Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to learn from my spiritual mentor, Bro. Bo Sanchez, through his FREE webinar on Facebook. You may watch his webinar in full in the video below.
Everyday, for the past two months, I have developed this habit of watching his Fulltank talks on Facebook at 8am, while I get my regular dose of Vitamin D outside our home. This has provided me with the positivity that I need to get through each day.
He is also an author, a motivational speaker, a preacher at The Feast, have built various mercy ministries, a business owner, a husband and a father. Because of his many roles and because I have seen him in so many places -- aside from watching him everyday on Fulltank, I also read his books, listen to him at The Feast, attend his seminars and even support his ministries -- I believe that it is best to learn about increasing productivity from him.
The purpose of his webinar is to invite us to a kind of lifestyle that has direction, organized and productive.
According to him, you cannot manage time as you cannot manage the minutes and the hours in a day, but you can manage yourself. He calls this self-leadership as you need to lead yourself, so that you cannot be lead by video games, by kdramas, or by the things you want to do in a particular time just because you feel like it. You have to be your own leader.
He added that the problem is LACK OF STRUCTURE. And that the solution is CREATING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STRUCTURES IN YOUR LIFE.
How?
Step #1. Create internal structures
Think of a Ferrari. This Ferrari would be like the planning, the scheduling, the to-do-lists. But what can you do with this beautiful Ferrari if the gas tank is empty? Internal structures is compared to the fuel of the car.
The Three Big Questions for your Internal Structures
1. Values
Do you love yourself? Take note. Binge watching in Netflix for six hours does not count if you love yourself. Because if you do, you would rather spend those hours exercising, spending time with your family, playing with your kids, meditating, or do something productive that will give you the results you want in the long run.
Do you love others? Go deeper and discover your emotional why.
Do you love God? Do you see Him loving you? If your answer is yes, then you would want to love God back through being a blessing to other people. Be God's love to the people around you.
2. Vision
Do you see where you are going? As Tony Robbins said, "People are not lazy, they just have impotent goals." You need to have a clear vision of where you want to go and have a long-term perspective. These will add fuel to your Ferrari.
3. Vehicle
Do you know how to get there? Your vehicle is your core gift. You feel excited, you have passion, you will alive when you do your core gift. Embrace and celebrate your core gift. Develop it further so you can achieve your vision.
Personally, my core gift is writing, which brought about this blog.
Step #2. Create external structures
10 Tools for creating external structures
Tool #1 Make time to ask big questions. After reading this post, spend time answering the big questions above on values, vision and vehicle.
Tool #2 Make a list of short-term goals. Put it down on paper.
Tool #3 Make time to plan for each week. This is a game changer. Allot 30 mins of your time on a Sunday night, and you will be surprised at the end of the week how much you have accomplished.
Tool #4 Make a to do list for the week.
Tool #5 Make a weekly calendar.
Tool #6 Make a list of your "Pareto" activities. Focus on your top 20 activities that give you your 80 percent impact.
Tool #7 Make Four Quadrants (Stephen Covey). Focus on Quadrant Two -- not urgent but important -- which according to Bo, is the secret sauce of Champions.
Tool #8 Make a to do list with A B C D E (Brian Tracy). Prioritize your long list of to do's based on the following: A - Must, B - Should, C - Nice, D - Delegate and E - Eliminate.
Tool #9 Make a focus funnel (Rory Vaden). You've got tasks, then look which ones you could eliminate, automate and delegate. Then the remaining tasks, you can either concentrate on doing them now, or procrastinate on purpose and do them later.
Tool #10 Make a roles list (Stephen Covey). You write down all your roles, prioritize and plan the things you have to do for the week based on your roles.
Final Word
I watched his webinar last Sunday. I answered my big questions for internal structure and made my list for external structure on Sunday night. I am writing this today, on a Wednesday, and I can say that my productivity has significantly increased! I have stopped having those days when I say, "tinatamad ako" because I can't be "tamad" since I love myself, I love others and I love God -- and making the most of my time is the simplest way to show it.
I also have a clear picture now of how I want to see myself in the next 5, 10 and 20 years. And I know that my vehicle to get there is through my core gift, which is writing.
I hope you find this post helpful. If you do, kindly share this post to your family and friends, too.
Try these secrets on multiplying time and increasing productivity, and share your experience in the comments below or you can email me at financialplanningforpinoys@gmail.com.
Be very blessed!
