Exceeding Expectations Using Special Days
How often is exceeding expectations your goal? Do you find yourself working hard to be the very best at everything you do? Or are you comfortable with average?
Or even mediocre.
I believe that everybody has the power to operate at a high level in the areas aligned with their purpose. In my book, Set-4-Life, I provide a framework for living this type of life. I teach you how to get more done in ninety days than most people do in a year.
Exceeding expectations is a critical part of the stewardship of your talent. If you are holding back in an area where you are strong, your are short-changing those people who your gift is supposed to bless.
If you find yourself ‘mailing it in’ this way, one of the ways you can reset yourself to excellence is by using “Special Days”. In the book, I introduce ‘Special Days’ as a way to help yourself remain in a mode of execution when you feel like you are losing steam. You can also you use these types of days to push yourself to step up to a higher level of performance.
There are three types of Special Days:
- Focus Days
- Get Up When You Wake Up Days
- Perfect Days
Use “Focus Days” for Exceeding Expectations of Time
The purpose of a Focus Day is to jam-pack a day with task completion so you can jump-start your goal achievement. The night before a Focus Day, write down everything you are going to do the next day. Block out every minute of the day, right down to when you will go to the bathroom.
Communicate to colleagues that you are in do-not-disturb mode.
If a meeting is not scheduled, or an issue is not urgent, don’t let it interrupt your flow.
Spend the whole day executing tasks.
Use “Get Up When You Wake Up Days” to Maximize the Morning
The concept of this type of Special Day is simple. As soon as you get up in the morning, even if it is at 3am for a bathroom brake, take a shower and go to work. By getting to work so early, you magnify your productivity in a single day. You create work time for yourself when most people are sleeping.
Use “Perfect Days”to Make Your Vision Concrete
The final type of Special Day is my favorite. A Perfect Day is designed to give you a vision of your ‘perfect life’ so that you are motivated to work hard towards achieving it.
Write down what a Perfect Day in the future looks like for you. Don’t hold back – dream big. Then figure out what components of that day you can do today; in your current situation.
To implement the Perfect Day, take a personal day or some vacation time at work and purposefully do the things you can from your vision. For example, if part of your perfect day is that you are able to go to the movies on a week day, go to a movie and enjoy yourself. Be creative with what you include in the day.
One Day at a Time
We live our days one day at a time. Because you can’t fast-forward into the future, and you can’t get a day back, what you do on each day matters. You can use these Special Days to add some spice to those days and light a fire under yourself to become a champion.
