Have you ever read the book, "The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey?"  

If you have, you know where I am going in this short post.  If not, it is a great read.  The book is essentially about how distractions and problems of others can and will become yours if you are not careful.

The essence of the book is about how to say no, delegate, and empower - because it you don't, everything will end up on you.  For example, if an employee comes to you with a problem and because you are busy and don't to really want to deal with it, but know you can do it quickly and get back to things - you take it on from the employee to get it done.  You have essentially been given "the monkey" and trained that person that they can dump their problems and issues, their monkeys, on you and you will handle them.

This happens all of the time in entrepreneurship.  In fact, entrepreneurs are the worst at this.  Because we have so much going on and most of the time as high functioning individuals, to stop and take the time to coach someone and empower them to solve their own problem is not something we do by instinct.  It is much easier just to take it on ourselves.  What is one more thing, right?  Wrong.  We have to learn to say no, delegate, and empower.  Otherwise, the business it just us and cannot scale or survive long term.  If you have to do everything, things will eventually break down.

The same thing happens to middle managers, which is what the book is about.  They essentially, get saddled with everything and end of working long hours and get burned out.  As entrepreneurs, we seemingly have an unending reservoir for work, but that is not healthy.  We can and will get burned out.

So, the next time you are being given a monkey.  Stop it.  Take a little extra time to say an outright no, delegate or most importantly, empower and coach your team to grow and handle these things themselves.  If you do, you will find yourself much more successful, have a better quality of life, and have a better business.  Get rid of your monkeys!

There is a secret to success passed down through history.  It has been right in front of you your whole life.  In fact, you have either used it to your advantage or disadvantage over the years.

I can tell you this - this success secret has impacted your in some form or fashion throughout your life.

What is the secret?

That which your focus on expands in your life...

The Bible stated is as "That which you gaze upon, you will become."  Also in the Proverbs it was stated "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Confucius said, "The more man meditates upon good thoughts the better will be his world and the world at large."

And Tony Robbins has said, "Where your focus goes, energy flows."

I can continue to point out this theme throughout history, but I think you understand.  What you focus on expands in your life and success.

So, the question becomes, What are you focused on?  What if you started every day by asking that question of yourself?  And based on the question, what if you could then choose what you are going to focus on in your life that will make your life better?  Or the same in business or your work?  What can you choose to focus on that will help your success in business or your work the most?

The big epiphany for me was not the realization that "Which you focus on expands in your life and success," but the fact that you can choose your thoughts to focus on.  And if you can choose your thoughts to focus on, you can have a bigger control over your success and results in your life.  So, choose your thoughts.  Choose them wisely.  And focus, focus, focus.

Every Sunday, I have a routine.  It's a simple routine that I have done for over 15 years and it has probably been one of the biggest factors in maximizing my productivity.   The routine takes 15 mins to do and can change everything for you.

The first thing I do, is take 5 minutes to clear email out from the previous week.  I go through and clear anything that has already been worked on or delegated.  I keep a post it for notes and make any notes actions or items I need to do from clearing the email or anything that is left.

Next, I go through my calendar for the last two weeks and look at all my meetings.  I do this to make sure there isn't any follow up or actions needed that I may have missed.  I write anything down on the post it note.

Once I've done this, I take out a sheet of paper and open my calendar for the coming week.  I create 5 columns across the sheet of paper (one for each day of the week).  I then go by day and write down all of the things I have to do for that day and what time any meetings are.  I write down everything I am going to do, even things like "working out" or "mediate for 10 mins."  Literally, everything I will do for that day.  I look at the post it note of items that I've jotted down that need action and I add them in to the days that make the most sense to action them.  For example, if something is more urgent , then it goes to Monday or Tuesday, something less urgent, later in the week.

Once I am done, I have my week planned with all the action item I need to take each day.  I then simply wake up each day and get to work.  I then look at it at the end of each day and do any planning for tomorrow.  If I finish everything for a particular day and have more time, I can work on anything for the next day and so on.

Taking just 15 minutes to do this plan each week has increased my productivity to levels I never thought possible and allows to get everything done across all my businesses in a normal work week.  Try and see the difference it makes for you!

There are a lot of ways to analyze your business.  Some are very complex and require a lot resources.  Others are pieces of software you can input data into and get results.  You can also hire firms to go in-depth to analyze every aspect of your business.

But, there is one older, tried and true, method you can use that will make a big difference every time.  

That method is the SWOT analysis.  SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  The threats are probably the easier part of the analysis to identify and the opportunities are the fun part where you get to brainstorm and think about about the future.  Understanding the strengths and weaknesses are probably the most important part - and strengths can lead to opportunities and weaknesses can lead to threats.

Over the years, I have used SWOT to analyze every business I have been involved in and used the results to help plan and reach my success.  During that time, I've developed a little spin on how to get the best strengths and weaknesses as I feel they are the most important part of the analysis.

You've probably heard me talk on the Misfit Entrepreneur about the DCP Formula which stands for Discipline, Consistency, and Persistence.  Now, I think everyone would agree you need those to succeed.  But, what do they really mean?  Discipline is doing the things you know you need to do, even when you don't want to do them.  Consistency is being disciplined each and every day.  But, even if you are disciplined and consistent, you will still hit walls or major roadblocks.  And if you are not willing to be persistent in overcoming them, then that is where you stay or plateau.

So, how does this translate to SWOT.  Well to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, you use DCP across every area of the business.  For example, look at operations and ask these questions.  What does discipline for this area look like?  One you have it defined, ask, are we disciplined?  If you are disciplined, they you can more to consistency and ask are we consistent in this area?  Based on your answers to those questions, you will know if that area needs more work or not and could be a strength or a weakness.  But, what if you find your are disciplined and consistent in an area, but it doesn't seem to be performing as well as it should?  That is where persistence comes in.  Is there a major roadblock or wall that is in the way preventing this area from being better?  If so, what is it?  An opportunity may be to persistent through and finally do what is necessary to overcome it and level up.

You can look at every area of a business with DCP and use to help in the SWOT analysis.  Using these two philosophies together creates a very powerful and easy way to analyze a business.  Try it out on your business today!

This won't be a longer post, but definitely an important one  to share.

I just finished another James Rollins Sigma Force book.  I love Rollins.  He blends science, history, facts all together to create amazing stories where over 90% of the things presented are true and the storyline is built around it.  His books are basically Mission Impossible meets Indiana Jones.  The Sigma Force series has 16 books and over the last year, I have been devouring them one by one, getting lost in them and going on one hell of a ride after another.

I have noticed that having this escape has really helped my productivity, introduced me to new concepts, and made me a better "thinker" as it has created more curiosity - especially when reading about of the things that are true, which Rollins puts at the end of each book.  In fact, some of the things that already happening across AI, Biosciences, and other technologies are downright scary.  Most people don't even know they exist.  And it has help me as entrepreneur to see new opportunities I never thought existed.

If you don't have a place to "get lost" in from time to time, I'd suggest you look for one.  You'll be amazed at how much it can do for your success.  To escape and learn new things, new ways of thinking and new concepts expands the mind.  It helps you to discover more and understand more about the world we live in.

If you want to succeed at higher levels, I'd suggest you "get lost!"