📕𝘾𝙃14:(🐛𝙏𝙃𝙀15 𝙑Æ𝙇𝙐𝘼𝙉𝙇𝙀 𝙇𝘼𝙒 𝙤𝙛

[P1] 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝟙𝟝 𝕀ℕ𝕍𝔸𝕃𝕌𝔸𝔹𝕃𝔼 𝕃𝔸𝕎𝕊 𝕆𝔽 𝔾ℝ𝕆𝕎𝕋ℍ. “LIVE THEM AND REACH YOUR POTENTIAL” - JOHN C. MAXWELL- CHAPTER 14 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦.” —NIKE COMMERCIAL Have you maxed out your capacity? Have you reached your full potential as a person? I believe that if you are reading this, the answer is no. If you’re still breathing and you are of sound mind, then you have the potential to keep increasing your capacity. In their book If It Ain’t Broke… Break It! authors Robert J. Kriegel and Louis Patler write, We don’t have a clue as to what people’s limits are. All the tests, stopwatches, and finish lines in the world can’t measure human potential. When someone is pursuing their dream, they’ll go far beyond what seems to be their limitations. The potential that exists within us is limitless and largely untapped… when you think of limits, you create them. “The potential that exists within us is limitless and largely untapped… when you think of limits, you create them.” —Robert J. Kriegel and Louis Patler How do you push toward your potential and keep increasing your capacity? I’ve written quite a bit about how to increase your effectiveness externally. You do that by including others and learning how to work with people. But the only way to increase your capacity internally is to change the way you approach personal growth. Learning more information isn’t enough. You must change how you think and you must change your actions.

[P2] 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. I’ve heard that most experts believe people typically use only 10 percent of their true potential. That statement is staggering! If that is true, then the average person has huge capacity for improvement. It’s as if we possess hundreds of acres of possibilities but keep only half an acre under cultivation. So how do we tap into the unused 90 percent? The answer is found in changing how we think and what we do. Let’s start by looking at how you need to think to increase your capacity. Most experts believe people typically use only 10 percent of their true potential.

 [P3] 1. 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨? Ask most people how they can increase their capacity and they’ll tell you by working more. There’s a problem with that solution. More work will not necessarily increase your capacity. More of the same usually results in more of the same, when what we actually want is better than what we have. I fell into this trap early in my career. In fact, when people began asking me to help them be more successful, my answer to them was to work harder. I assumed that their work ethic wasn’t as good as mine, and if they would simply do more, they would be successful. However, I realized the error in my thinking when I started traveling to undeveloped countries where many people worked very hard but saw very little return for all their efforts. I learned that hard work isn’t always the answer. That prompted me to start looking at the way I approached my working life. Being a high-energy person, I worked hard and kept it up for long hours. But I knew that I wasn’t as effective as I could be. I realized that the problem was that I valued effort over effectiveness. I was doing a lot of things instead of the right things. My to-do list kept getting longer, but my impact wasn’t increasing. I realized that I had to change my thinking. I looked at everything I was doing and started to ask myself, “What works?” That’s what I recommend you do. Figure out what works. To do that, ask yourself the following three questions: What am I required to do? - What gives the greatest return? - What gives me the greatest reward? These questions will help you to focus your attention on what you must do, what you ought to do, and what you really want to do.

[P4] 2. 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙄? 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙄? At first glance, the questions Can I? and How can I? may appear to be very similar. However, the reality is that they are worlds apart in terms of results. Can I? is a question filled with hesitation and doubt. It is a question that imposes limitations. If that is the question you regularly ask yourself, you’re undermining your efforts before you even begin. How many people could have accomplished much in life but failed to try because they doubted and answered no to the question “Can I?” When you ask yourself “How can I?” you give yourself a fighting chance to achieve something. The most common reason people don’t overcome the odds is that they don’t challenge them enough. They don’t test their limits. They don’t push their capacity. How can I? assumes there is a way. You just need to find it. The most common reason people don’t overcome the odds is that they don’t challenge them enough. As a young leader, I was challenged by the words of Robert Schuller, who said, “What would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail?” To me the answer was obvious. A lot more than I was currently attempting! Schuller’s question prompted me to think outside the box. It made me want to take more risks, to push more boundaries, to test my own limits. It made me realize that most of our limitations are based not on lack of ability, but lack of belief. Sharon Wood, the first North American woman to climb Mount Everest, said of her experience, “I discovered it wasn’t a matter of physical strength, but a matter of psychological strength. The conquest lay within my own mind to penetrate those barriers of self-imposed limitations and get to the good stuff—the stuff called potential, 90 percent of which we barely use.” If you want to tap into that unused 90 percent, ask “How can I?” Do that and greater achievement becomes a matter of when and how, not if. Recently a friend gave me a book by Price Pritchett entitled, You2. In it Pritchett writes, Your skepticism, which you presume is based on rational thinking and an objective assessment of factual data about yourself, is rooted in mental junk. Your doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking. Years ago you accepted flawed conclusions as correct, began to live your life as if those warped ideas about your potential were true, and ceased the bold experiment in living that brought you many breakthrough behaviors as a child. Now it’s time for you to find that faith you had in yourself before. If you have spent time in a negative environment or you have experienced abuse in your life, you may find this thinking transition to be very difficult. If that describes you, then let me take a moment to encourage you and explain something. I’m asking you to shift from Can I? to How can I? when maybe you need to change your thinking from I can’t! to How can I? I believe that if you’ve gotten this far in this book, then deep down you already believe that you can achieve things. I believe you can too. I believe God has put in every person the potential to grow, expand, and achieve. The first step in doing that is believing that you can. I believe in you! The second is perseverance. As you get started, it may not look like you’re making progress. That doesn’t matter. Don’t give up. Pritchett says that everything looks like a failure in the middle. He writes, “You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room. If you send a rocket to the moon, about ninety percent of the time it’s off course—it ‘fails’ its way to the moon by continually making mistakes and correcting them.” Everything looks like a failure in the middle. You can change your thinking. You can believe in your potential. You can use failure as a resource to help you find the edge of your capacities. As psychiatrist Fritz Perls observed, “Learning is discovering that something is possible.” The Law of Expansion is about learning, growing, increasing our capacity. “Learning is discovering that something is possible.” —Fritz Perls It’s said that one day the great artist Michelangelo went into the studio of Raphael. He looked at one of his early drawings, considered it a moment, then took a piece of chalk and wrote the word Amplius, which means “greater” or “larger,” across the entire drawing. Michelangelo was encouraging Raphael to think bigger. That’s what we need to do. 

[P5] 3. 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙨. When it comes to growth, you don’t want to stake your future on one “door.” It may not open! It’s much better to consider many possibilities and look for multiple answers to all of your questions. Think in terms of options. I made the mistake of looking for the one door early in my career. I wanted to build a great church, so I went looking for the key that would lead me to success. I started interviewing people to find someone who could give me “the secret.” It was almost like I was looking for someone who could grant my wish. My thinking was all wrong. I wanted someone to give me a formula for my dream so I could act on it. In time I came to realize that I needed to act on my dream and formulate the details as I made the journey. Mobility was critical to progress, and my strategy began to evolve out of my discovery process. One of my favorite words is options. Anyone who knows me well understands that I don’t like being “fenced in.” But my desire for options is driven by more than just the desire to avoid mental claustrophobia. It’s driven by the desire to increase my capacity. The more time goes by, the more I want to explore creative options and the less I want to rely on someone else’s system. As I have learned to think many doors and explore options, here is what I have learned: ● There is more than one way to do something successfully. ● The odds of arriving anywhere increase with creativity and adaptability. ● Movement with intentionality creates possibilities. ● Failures and setbacks can be great tools for learning. ● Knowing the future is difficult; controlling the future is impossible. ● Knowing today is essential; controlling today is possible. ● Success is a result of continued action filled with continual adjustments. Knowing the future is difficult; controlling the future is impossible. Knowing today is essential; controlling today is possible. The greatest challenge you will ever face is that of expanding your mind. It’s like crossing the great frontier. You must be willing to be a pioneer, to enter uncharted territory, to face the unknown, to conquer your own doubts and fears. But here’s the good news. If you can change your thinking, you can change your life. As Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” If you want to expand your capacity, the first place to start is always in your own mind. “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes

 [P6] 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. If you want to expand your potential and therefore your capacity, you must first change your thinking. However, if you change only your thinking and you neglect to change your actions, you will fall far short of your potential. To start expanding your capacity, take the following three steps:  1. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘋𝘰. The first step toward success is becoming good at what you know how to do. But the more that you do what you know, the more you discover additional worthy things you could do. When this occurs, you have a decision to make. Will you continue doing what you have always done, or will you make the leap and try new things? Doing new things leads to innovation and new discoveries, and among those discoveries is the realization of things you should do on a consistent basis. If you do those, you will continue to grow and expand your potential. If you don’t, you will plateau. My friend Kevin Hall describes this process of discovery and growth in Aspire when he writes about a discussion he had with one of his mentors, retired professor Arthur Watkins. The gentleman was describing the growth of a tradesman from apprentice to master. Kevin recalls their conversation: A master didn’t become a master overnight, he explained. There was a process. First, one must become an apprentice, then a journeyman, and finally a master. Apprentice. Journeyman. Master. These three words illustrate the importance of going through fundamental and necessary steps to acquire the kind of humility that is commensurate with true leadership. Arthur grew quite animated as if he were about to reveal an ancient truth. “Do you know that ‘apprentice’ means learner?” he asked, then taught that the word comes from the French “appendre,” which means to learn. In earlier times, apprentice was the name for someone who would select a trade, then find a master in his village to teach him the skills necessary for his chosen vocation. After learning all he could from the local master, the apprentice would then travel elsewhere to broaden his education. Launching forward on such a journey turned an apprentice into a journeyman. A journeyman would often travel long distances for the privilege of working under the master who could best help him further hone his craft. Over time, a journeyman could eventually become a master himself—and be in a position to start the cycle all over again. The process of expanding one’s potential is ongoing. It ebbs and flows. Opportunities come and go. The standards we must set for ourselves are constantly changing. What we could do changes as we develop. What we should do also evolves. We must leave behind some old things to take on new ones. It can be difficult work, but if we are willing, our lives are changed. In 1974 I became convinced that everything rises and falls on leadership. With that conviction came a passion for leading. I was fired up to learn how to lead effectively and then touch others. After several years I achieved a level of comfort in my ability to lead others and teach on the subject. I was enjoying what I did and seeing a degree of success. But then I began to see opportunities, other things I could do. I had the chance to reach a larger audience. I was at a decision point. Should I enjoy my life or attempt to expand it? Expansion would mean leaving my comfort zone. I would have to start a business to produce teaching materials. I would have to develop people who could work alongside me. I would have to learn to write books so I could reach people I’d never get to speak to. I would need to travel and learn the customs and cultures of those who lived in other countries to be able to communicate outside of the United States. All these changes took time. I made a lot of mistakes. Often I was in over my head. Most days I felt like Pablo Picasso when he said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order to learn how to do it.” “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order to learn how to do it.” —Pablo Picasso The process of adaptation and expansion has continued for me and still does. More recently, I’ve had to learn how to use social media to expand my reach. I’ve started two companies. I’ve learned how to start a coaching initiative. And I’m continuing to learn how to connect with people in other countries around the globe. I never want to stop learning. I want to keep enlarging myself, expanding my potential, and improving my craft to my dying day. I want to live out the words of author and pastor Norman Vincent Peale, who said, “Ask the God who made you to keep remaking you.”

[P7] 2. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. We live in a culture that awards trophies to people for simply showing up, regardless of their contribution. Because of that, many people think they are doing well if they just do what is expected of them. I don’t believe that helps people reach their potential or expand their capacity. To do that, a person has to do more. We live in a culture that awards trophies to people for simply showing up, regardless of their contribution. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch calls this “getting out of the pile.” To distinguish yourself, get noticed, and advance your career, you need to do and be more. You have to rise above average. You can do this by asking more of yourself than others ask, expecting more from yourself than others expect, believing more in yourself than others believe, doing more than others think you should have to do, giving more than others think you should give, and helping more than others think you should help. I like the way boxer Jack Johnson described it: “Going far beyond that call of duty, doing more than others expect, this is what excellence is all about! And it comes from striving, maintaining the highest standards, looking after the smallest detail, and going the extra mile. Excellence means doing your very best. In everything! In every way.” Doing more than is expected does more than just separate you from your colleagues by earning you a reputation for performance. It also trains you to develop a habit for excellence. And that compounds over time. Continued excellence expands your capabilities and your potential.

[P8] 3. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘖𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺. Have you ever heard the expression “Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it that you can”? I like the intent and exuberance of those words, but I don’t think that advice is very good—unless you want a mess. A better thought is to make your life a masterpiece, which requires much thought, a clear idea, and selection when it comes to what paint you put on the canvas. How do you do that? By doing the important things every day. Writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote, If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. I believe advancing confidently in the direction of one’s dreams means doing what is important every day. To do what’s not important every day does nothing for you. It merely uses up your time. To do the right thing only occasionally does not lead to consistent growth and the expansion of your life. Both components are necessary. Daily growth leads to personal expansion. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow compared his growth to that of an apple tree. He said, “The purpose of that apple tree is to grow a little new wood each year. That is what I plan to do.” He also expressed a similar thought in one of his poems when he wrote, - Not enjoyment and not sorrow is our destined end always; But to live that each tomorrow finds us further than today. -If we do what’s important every day, that can be true for us.

 [P9] 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭. One of the greatest rewards I receive from writing and speaking is occasionally hearing from someone who has been positively impacted by my work. Recently I received a letter from Tim Williams, a sergeant who works for the county sheriff’s office in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He wrote to tell me about the intentionalgrowth path he has been taking and how it has expanded his capacity. Tim wrote, As a part of my promotional testing process in 2005, I was required to read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I had told myself that I would first read each of the books I was assigned, then re-read each, and finally skim each with a highlighter to obtain possible test questions. My first read of The 21 Laws did not leave me with a favorable opinion. My re-read left me feeling better and agreeing with most of it. As I skimmed it I came to the conclusion that I had been under a leadership rock for the better part of my life. Prior to being a sergeant with the sheriff’s office I had spent twenty years as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces, [so] I didn’t consider leadership a new concept. Tim went on to say that he continues to read books as part of his growth plan. They have changed his thinking—and his actions. As a result, he has continued to advance within the organization. “As I was promoted in rank,” he wrote, “I have also been able to institute several changes within my organization that I credit directly to what I have learned…. I have been able to influence others and help many.” Tim has adopted two practices as a result of what he’s learned. The first is that he goes to where his employees are. Tim said, “I spent my nights in the jail going from station to station visiting with deputies and just talking about anything. I listened, laughed, and just spent time hearing about their families and on some occasions their complaints.” As a result, he started connecting with people. The second was writing personal notes to people to let them know that he cares about them and appreciates their work. He also became very intentional about noting in their evaluations the positive things his employees did, not just their deficiencies. “The increase in morale was amazing,” said Tim. Tim went on to say, “At year’s end I decided to take this one step further and send an e-mail to all those assigned to my shift. I wanted it to be positive and transparent to all. I have made this an annual event and the results have been fantastic! My shift sick-time usage dropped markedly. I’ve enclosed the first edition of what I call ‘Thanks, I Noticed’ ”: Shift 4, As we come to the end of the year, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the things that all of you have done individually to make my life easier as a supervisor. Because of the competitive nature of this profession we share, I want all of you to collectively know what you have done for each other. As this year has passed, in some way each of you has contributed to the success that we all share. So for all the little things that you may have thought went unnoticed, please let me say, Thank you, I noticed. Michael B., for giving up your two planned holidays so that we would have enough people to cover the shift, for volunteering for the paint detail on your days off, for the math project, for taking on the Academy Instructor challenge, Thank you, I noticed. Bruce B., for coming to work in pain unable to hear when you could have easily called off, for being my straight-man in briefings and asking the questions others wanted to, for working through adversity, Thank you, I noticed. Rosemarie P., for reminding me what I was forgetting, for giving up your slot as part of my grand plan for Layne D., for always looking out for me, Thank you, I noticed. Kelly S., for always being willing to change your assignment, for coming in when you could have easily called off, for helping us set the record for the most people ever to change a tire in the middle of the night, Thank you, I noticed. John W., for being my first Lead Deputy as a Deputy II new to the shift and knowing [very] well you’d take the heat for it, you did it with incredible character, Thank you, I noticed. As a deputy sergeant and a retired Special Forces noncommissioned officer, Tim Williams could have said, “I’ve been a leader for more than twenty years. I know what it is to lead, even when people’s lives are on the line. I’m done learning. I will rely on my experience and finish out my career, and people better just do what I say!” He could have, but he didn’t. Instead, he was open to growth. He decided to continue to be a learner. And for that reason, his life, his influence, and his potential continue to expand. He lives the Law of Expansion: Growth always increases your capacity. That quality is present in all lifelong learners. And for that reason, their capacity keeps on expanding. It’s said that when Pablo Casals was ninety-five years old, a young reporter asked, “Mr. Casals, you are ninety-five and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?” Mr. Casal’s answer was telling: “Because I think I’m making progress.” You have the potential to keep making progress until the day you die—if you have the right attitude about growth. You need to believe what Rabbi Samuel M. Silver did. “The greatest of all miracles,” he said, “is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today, but we can improve if we make use of the potentials implanted in us by God.” “The greatest of all miracles,” he said, “is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today, but we can improve if we make use of the potentials implanted in us by God.” —Samuel M. Silver

  [P10] ◤ 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 ◥ 1. Have you made the mental transition from I Can’t! or Can I? to How can I? Test yourself. Do some dreaming. Then ask yourself, …..If I knew I could not fail, what would I attempt? …..If I had no limitations, what would I like to do? …..If finances were not an issue, what would I be doing with my life? Take time and write your answers to those questions. Now, look at your answers. What is your gut-level response to them? Do you look at them and think, That’s far-fetched? This is impossible. How outlandish! Or do you look at them and think, How can I do that? What must I do to make this happen? What will I have to trade to make this transition? If it’s the latter, you are mentally ready to expand your capacity. If it’s the former, you still have work to do. Spend some time figuring out what’s stopping you from believing you can make the changes necessary to expand your life. 2.Give yourself an effectiveness audit so you can be sure you are thinking What works? instead of more work. Go back through your calendar and to-do lists from the past four weeks. (By the way, if you aren’t using some kind of system to plan your days, that’s the first step you need to take.) Try to quantify the amount of time you spent on every action and activity during those four weeks. Then think about how much time you believe each activity should have taken, and give yourself an efficiency rating from A+ to F. Now sort all the activities into categories. Give yourself an effectiveness audit so you can be sure you are thinking What works? instead of more work. Where do you see patterns? What’s working? What isn’t working? What are you doing too much of, either because you’re not being efficient enough or because the activity is off purpose? What changes do you need to make? Use the criteria of required, return, or reward to help you make judgments on what needs to change. 3.Do you have a plan and system to make sure you are doing what’s importantdaily? First, define what is essential to you on a daily basis. In my book Today Matters, I wrote about my daily dozen. I include the list here for you as an idea starter: > Choose and display the right attitudes. > Determine and act on important priorities. > Know and follow healthy guidelines. > Communicate with and care for my family. > Practice and develop good thinking. > Make and keep proper commitments. > Earn and properly manage finances. > Deepen and live out my faith. > Initiate and invest in solid relationships. > Plan for and model generosity. > Embrace and practice good values. > Seek and experience improvements. Once you’ve created your own list, figure out how you will manage to follow through on each of those priorities every day so you stay on track and continue to expand your potential.