What's Your 20 Seconds? ...Here's Mine

When I finished a run the other day, I looked down and noticed that my time was 20 seconds off from a personal record.  20 seconds! 

After grumbling through my cool-down, I began to think through the why.  It could have been my slightly slower start as I pondered if my recovering ankle was 100%, it could have been the slow down because I started the wrong playlist and needed to adjust.  I was spacing out when my GPS informed me of my time and pace when I had only a mile to go and I knew I still had energy left in the tank when I was done.

In short, my head wasn’t in the game when I started, I didn’t prepare properly, didn’t pay attention to the details while in the moment and didn’t give it all when I had the opportunity.  A change in any one of these details could have made the difference, if I had none of these challenges I could have significantly broken my record.

This same review and lessons can have a tremendously positive impact on your business. 

As a salesperson, the extra effort of one more new prospect call per day can make a huge difference.  Keeping focused and on pace all day decreases distractions and increases results.  As a leader, preparation for each day, month, quarter, year is essential.  Pay attention to the details along the way.  Finally, when you commit to start something, be all in- with maximum effort at all times!

The extra effort doesn’t need to be elaborate to make a significant difference.  You just need to recognize where you can put that extra effort in, then commit and execute.  The results can be the difference between a strong result and a result you measure all future efforts against.