well. Managers should control the environment, not people.

Here's the Projects-at-a-Glance tool I mentioned in today's podcast.

Podcast Outline:

1:18 NFL and Performance

4:00 Do Nothing!

4:54 Transformation

5:50 Japanese Composer

7:20 Two Beats Ahead book

9:40 Share Your Deadlines

Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.

Ep 88 - Journaling: Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

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Journaling is one of the greatest habits you will ever have. It will supercharge your creativity, help you to slow down and reflect more, and it's a way to sharpen your leadership skills. A journal will improve your decision-making, writing, and problem solving skills.

When journaling, always strive to delve one more level deeper. If you're writing about a fishing trip, what specifically happened during the event? What were your observations after-the-fact?

Lara Zielin, life coach and author, has a unique program for journaling called "Author Your Life." You make yourself the hero of your own story and speak about yourself in the third person. Allow yourself permission to unleash your imagination in your journal. Zieder suggests beginning with a simple assignment: describe yourself as the hero having an ideal day and incorporate all of the five sense: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.

Happy Unbirthday! In Lewis Carroll's classic tale, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter asks why we should only celebrate our birthdays since it's only one day a year. What about the other 364 days - the unbirthdays should be celebrated, too!

Use your journal to celebrate the small things each day. This will help you counteract "negativity bias" - a principle saying our brains focus on the negative five times as much as the positive. So, for every negative emotion, we need to explore five positive ones to even out the feelings!

Gertrude Stein, famous author, had a flash of insight while listening to her poodle lap water. She learned the difference between sentences and paragraphs is paragraphs are emotional and sentences are not. Wait...I need to think about this a while. And how she thought of that by hearing a dog drinking I'll never know.

A study from Harvard said that people who spent 15 minutes reflecting on the lessons they learned each day performed 23% better than those who didn't.

Women who wrote down three positive events (work or non-work-related) each day scored seven years younger on physical-functioning questionnaires than those who didn't. It's vital to include the WHY in addition to the what of the positive event. For example, My boss complemented my work because he knows how hard I worked on it - (Academy of Management Journal, 2013).

You should be fulfilled by your job but your job shouldn't make up your whole identity. You have many other roles that make it up.

Kaizen is the process of continuous improvement.

Here's the Time Tracker Self-Assessment Tool so you can see where you're spending your time.

Podcast Outline:

1:00 Journaling and its Benefits

6:20 Lara Zielen's Author Your Life

8:30 Happy Unbirthday!

9:50 Gertrude Stein's Breakthrough

11:00 Harvard Study

13:00 Kaizen and Continuous Improvement

15:00 Think In Images

Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.

Ep 87 - What's the Next Big Thing in Your Life?

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What's your next big thing? Let's face it - if you're not planning for what you want to become, then you're planning to remain the same. We all need to assume future roles right now and begin taking daily actions towards them.

"When you assume future roles today, you begin to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be."

Tina Turner wills herself into her role and character of Tina Turner. Born Anna Mae Bullock, she looks into a mirror backstage before performing and begins speaking to herself in the third person - "Here she comes..." she chants.

Here's an exercise to help you conjure each role you play. It's called Around the World. Sit down and close your eyes to calm your mind. GO through each of your 15-20 roles one at a time and observe the thoughts that come up for each. You may think of a to-do list, improve your vision for that role, or just be in the role. Ask: what do I need to do or think to be at my best in this role?

We all have roles we'd like to become. Carols Powell, a shoe salesman, is passionate about perfume. So, he started a Youtube channel and discusses his love for all things perfume. Think of herby the Elf in Rudoplh the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was an elf that yearned to be a dentist. What are you yearning to become? Begin moving towards it now!

Steven van Zandt, guitarist for the Bruce Springsteen band, admitted he did 100 different projects in the 90s but they weren't related to any one purpose. He vowed never to do the again. He has an umbrella company, Renegade Nation, and within it he runs many business all related to his passions. When asked about all of the roles he plays, he said, "the effect of wearing all these hats is that they strengthen each other - I'm constantly moving from thing to thing and come back fresh." So great!!

One benefit of having mentors is the you get advice you'd never think of! You need a sounding board of mentors in every area of your life. You want to have people with different strengths than you.

In the classic entrepreneurial book, The E-myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber, he gives a beautiful exercise to do in order to discover your "primary aim" (purpose of your life): imagine you're observing the wake of your funeral. As your visitors are sitting around you as you're in your coffin, an audio recording is played of you talking about the story of your life - that's you primary aim!

So, what's your next big role?

Here's the Role List tool I mentioned in today's podcast.

Podcast Outline:

1:00 Your Setlist

4:20 Tina Turner's Role Transition Technique

6:00 Around the World

6:35 My Roles

7:45 The Perfume Man

9:06 Steven van Zandt

11:40 Five Steps for Boston

13:15 Francis Jackson's Obituary

13:52 E-myth Revisted and Your Primary Aim

14:45 Worksheet: Your Role List

Links:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/style/perfume-youtube.html?searchResultPosition=1

https://www.wsj.com/articles/steven-van-zandt-was-an-actor-without-knowing-it-11631896013?page=1

Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.

Ep 86 - Prioritizing Your Busy Life with Michael Woodall, Executive, Putnam Investments

Michael Woodall has extensive experience in leadership positions. You'll learn a lot from him about prioritizing your life, being an effective leader, and work life balance.

What actions do you take on a daily and weekly basis to stay on track?

At this point, everything is a process honed after years of being in business. I always try to have an eye towards the future for the items and tasks I have in front of me. Long ago, I adopted a journal where I keep track of what I'm working on. I record tasks and notes for meetings and use it to be organized. I record all of the key things we're working on in my journal and it helps me get a good balance of time to be able to prepare, think, and read in preparation for meetings.

My assistant kind of runs my life and makes sure I know where I need to be. Hopefully, my plan for the week is organized in such a way that I meet everyone's expectations and meet with whom I'm supposed to meet. My organization and the folks who work for me make sure priorities are clearly defined. We make sure the tasks we are working on support our vision and goals. The client always rules! If there's something going on with a client, that will always take priority and it can be a wild card throughout the day. In addition, I allow time for work related to committees or board work here at Putnam. I try to get as much done as possible during the day so when I go home - I actually go home and I'm able to enjoy life.

As you know, there is a huge challenge with the possibility of 24/7 connections to work due to technology. How do you turn it off?

That's a great point and a big challenge. The good news is we're connected 7 by 24 and the bad news is we're connected 7 by 24. It has facilitated a virtual workforce. I don't know or care where the folks who work for me are in any given moment because I know we can connect during the day. The challenge is to make sure you don't become consumed by it. I've adopted a few strategies and still need to practice them to hone them into my skill set. One thing I've done recently is to refrain from sending emails to people who work for me after work hours unless it's urgent.

I'm at a stage where I have full confidence in the people who work for me and don't have to micro-manage. I've never been a micro-manager. I prefer to be hands-on and not hands-in. However, we work for an organization that supports billions of dollars in assets and millions of customers and things can go bump in the night. So, it’s not uncommon to be on the phone or online dealing with a problem after hours.

Do you have any advice for someone who works for a micro-manager?

It's a challenge. You always have to figure out your boss and adapt to the boss’ style. If you are incredibly pro-active, it decreases micromanagement. Understand how your boss communicates and receives information. Be on your game and communicate in a way that's going to please your manager or leader. Ultimately, everyone wants to be able to do their job to the best of their ability. In the big picture, a micro-manager just wants the work to be done right. Perhaps something happened in their career that forced them to adopt that style.

 You’ve been passionately involved with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps youth non-profit organization for over 30 years. You’ve played the role of member, instructor, and currently serve on the board. How has that experience enriched your life?

It's been at my core. I'm not a true believer in a mentor/mentee relationship, as much as, I look at the whole process as a bit of a buffet where you must adopt things that work for you and avoid the negative. We had very limited resources during the time I was a member. I got to work for Fidelity and Putnam - two very large organizations where resources were never really an issue. When you have the resources and you're not struggling to figure out what to do and you're just dealing with the problems - those problems seem much less than when you're dealing with a non-profit organization and trying to keep the organization alive.

I've excelled in my career because I have the ability to deal with incredible situations both positively and negatively and it shaped who I am. I've also been able to apply many things I've learned in business to the Crusaders. It's similar to a business - you have to bring in the right kind of talent. Currently, we’re focused on sustainability. We don’t want to rely on one or two people - we need the entire organization to be strong.

How do you keep alumni engaged and involved with the corps?

One of the benefits of age is that I've been with the corps since 1978 and the corps was around forty years before that. The Crusaders were national champions in the late sixties and early seventies. They were the place to be for innovative and competitive drum corps. The organization survived in very lean times and the survival mentality of the group created many powerful bonds between the people involved with the organization. And now we're all the way on the other side again - we're sustainable and we're building a champion. I would tell all alumni and supporters to jump back on.

The kids in the organization are just like we were. The whole Espirit de Corps and feeling of belonging to a family that's bigger than the drum corps still exists. The board, alumni, and friends give the organization incredible support and that translates into a member experience that ranks very high in our member surveys. We need everybody to be a part of the drum corps to get it to be a champion. The heart of the lion (Waldo, the corps' mascot) is still the same.

How have you taught your kids to prioritize?

I teach them through example. I try to take advantage of teachable moments. I help them keep focused on their goals and what they need to do to achieve them. I help them get organized so they have a path to get there. No matter what you want to achieve it's going to require hard work. I encourage them to be open to advice and accept help when it’s offered. I try to get them to see different perspectives. In the end, they should follow their hearts. Ultimately, they are responsible for their goals and their styles will rule in the end. Everyone has a specific style that makes him or her successful. They need to leverage their strengths and work on their weaknesses - even if they don't want to recognize them. I teach them to follow their ambitions and not be afraid. One of my sons was a state champion in the forensics of speech. He wasn't shy about going after that even though it wasn't very popular. I tell my kids to follow their hearts and have the work ethic to achieve success - even if they have a bit more than I had.

How do you keep your children on track if they make decisions you don't agree with?

It's a tough one. You try to point to examples of where they could end up if they keep going that way and ask them if that's where they want to be. Also, I give a little perspective of time because everything seems immediate when you're young but when you're older you know a problem can work itself out if you give it a little more time. I try to give them confidence and help them find their voices. No matter whom you are dealing with: kids, friends, or colleagues - in the end people have to find their own way. I think it's very important to set great examples. My folks were great examples for me and I do that for my kids. It's important to work hard, be respectful, love, and help the greater good - creating that environment helps shape people.

I've seen firsthand how you're a great example of taking opportunities given to you and paying them forward.

I've really been blessed for the people I've had in my life. It's been an incredible journey.

Lastly, what advice would you give to a professional just starting his/her career in terms of productivity?

Work as hard as you can on the right things. Connect what you are doing with what the CEO of your company is trying to accomplish. Many times, you can be working on something you feel is very important but it really doesn't connect to what the company is working towards. Make sure you're as aligned as high as you can with the organization.

Secondly, take advantage of every opportunity. If there's an opportunity to be part of a team or special project, if something needs to get done but not many people want to do it, roll up your sleeves and do it! It's only going to help you in the future.

As far as time management goes, I learned of a valuable resource early on in my career called a life grid. List work, family, fun, faith, health, fitness, education and any other main area of your life then write a percentage of your time that you’re spending across those areas. Ask how your assessment resonates with how you want to be at that point in your life and which adjustments are needed. Do that every 3-6 months and it will become a guidepost for how you're spending your time. It will help you improve the whole person and not just the person at work.

Is the life grid from a book or is it something you created?

I think it was part of a training I had early on. It was an exercise we went through and I still use that visual image today. Life flies by and you need to get a handle on it. Then you can say - this is where I’m at, I’m spending way to much time at work and not enough time figuring out how I am going to grow as a professional and how I'm going to get to the next step. And you take an adjustment there - take a class or do something that's going to further evolve you. Or maybe you realize you're getting burned out at work and not spending time having fun, connecting with friends, being with family, and need to make some adjustments. Maybe you're at a point in your life where you want to become serious about a relationship.

If someone wanted to replicate this life grid, how would they do it?

Take any piece of paper and draw a tic-tac-toe type of grid. On the top row list the major categories of your life (work, family, fun, faith, health, education.…) In the next row down you do some self-assessment. One more row down is where you write down how you want to be in these different areas. And in the bottom row you will list the adjustments needed.

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Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.