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How I bought 10-15 days off, 21 mths from now.
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This article was published on May 30, 2009. So far, 3 people have left their thoughts. Share your own thoughts.
We had five days straight of overcast, rainy, sloppy weather Friday thru Tuesday in Denver, something we almost never see. It dominated Memorial Day weekend and kept us all inside for the most part.
Finally Wednesday was a gorgeous “Chamber of Commerce” day. Not a cloud in the sky, no wind, no humidity, and no appointments the whole day. Seemed like a great day to “reward” myself, play some golf and ride a bike. Why didn’t I? Am I workaholic? No, to the contrary I worked Wednesday because I want more free time, and sooner.
I manage my business using a Two-Page Strategic Plan. The central pulse of my Strategic Plan is my Business Maturity Date. I know very clearly what my business looks like at maturity, and much more importantly, exactly when I expect to get there. Everything in my Strategic Plan is tied directly to the centering influence of my Business Maturity Date like the kiddy chair ride at a carnival – everything spins from that center – my BMD.
As a result, I know exactly what I have to do this month to build a business that makes money while I’m on vacation.
Wednesday I could have easily rewarded myself for having worked hard the last few weeks. The Monthly section of my Strategic Plan told me I needed to get the first draft of my book completed by May 31. Wednesday was a writing day, and I could have blown it off because I am right on schedule. I wasn’t under any pressure, I simply had a choice to make. Do I want to goof off today or gain a day in pursuit of my Business Maturity Date?
I believe that every day saved on the front of an objective can save us 10-15 days on the backend in not having to “catch up”, similar to investing money on the front end creates more on the back end. I made the decision to get ahead on the book to help ensure I meet or beat my BMD, with the belief that I will get much more time to goof off later if I get to my BMD sooner. I’m not a workaholic. I was still able to take a great bike ride late that afternoon.
My Business Maturity Date and my Strategic Plan run my business, and keep me focused on creating a business I can enjoy, with a lot more time to goof off later if I stay focused now. My BMD and my Strategic Plan have made me “ambitiously lazy” – working hard to create more free time, sooner.
My Business Maturity Date is Friday, February 18, 2011, at 10am (see “Is there a Business Maturity Date ticking in your business?” for more on this). I expect to get there a few days earlier because I wrote Wednesday instead of golfing. I expect I’ll get to golf a lot more, a lot sooner because I’m so focused on beating my Business Maturity Date.
What’s keeping you moving and on track?
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Thoughts
Chris Finlay
06/07/09
Like the idea of a business maturity date. Some how feels more personally beneficial and meaningful than a due date.
Chuck
06/08/09
Chris,
The Business Maturity Date concept has been very helpful to me as well, not just to others I share it with. It has a real clock ticking in my head and has me focused in a way I would not be if I wasn’t looking forward to that day.
Bob Potter
06/22/09
While having 10-15 days off sounds nice, the more rewarding factor for me at this point would be to have something like a two page strategic plan that can help me stay on track and on focus. Sometimes things just feel too crazy!
I’m interested in learning more about a strategic plan, are there any suggestions, examples, etc. you might be able to point me to?
Chuck
06/22/09
Bob,
I created the 2-Page Strategic Plan a few years ago to help me run my own business, and have since made a regular workshop out of it and work individually with all my clients to ensure they have this Strategic Plan in place (or something else that works for them.)
It will be an online tool in the coming months, as well as a chapter in my new book. In the meantime, I’m glad to share it with you as an Excel spreadsheet and accompanying rough draft of the chapter, which is basically instructions on how to put one together.
Just send me your email address to chuck @ TeamNimbusWest. com and remind me you’d like to get a copy of this for your own personal use. (Make sure you collapse my email address – I separated it here to keep bots from picking it up).