Morning Folks!!
While the world goesback to work on January2nd,I have found the single most fruitful week of the
year are the days before. So my year starts on December 26th. See, this is the
one week of the year that folks slow down. Examine where they are, where they
are going and generally in a good and easy going mood. That is what “I”
call a “Window of Opportunity.”
Let’s say you can do 6 weeks of business in 6 days. Doesn’t that have more value and a better time to work than working 6 weeks for 1 weeks worth of business? That is why I always say “Make hay when the sunshines.” When you do that you will always be on crusie control while the rest of the world is trying to play catch up complaining there are not enough hours in the day. The fact is there are plenty of hours but so many people are poor at prioritizing things and that is the single biggest mistake that the majority make. If you live 100 years that is it baby. So your job in life is to do things faster so it appears you live longer. That is why we have cars, jets. Phones, Internet.
Doing what needs to be done first is always the key. The most time consuming, hardest etc. MUST be done first. If you don’t, you will have failure as a compass. You have shoes and socks. If you put the shoes on first and then the socks, what did you accomplish? Yet I am here to tell you that in business, I watch this every day of my life with almost anything I witness. Silly right? But that is the way of the world. Their failure is your opportunity. Just make sure that you are not the one failing. Nothing else has such a dramatic impact. Plus, if you do it right, you are always on cruise control. Do it wrong and you are always late and stressed and making excuses. The choice is yours. But I am here to give testimony that this is one of the single biggest pitfalls of life and 1 or 2 MINUTES of consideration on the front end is worth hours and days and failure on the back end.
Basically we are either stuck having meeting after meeting and doing nothing or we are in a rush to do things without consideration and pay a considerable price. There is a middle ground. NEVER rush consideration but be ready to act immediately after it.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
-----
PlzJoin
Quite true. Everybody’s still off drinking/celebrating/recovering.
No one bugging :)
Kevin
I started even earlier and worked for 6 hours on Christmas. :)
Anthony
I actually had the most productive week of the year.
2010 is going to be AWESOME.
Morgan
Great point Rick and so true! It can be all too easy to fall-into the trap of doing 10,000 things are once – in the end you do a mediocre job on all of them.
Especially in this economy focus will be the key to success!
Javier Zaffaroni
I feel the same way. It’s like you are moving forward while everyone is celebrating.
Donny
This is my life every year. People either don’t work or work the entire week before XMAS and then the week from XMAS to New Year’s nobody does anything. I usually try to schedule all of my meetings this coming week, because I know that nobody will be available.
GhettoCaveMan
The Trivial 80% & the Critical 20% – Outline of the Pareto Principle
“The value of the Pareto Principle for a manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters. Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results. Identify and focus on those things. When the fire drills of the day begin to sap your time, remind yourself of the 20 percent you need to focus on. If something in the schedule has to slip, if something isn’t going to get done, make sure it’s not part of that 20 percent.
. . .
Pareto’s Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of you work that is really important. Don’t just”work smart”, work smart on the right things.”
Altaf
80% read & test, work for the rest.
Rick , in domain what/how do we need to prioritize the best?
Have a good day! Regards,
Stephen Douglas
Rick, can you please stop posting articles in riddles? I’m beginning to see a your posts as a sort of”Dead Sea Scrolls” of domaining. Just come out with what you want to say, and be blunt.
You have people breaking down your article like a DNA sample… good grief! Don’t write so we find out long after you’re dead and gone, and probably us too! TeenDomainer will be the only one to decipher the secrets long after we’re dust! lol
Have a happy holidays!
Danny Pryor
Do you know how HARD it was to NOT do anything on Christmas day? It was sort of like”Scotty” catching a”wee-bout” of shore leave. I still worked. Couldn’t call anyone though. Only some email.
I was actually hoping for some greater insight to 15 A.D. (After Domaining). Oh well, perhaps tomorrow.
Andrew Hazen
I always like to quote Willy Wonka who said – let’s move on….so little to do yet so much time; STRIKE THAT, REVERSE IT….
Happy Holidays Rick and let your life proceed by its own design….
@AndrewHazen
Steve C
Rick and gang,
I do the same thing. Are we all clones or what? I learned all this on my feet, not reading from a book.
I start during Thanksgiving weekend, ramp up quickly afterward and run through about Jan 10. Whatever happens then usually defines my first quarter and therefore the rest of the year.
And the last week, between Christmas and New Years is when the plan starts falling in place.
It’s the only time of the year I can work in isolation and let my ideas flow.
Happy New Years everyone and have a prosperous 2010.
SC
Ronald Regging
I’ve learned a long time ago that’s it’s best to work at my own pace, not at everyone else’s. Regardless of what people are doing this time of year or any time of year, just keep chugging along doing what you do. Sometimes you’ll be outproducing others, sometimes you’ll fall behind, but as long as you have a clear goal and waypoints, you’ll get there on your own time.
LA
“Man plans & G-d laughs” but we obviously(still) should do what we need to do..
”If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
And if I am only for myself, what am I?
And if not now, when?”
Steve M
Thanks for a great blog, Rick.
The industry most assuredly wouldn’t be the same without you.
But then, you’ve always known that ;-)
Keep those high-dollar sales coming in ’10 … continuing to prove to all just how high high can be.
Steve M
Rick; any thoughts regarding the parent co of Foreclosure.com’s BK filing?
Given the timing, seems like they had to know either the filing was coming; or at least was a possibility; during the late stages of your negotiations…
John Berryhill
Rick,
If you didn’t exist, it would be necessary for someone to invent you.
December 17:
“As I do every year, December is a month of reflection and planning. I don’t work in December.”
December 26:
“While the world goes back to work on January 2nd, I have found the single most fruitful week of the year are the days before. So my year starts on December 26th.”
Rick Schwartz
John,
Perfectly explainable. My December starts in November a couple days before Thanksgiving. My Sunday morning breakfast with my family is 9AM. However if you are not there by 8:10, you are late and by 8;50 it is over. My watch is 5 minutes ahead and I always run 15 minutes early for an appointment.
More importantly, when I bought domains in 1995, I was really buying for 2015. Everything in between has just been a bonus. Gee, now that is 2010, 2015 does not seem that far away. Let’s hope we all make it!
;-)