Rhino Wrestler Newsletter - Distributed semi-monthly by Rhoberta Shaler, PhD & Optimize! Institute

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Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

Hello, $firstname!

How are you holding up?  There is so much that we hear every day that tells us that the sky is falling. It seems Chicken Little has taken over the television networks. In today’s edition of The Rhino Wrestler, I want to encourage you to know that the sky hasn’t moved and you’re not in danger of being hit by falling clouds. This is certainly a time of change and an invitation to resilience, flexibility and reconsideration, though.

Now, I’m not being a Pollyanna. Don’t worry. I don’t have my head in the sand and I’m not about to suggest you should, either.   I know folks are concerned about their job security, their pensions and their 401K’s and their families and futures. It’s wise to think things through.   What I would invite you to consider is that you can reframe what the world is going through so that you don’t get immobilized by fear. How can you accommodate what is happening and be pro-active and playing on your own team? I’ve given a few ideas in today’s article: Time Cannot Be Managed, But…. 

Prevent Free Fall: Pack Your Own Parachute

PREVENT FREE FALL: PACK YOUR OWN PARACHUTE Get your copy of this new book & use the ten clear tactics to triumph over tense times!

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In this Issue:

Upcoming Events

Inspiring Words for Your Post-It™ Notes

Feature Article: TIME CANNOT BE MANAGED, BUT...

KEEP READING….

Things have been a bit wild in my business, too.  I invite you to visit my two new websites:  www.ForWomenEntrepreneurs.com and www.TamingTenseTimes.com  You’ll see what I’ve been up to, and, I hope you’ll find things of value to help you in accommodating these changing times, too. 

A few weeks ago, I was at a funeral and met a women who was completely stunned that she had been laid off by AT&T after thirty-six years of work. She could not imagine who she would be without her job at AT&T. I suggested that she would do well to consider coaching to get immediate, direct help in making the journey from employee to entrepreneur.  I told her about the new programs at www.ForWomenEntrepreneurs.com that take folks from employee to entrepreneur. You might find value there, too.

Oh, there’s a new radio show going live this week, too, called Women on the Move with a Mission™ and you’ll see it at www.ForWomenEntrepreneurs.com as well. It’s in the right column.  OK, yes, guys, you can listen, too!

Please let me know if I can help you, your business or your company with coaching, consulting or training. I’m here to help.

To Your Success,
Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Counselor. Consultant. Coach. Catalyst.
Helping Businesses Prosper & People Flourish
www.OptimizeInstitute.com
www.WorkplacePeopleSkills.com
www.CoreValuesProfile.com
www.TamingTenseTimes.calm

Escondido, CA
760.735.8686

 

INSPIRING WORDS FOR YOUR POST-IT™ NOTES

Time is the quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once. Lately, it doesn’t seem to be working.
Anonymous

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.
Charles Beaton

 

IMPROVING YOUR WORKLIFE:

TIME CANNOT BE MANAGED, BUT…
© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.ForWomenEntrepreneurs.com

How many time management books are there in this world? I checked with Amazon in 2003 and found 5086 listings. So, I was interested today to find that Amazon now has 92,551 books alone on the topic!  Have we become more desperate? Are more people making there living from telling us how to manage time because we just don’t do it? 

I say time cannot be managed and, it’s true. There is nothing to manage. You cannot file it, store it, save it, reduce it or manipulate it in any way.  You cannot hold it in your hand.  All these authors are not telling us how to manage our time, they are giving us ideas, suggests and inspiration for managing ourselves!

Once my daughter asked me to write something that explains the basis of my work as a speaker, coach and author. I wrote this,

"What is important is simple: Know what you value and invest
your time accordingly. This is integrity and it will bring you
peace."

I could easily have added "....and it will bring you power, passion, purpose, progress...and cash!"

As the world would have us heat up to the idea of scarcity, lack, limitation, reduction, constriction and loss, are we likely to get our knickers in a twist over time as well? We’re in a time when the media, marketers, big business and the governments would like us to accept that things are scarce, particularly money and the opportunity to make it, right? Whatever your beliefs, you’ll decide if that idea is worth engaging your time, attention and life energy in. But, no matter what your beliefs, you will recognize that the purpose of all this gloom and doom is incite fear.  If you are finding your shoulders living somewhere close to your earlobes, they may have gotten to you! 

However, time is a valuable commodity.

First of all, they are not making any more.
Second, you choose how to use what you have.
Third, it is best invested, not just spent.

I had a client who loved order and organization, every pen in its place, every file label printed and spaced identically in its color-coded file.  A vision of perfection when the file drawer opened.   Now, to her, it was a natural and necessary as breathing. She did it automatically.

Another client believed in the “piles rather than files” systems and spent hours looking for things she KNEW she had.  Organization was not a priority, even though she got frustrated in her searches when time was limited.  Not frustrated enough, though, to consider a different filing system.

Different uses of time because they have different core values. Although they would tear each other’s hair out if they had to share an office, both are happy with their own systems. (This is a big deal about to understand about yourself, your values and the contribution you are hard-wired to make!  You can learn about it and how it can help you immediately at www.CoreValuesProfile.com

I believe most folks spend their time getting ready to get ready. I know from my personal experience—fortunately years ago--that it was true for me. Long days, short nights and what was I doing?  Getting ready to get ready! That's when you find things that fill your day and make you busy but fail to make you productive! Oh, yes, those things sounded great when I regaled any listener with my busy days. I sounded successful! But what was I really doing
that made real progress in my business or my life?

That great philosopher, Anonymous, told the truth when she said:

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely
loyal to daily acts of trivia."

We make lists and tidy desks, organize filing cabinets and have long chats with colleagues. We research, gather information (even print it out), network, take teleseminars and classes. It can all be right on task, or, it can be a way to fool ourselves into thinking we’re making progress when we are just mired in activity.  We say to ourselves,

As soon as my desk is clean, my garage organized, my thank you notes written, and I’ve lost a hundred pounds, then, I’ll be able to focus and be successful. (Or, find the right relationship. Or, make money. Or, start exercising. Or, ______. ”

Does that sound at all familiar?  Are you getting ready to get ready?

Nike has been giving us the good news for a long time: Just Do It!  We often put off what scares us or, at a minimum, makes us feel uncomfortable. That doesn't matter if those things are cold calls or treadmills, either. If you know something is good for you or your business, Just Do It!

It's great to be a self-starter. But, what are you starting? It's time for an honest look. Are you getting ready to get ready?  How long have you been preparing?  When are you going to start?

What if you would not be able to eat another bite of food until you made the money to pay for it?  What would be your first action?  You would not spend any more time than necessary to get ready. You would take action. Then, when that need was taken care of you, would take a moment to plan your next action step. David Allen, the remarkable productivity guru, wrote

"...you actually can't do a project-you can do only action steps."

We exhaust ourselves with the idea of a whole project when all we need to do is to figure out the next necessary action step that will move us to the result we want.

Are you afraid to be successful? Many people are. I believe this is what holds us back from achieving our great ideas: We won't know who we are when we have done what we said we want to do. We are afraid of losing our identities. Right now, you might be the person who is going to write a book. Everyone knows that about you. Who do you become when you HAVE written a book? (Shudder) Now, you have to be a marketer, a distributor, a presenter...or, even, a famous person. Now, that's a shift of identity. Are you ready? Or, do you prefer just talking about it? Big decision.

Ambrose Redmoon said,

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

These days, when news report is aimed at upping your personal fear factor, will you make the decision to be courageous? What is more important than fear to you? 

Manage yourself, your time, your priorities and your thoughts to accomplish it right now. Time can't be managed, but you can!

©  Rhoberta Shaler, PhD   All rights reserved worldwide.
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Dr. Rhoberta Shaler  is the author of Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work and  founder of the Optimize Institute and WorkplacePeopleSkills.com. A well-respected speaker, consultant and coach, she works with organizations that know their people are their top resource, and with enlightened leaders who know that building relationships must be a top priority. They know that working with Dr. Shaler creates right-sized, high-performance teams that are consistently effective and profitable--especially in a troubled economy.

Author of more than two dozen books and audio programs, Dr. Shaler offers cost-saving professional development through training delivered both in person and on the telephone. Call Dr. Shaler now and optimize your success. Visit www.OptimizeInstitute.com & subscribe to her Rhino Wrestler ezine.

 

This article may be reprinted or republished if the complete copyright/resource information is kept intact. For a formatted version for print, email info@optimizeinstitute.com

Volume 5, Issue 1 - %$today$%
US Library of Congress
ISSN: 1555-8215
© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Published by People Skills Press

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Twenty Time Savers

  1. Learn to set priorities on things like goals, tasks, meeting agenda items, interruptions.
  2. Start with "A-priority" tasks; is it the best use of your time?
  3. Fight procrastination; do it now if it's important.
  4. Subdivide large, tough tasks into smaller, easily accomplished parts.
  5. Establish a quiet hour, even though it requires will power and may not always work.
  6. Find a hideaway. The library or office of a co-worker who's traveling.
  7. Learn to say "no" when you've got something important to do.
  8. Learn to delegate.
  9. Accumulate similar tasks and do them all at one time.
  10. Minimize routine tasks; spend only the time they deserve. Shorten low-value interruptions. Throw away junk mail and other low-value paperwork. Delegate, shorten or defer indefinitely the C-priority tasks.
  11. AVOID PERFECTIONISM. Remember the 80/20 maldistribution rule.
  12. Avoid over-commitment. Be realistic about what you can do in the time you have.
  13. Don't over-schedule. Allow some flexible time for crises and interruptions.
  14. Set time limits. For example, some decisions shouldn't take more than three minutes to make. Know how to recognize these.
  15. Concentrate on what you are doing.
  16. Use big blocks of time for big jobs.
  17. Do difficult things quickly; waiting doesn't make them easier.
  18. Try to handle paper only once.
  19. Think the job through before acting.
  20. Finish as you go; get it right the first time.

© The Augustine Club at Columbia University, 1996

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