Are you ready to Succeed Routinely?

Location, Location, Location!

How many of us have heard that the key to success in buying or selling real estate is location, location, location!!!?

These past few months I have been looking for a 2^nd home and although I recently found a wonderful house… actually a dream house I did Not buy it.  This house was the one that checked all the boxes on my Wish List except the location!!!  The town was right, the community lovely but the house was located at the end of the street where all local traffic would have to stop before either turning right or left leading to a barrage of headlights beaming into the front of the house. The location was wrong; I was looking for a secluded street.  Of late I have been thinking that in life as well as business the key to success is Routine, Routine, Routine.

Eighteen months ago I ended a decades long career which had become second nature to me to run. I operated in that business for such a long time that I not only had all my systems in place.  I followed a wonderfully effective and efficient routine. ROUTINE, ROUTINE! ROUTINE was the key to why I could run the business with such ease. I knew what my goals were, I knew what actions were required to do them, and I had charted time to do those activities on all levels of my business and home life.  The interesting thing is that now that I am moving toward another enterprise, it feels to me like each day time rushes by…. Days ran by then weeks quickly passed…and I find I have not accomplished very much which makes me wonder how I was able to run a global business empire in 7 countries that spanned over 4 continents.  Then like a lightening flash…. It came to me……

Routine, Routine, Routine!!!!!

Although I had a clear vision for the outcomes I wanted to achieve in my new career venture (and I had a plan for the definite actions I needed to take) the problem was I had no routine set up to execute them. Everyday I woke up ready to go to work on accomplishing the tasks I planned, but instead because of my lack of a routine I was easily distracted.  So many times I found myself saying; “Oh I can do that tomorrow”…. Or, “ I will get to that later!!!”

Wow what a revelation this was to me…. One easily remedied….all I needed was a new routine!

I thought back to my old business routine. First off I knew each week when I would be in my office; at least 3 days. Once in the office I fine-tuned the activity for my ‘to do list’…. Prioritizing and scheduling what needs to be done.  I also knew what my routine for working in the field was like… There were 2 selling days routinely done and routinely once a week I had a designated training day…

I guess the best way to explain a routine is to think about what we do in our daily lives. We do things in blocks of time. There is the morning routine… my husband gets up gets dressed and then has breakfast. I get up, wander around, then have coffee and then get dressed. I do change that routine if I have an early appointment or an early flight … then I get up, get dressed, a quick coffee and I am on my way.

For example: If I have a flight to catch…the airlines operate flights on a schedule. Set to depart at a specific time. The routine however before the flight is to check in; to check luggage, go through security, go to the gate, wait then board the plane, take your seat… and the plane takes off usually on the scheduled time. I work that schedule so I don’t miss my flight.

A schedule of outcomes expected… is something performed as a part of a regular procedure, a strategy with intended outcomes. It’s a breaking down of the goal, an acknowledging the actions that must happen to succeed and planning for enacting that success!

That example might show you the difference between Routine and Schedule and make it a bit clearer.

I used to say about entrepreneurial businesses that “most home based businesses do not have structure; we get paid to put structure to our business”.  So, what’s the difference between the two?

A Schedule tells a person….SOMETHING is going to happen.

The Routine tells the person IN WHAT ORDER it’s going to happen.

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A Routine ….‘Is’…and in business it is connected to achieving an outcome.

A Schedule …. ‘Does

I find that people often confuse schedules with routine.

The key to creating a routine is in Blocking out time or Assigning time….. It is the daily disciplines.

1. Have a start point for your day
2. Plan your day in blocks of time instead of small time slots; like meal times or other blocks of time might be to focus on a morning, afternoon or evening block of time.

I know for me to successfully transition into a new career with new activities facing me I have to set up a routine… it might look like this… a weekday morning will be office time working on a writing project. One routine I already have in place: Thursday is my day to Blog. Each item has to have a purpose in your business outcome…busy-itis is not productive for your business success!

Having a routine helps to keep me focused on a specific task that I want to accomplish…. It creates a discipline and is a point of accountability for me.

IN Review….. Schedule or Routine?

A Schedule tells WHEN something is going to happen; a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, often using lists of intended events and times. ”

The Routine tells HOW daily actions that need to be consistent are going to happen. We use them when we need to reach a sequence of events and its especially important when we need to TEACH others to succeed to have a strong routine to share!.

People for the most part thrive with a structure, predictability; a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program.

3 Steps to Help You Create Your Routine

1. Identify what you want to achieve and make a list of the activities that need to be accomplished to reach your goal.
2. Identify blocks of time available by prioritizing your commitments.
3. Write out a schedule of your day and week of your Commitments; what already happens like meals and other outside commitments. If it isn’t scheduled or made space for, it probably isn’t a priority for you. Don’t forget family, health, appointments, customer follow through and of course ME time too!