There are 3 skills that, when mastered, will help you attain this

It’s the start of another new year, and on everyone’s mind is this challenge of how to take your business and life to the next level. You’re motivated to set and accomplish incredible goals this year, one of which involves ending every day feeling proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Turns out, ending every day feeling proud of what you’ve accomplished is much easier said than done, and it’s because productivity, discipline and focus are 3 skills many struggle with.

To find out how to master these 3 skills, and why they’re so integral to taking your business and life to the next level, I turned to John Lee Dumas. John is the host of EOFire, a daily podcast where he’s interviewed over 1500 successful entrepreneurs - a truly astounding number. (Listen to his interview of me here). I figured that after that many conversations, he must know a thing or two about these skills and what sets successful entrepreneurs apart.

1. Productivity

Productivity is so elusive. What starts out as a full day ahead of you with endless possibilities oftentimes ends with the thought: “Where did all the time go, and why don’t I have more to show for it?”

Productivity is about accomplishing the tasks that matter to you and your business in an efficient manner. But how often do you start your day knowing what those tasks are?

Being able to start your day already knowing what ONE task you will accomplish before the day is over takes the guesswork out of getting started,” says John.

“Once you’ve accomplished your first task, you’ll gain powerful momentum to fuel your productivity for the rest of the day.”

The first step to mastering productivity: win tomorrow today. At the end of each workday, write down on a sheet of paper the ONE task you will accomplish tomorrow. Knowing exactly what you’re going to start your workday with will prevent you from wasting precious time trying to figure out what should come first.

2. Discipline

It’s one thing to write out on a sheet of paper what you want to accomplish; it’s quite another to actually get yourself to sit down and do the work.

As an officer in the US Army, John quickly learned the power of discipline and that excuses around why he couldn’t start something weren’t going to fly.

He discovered that what holds most people back from getting started is the excuse of not knowing where to start. So why not eliminate that excuse right off the bat? Discipline is a tough skill to master, but once you’ve created a plan of action, you’ll already have taken the most difficult step towards being able to execute.

The first step to mastering discipline is writing out the individual steps necessary to accomplish the task or goal at hand. If you’re not sure what those individual steps are, then your pre-work is to do some research and figure it out (remember, no excuses). Once you have the steps written out, you’ve eliminated the biggest excuse standing between you and execution. All that’s left to do is follow the steps laid out in front of you.

3. Focus

John’s favorite acronym is

FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Success.

If you struggle with distractions and are constantly feeling “busy” (but have little to show for it), then mastering focus will not only change how you work, but how much work you’re able to accomplish.

The first step to mastering focus is starting to implement time blocks into your workday. Instead of giving yourself “until you finish” to work on a task, give yourself 30 minutes and actually set a timer to hold yourself accountable. Any distractions that come up during those 30 minutes - an idea or a notification - write it down on a sheet of paper so you don’t forget about it, and immediately get back on task.

“Parkinson’s Law says that tasks will expand to the time we allot. Every minute you spend not focused on the task at hand is a minute you could have spent accomplishing a task or goal that will take your business and life to the next level. Don’t ever waste a minute on something less important than taking your business and life to the next level.”

Mastering productivity, discipline and focus is your answer to being able to end every day feeling proud of what you’ve accomplished, and the start of another new year is the perfect time to take on the challenge. To help, John created a step-by-step guide that will help you master productivity, discipline and focus in 100 days: The Mastery Journal. To learn more visit TheMasteryJournal.com.

-----

Dave Kerpen is the founder and CEO of Likeable Local and the NY Times bestselling author of The Art of People. Looking to save time and automate social media for your business? Learn more about Likeable Local here. 

Originally published on Linkedin Pulse.