Tag Archives: daily grind

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work agenda

Work Agenda, What Will You Accomplish Today?

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A working agenda could mean fluidity. It can also relate to the work that you do. Day in, day out. What is your work agenda?

Brushing your teeth at least twice a day may be common practice for many people. It is work to be done, and it gets done.

It is true for many household chores and everyday practices.

Things don’t change much with these activities. It is work to be done and it gets done.

It might be true for dropping a young child at day care or walking your dog. Work to be done, and it gets done.

It is likely true for your job. You have a routine.

What is on your agenda?

Daily Grind Factors

It is easy to get caught up in the daily grind.

On Monday you do these things, on Tuesday it is more of the same, and by the end of the week, you must be sure to accomplish everything that was part of your daily grind. You have month-end work, quarterly work, and what you’ll accomplish within the year.

Performance often gets measured by the movement of work each day. Some things may vary a little bit here and a little bit there, but in a general sense, it is all more of the same.

While this is performance, it makes change undesirable.

The opportunity to seek a better path, add in something new, remove something unused or wasteful might be missing on the agenda you work from.

Simply put, your agenda may be about continuous and consistent effort across time. It is not persistence to accomplish more, it is just another swing of the pendulum.

Work Agenda

Maybe it is time to take a closer look at your work agenda. Your routine work isn’t going to change much and as long as everything is routine, neither will you.

It is how 40-year old’s suddenly realize that they’ve spent 15 or 20 years doing a lot of similar things. It’s how 50-year-olds discover it is time to up their game on retirement savings. And it might just be how 60- or 70-year-olds ponder how fast life has passed by.

You may be capable of more than what you’re doing. You may never realize it until it’s too late if you don’t assess your agenda.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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fresh starts

Fresh Starts Happen Every Morning

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Are you ready for today? Even if it is a Monday? Fresh starts are part of what keep people energized.

Going back to work, or continuing on after a long stretch without a day off has something to do with how you’ll start.

Time to get back to work.

Back to the grind.

I have to get something done today.

Those are the words of someone who isn’t ready to really make a difference. Trudging onward isn’t the same as leaping forward.

Often the difference in motivation between something that you want to do and something that you have to do is what you tell yourself about the outcome.

The decision about the outcome often happens before you get started.

Sometimes people lose sight of where the real magic is created. They get caught up in how many customers served, the revenue for today, or the number of boxes shipped.

Those things matter but they don’t always feel magical. They feel the same. Day after day.

Fresh Starts

If you want to live the dream, maybe it has something to do with what you imagine.

Day after day you have a chance to view what happens next as the opportunity, not the grind.

Opportunities aren’t always made in the same day, the same week, or even in a year or more. Opportunities and open doors are attached to what others see as creating their magic.

The new car shopper versus the tired car salesperson.

A nice fresh haircut versus the barber with two people waiting.

The person looking out the window or checking the tracking updates of their package, versus the delivery driver with thirty more stops on his or her route.

Every day is an opportunity for someone to make a difference.

Maybe it is time to decide what the grind really means.

It’s why fresh starts matter.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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daily grind

Daily Grind, Why Grit Means You’ll Stand Out

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What is in your daily grind? Do you have the grit and determination to go all the way? Does your tenacity develop your assets or is it all for nothing?

There is an old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” We’ve heard it, and maybe we’ve even said it.

Sand, Kittens, and Clovers

Have you ever stopped to think about what makes up your daily grind? What are your habits? Are you building something that makes you stand out?

We may often strive to live in the moment, feel the moment, and enjoy the moment. However, when it comes to our careers or lifelong endeavors, it is often the compilation of moments that sets us apart.

Go to the beach and pick out a grain of sand. Just one, one single grain. Not a handful, not a dozen, one tiny grain. Why did you pick it?

How about picking a kitten from a litter of  five when they all have similar markings? In the lawn or field, can you find a four leaf clover?

Daily Grind

When was the last time you stopped to think about what you are building?

Who you are, what you become, it is all based on a collection of outcomes. The outcomes from daily habits that are produced across a period of time.

I heard recently that the designation of expert is when you practice a kraft, trade, or skill for ten-thousand hours or more. I don’t know how scientific that statement is, but it may work as a measurement tool.

If you’re doing the calculation in your head now, it may be, on average, about five years of what you do at work.

Stand Out

Being just like all the rest makes it hard to stand out in the crowd. It will be hard to get picked for advancement if you aren’t an expert.

Everything you are doing each day is building something. Everytime you skip a day, a week, or a few months it will cost you irreplaceable time.

The decisions you make today about your habits across time will condition the assets you are building for tomorrow.

Build the right assets. Stand out.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

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