Most productivity tips you’ll ever learn from other “gurus” are focused on having short-term gains. Checking off more items from your to-do list, stop checking emails, or turning off your phone. In my opinion, that doesn’t work. In this article, I’ll share with you 7 best productivity tips you can start applying right away.

Although well-meaning advice, trying to accomplish ‘more’ doesn’t always mean becoming productive. If you want to have a long-term boost in productivity, it’s really simple. It all boils down to, FOCUS.

Focus on measuring your productivity instead of tasks, activities, or time management. Personally, I define productivity as accomplishing the right things effectively. How do I do that? It starts with identifying “What’s the number 1 thing that will make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time — that’s sustainable, and scalable. Once I’ve zero’d in on what that is, that is where my focus goes.

Focus Is Your Secret Weapon

Focus is all about Following One Course Until Success. That concept is omnipotent and if you keep that in mind, it will empower you to accomplish “impossible” things.

You see, a lot of people get distracted in life. They major in minor things. They focus on the transactional stuff instead of identifying and doing the things that will transform their life. 

Ultimately, their productivity suffers. They have so many activities and they look busy, but they don’t significantly move forward in life.

As a business leader, you need to focus on what’s the number one thing that will make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time, that’s sustainable and scalable. And if you want to be the go-to authority in your industry, you need to master these skills.

Identify that ONE THING, and focus your time and energy on that.  Doing so will make a huge difference in your results. This is what turns decades into days. Add to that these best productivity tips and your results will be 10x.

3 Areas To Focus On To 10X Your Productivity

• Know Your Goal

Number one is you should have a goal – a daily goal that supports whatever your monthly goal, your quarterly goal, and your yearly goal is. You should focus on achieving at least one goal every single day that will move you onwards, forwards, and upwards every single day.

About four years ago, I found myself overwhelmed with all my goals. I had so many projects I wanted to work on simultaneously. I found myself compromising time with relationships that mattered to me. 

In the end, several of these projects were progressing at a snail’s pace. I was living my days frustrated and I felt like I was losing in life. 

Out of this frustration was the beginning of what is now known as my Life Mastery Playbook. A life management system I created for business leaders, Executives and over-achievers to manage their lives effectively. All without compromising what matters most to them. 

It helps them  identify their goals and keep track of whether they’re winning, learning, or losing in life.

Most people feel overwhelmed in life because they don’t have clarity on what they’re trying to accomplish. They don’t have a goal written down. Ultimately, if a goal is not written on paper, it’s just a dream. This is why it’s important for you to set a goal on paper!

• Focus On Your Priorities

Once you identify your goal, you need to focus on your priorities. Most people get stuck in tracking activity, being busy, or reactive to what everybody else is doing. If you find yourself always reacting to what’s happening around you, set and focus on your priorities.

You might be busy and you might be active. But unless you’re focused on the priorities that will help you achieve your goal or your vision or your mission, you’re going to get lost. People will take you out of your game. So focus on the priorities.

• Implement

Third and most importantly, you need to implement. These best productivity tips are good. But you need to implement every day, every day, every day. 

It’s not about focusing on “someday”. It’s not about focusing on what you didn’t do yesterday. It’s about getting the important things done every single day.

So focus on your goals, your priorities, and number three, implementation. Focus on what you want to achieve and don’t let anybody or anything take you out of your game. And keep in mind these best productivity tips to improve your results in business and life.

Keep Away Clutter

Want to boost productivity in your office? It’s time to declutter, tidy up, and leave your work space clutter-free and clean!

A cluttered life means a cluttered brain. And with a cluttered brain, you can’t get stuff done. You’ll be productive if your desk is clean and everything is tidy. It’s difficult to work when everything is not organized.

I prefer a simple work and living environment. A desk, a laptop, and a pen and notebook. Keep it simple. You don’t need any fluff. Keeping clutter away will increase your productivity without any effort.

Avoid Multitasking

Avoiding multitasking is definitely one of the best productivity tips you’ll ever learn. Remember that focus is about doing the right things effectively? When you multitask, you’re not focused.

Focus on one thing at a time. It’s so important to give each task 100% of your attention to become productive. This way you know you will have done it well.

Now, you have to practice being intentional about focusing only on one task. Why? Because our brains love to jump from task to another. In the end, we don’t create efficient results. This will decrease your productivity.

It is better to work on one task at a time than try to complete many tasks at once. How so? Because your attention is not divided. Meaning, you can give your 100% best in accomplishing that task.

If you want to know more about some tips to avoid multitasking, here’s an article by Business Journal.

Learn To Say NO

One of the best productivity tips you’ll ever learn in life saying ‘NO’. It’s okay not to accept another meeting. It’s okay to decline a task when you know your talents can be used elsewhere and be more impactful.

Saying NO is an important skill to develop at any stage of your career. It retains the most important asset in your life which is your time.

You need to say no to whatever isn’t leading you toward your goals. You need to say no to distractions as well to become productive. Of course, if you want to be productive, you have to pick the ones you say ‘Yes’ to.

Saying no is hard. We want to help and serve people. But it’s also important to protect your time, and increase your productivity even more by saying no.

Here’s a TED Talk from Kenny Nguyen on The Art of Saying No.

Take A Rest From Social Media

Do you find yourself using social media for hours and hours a day? And you suddenly realize that you’ve never finished the tasks you set to finish? Are you finding yourself being unproductive because you’re on your phone all day? 

One way of being productive is by avoiding distractions. Which means stopping yourself from endlessly scrolling on your phone specifically avoiding Social Media. 

There are only a few reasons to keep your social media open while you’re working. And that is if your work is ON social media. Meaning you market your business through that or you manage different pages.

If not, set a time to go on and check your feed, update someone, or tweet out a message. Make it a reward instead of a distraction. After completing tasks, give yourself some time to scroll and interact on your Socials.

Final Thoughts On The Best Productivity Tips

These are the best productivity tips that I use everyday to increase my results. All these tips are applicable for both work and home so you’ll get more productive day by day.

The above list contains only a few tips for becoming a productive person. But they are one of the best tips I know. At the end of the day, it’s still you who will manage your tasks and time. So following the list above will surely make you more and more productive.

Being the go-to expert in your field is a great responsibility. It takes the courage to stand out, be known, and sometimes be criticized. But the benefits far outweigh the consequences. And the first thing you need to learn is how to lead the field.

Becoming the go-to expert means becoming a leader. Anyone can learn how to be a leader. But it takes time, effort, and a good attitude. It takes laser focus and determination to be the authority. And once you get there, you can’t be complacent.

You need to keep on working in your positioning, your message, and how people interact with you. In this article, I’ll share with you the “4 Rs” that will help you lead the field – to be the top of mind expert in your niche and stay there.

Lead The Field By Being Real

Authenticity is the most valuable quality you must have if you want people in your field to follow you. You have to make the people around you believe in you and trust you. And being authentic is one of the best ways to lead the field.

Being authentic is living your life according to your own values and goals, rather than those of other people. It is about presence, living in the moment with conviction and confidence and staying true to yourself. You have to be real.

You don’t need to hide behind a fake personality and pictures. Truth is, that’s what most gurus are doing. They want to shortcut the process in becoming the go-to expert without giving value. That’s why they resort to faking things.

It’s normal to be afraid of being authentic because you might be judged. Or you might be afraid to fail. But if you want to be on top of your field and for people to follow, you must be authentic.

There are things you can do to show your authenticity as an expert.

Talk About What You’re Going Through

Gary Vaynerchuk always says, “Document, don’t create.” That’s one of the ways you can show your progress with your audience. Talking about what you’re going through and documenting your progress is one way to show that you’re doing real work.

When you do that, you strengthen your relationships with your followers and you build relationships with new ones. They can relate to what you’re going through because you don’t just show rainbows and sunshines. You show the true story.

Acknowledge Your Weakness

Acknowledging your weakness shows high self awareness. You’re aware that you can’t do everything and you need help. Fact is, that’s what people appreciate. People respect vulnerability because it shows how courageous you are.

Being open on your weak points or things you can’t do shows authenticity and it can build great relationships. Especially with people who are interested in what you’re doing.

Understand Your Personal Values

Is this what I wanted? Does this make me happy? Is it something that I love to do? Understanding your personal values will help you discover your passion and values. And once you understand those, you’ll have a stronger platform to stand on.

Values guide your decisions. As Roy Disney said, “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.”

Relevant

If you want to be a go-to authority of your niche and lead the field, you need to be relevant. Truth is, if you want to be noticed, saying relevant things is not an option. Entrepreneurs and businesses who know how to be relevant wins the game. They get more customers and in the long run, become more profitable.

Choose Topics Related To Your Audience

Ask yourself, “What topic would the audience find interesting or useful?” “What are they already following?” If you feel committed to a particular topic, then begin thinking about how you can demonstrate why the topic is relevant to your audience.

You can ask your audience and target market for suggestions about what they want to learn. Another way to know what’s relevant is to know the problems of your market and speak about the solutions.

Resonate

Thought leaders resonate with their audience. Making someone feel that you understand them and know what they feel is one of the best things you must do to lead the field. Those who resonate with you and your message will be your lifelong fans. And that’s where you can build a loyal tribe of followers.

Social Awareness

You can do this by being observant to how people are feeling. In times of panic, people will look to the ones who are calm. Why? Because those people are the leaders who can manage the situation.

If you know what your market is going through right now, you can create better contents for them. It gives them the reassurance that you’re on top of things. And you will give them hope and help them overcome their challenges.

Empathy

This is the result of knowing your target market so well. Being able to emotionally connect with others is powerful. It lets your audience know that you understand them. You know what they’re going through and you have the solution. This is why businesses and personal brands with strong emotional empathy rise to the top.

Results

Your results strengthen your credibility. During these times when a lot of people are being burned by fake gurus, businesses and entrepreneurs with results stand out.

The thing is, you don’t have to be certified or graduate from prestigious schools around the world just to get results. Put your products and services in front of your market and actually help them.

Frank Kern always says, “The best way to help people is by actually helping them.” I agree. If you want to help people and get results, you need to actually help your market solve their problems.

Aside from that, you can also share your other successes.

Testimonials

If you have raving fans who gave you testimonials, leverage that! Especially if it came from people with clout and influence. Testimonials act as social proof. It tells your market that you are not a “fly by night” company and you’re reliable.

Business Results

Are you a service based business? Do you have client results that you can share with your market? If you do, you can make case studies and give your readers an overview of how you helped your clients.

On the flip side, if you have a product based business, you can share how your product helps your customers get their desired results. Sharing your success would help you become the go-to authority in your niche and lead the field. 

That’s it! Putting these ideas into practice will surely help you stand out from your industry. It doesn’t matter how competitive the market is. When you show the real you, resonate, show results, and be relevant, it will surely help you lead the field.

All the best,

John Rankins

The Millionaire Maker – Sales Machine

The fear of failure is one of the deadliest dream stealers there is. It kills people’s dreams and prevents most people from the possibility of success. Truth is, it’s even deadlier than failure itself. In this article, you will learn the best ways on how to overcome fear of failure.

What Causes Fear Of Failure?

The fear of failure is true and there are many possible causes of why you fear failing. In fact, psychologists have an official term for someone who’s experiencing extreme fear of failure: Atychiphobia.

Now, you experience this kind of fear differently than I do. You see, I hate failing. But I’ve come to accept that it’s part of the process. If I want to succeed, I need to learn how to fail and how to overcome fear of failure.

Based on my experience, here are some of the deeper causes of fear of failure.

• The fear of being judged by others – A lot of people link acceptance with being loved. And being judged by other people means that they are not loved. That’s why you never see them try to build a business, sell a product, or do something great. For them, the fear of being judged is greater than the excitement of success.
• The fear of getting rejected – Getting rejected is actually what stops people from achieving their dreams. Mediocre salespeople never realize their full potential because they’re too afraid to hear the word, “No!” In my 30+ years of experience in sales, I learned that the word ‘No’ simply meant ‘Next Opportunity.’ If you fear rejection, the fear of failure will paralyze and kill your dreams.
• The fear of shame – When we fail we try to hide it from other people. It’s because we think that failure is something to be ashamed of. It’s easy for us to show our successes. But fear is not something that most people show. You see, failure is normal. Most of the successful people you see fail more than they succeed. And by the way, sharing your failure isn’t shameful – it’s inspirational. People find inspiration from stories where you turn failure into a success.

How Do I Overcome Fear of Failure?

Those are the deep reasons why people are afraid of failure. If you want to stop being afraid of failure, you need to identify where that fear is coming from. Is it coming from the fear of judgment? Rejection? Or shame? Once you identify that, it’s easy to overcome fear of failure.

Why Failure Is Good For Success

Failure is a big part of success. If you’re not failing, you’re not doing anything new. So if you want to succeed, you need to learn how to fail and overcome fear of failure.

You will never see a successful business owner, influencer, athlete, lawyer, doctor, or whatever that hasn’t experienced failure. Truth is, you will never be good at something unless you fail at it.

I’ve experienced many failures in my life. And I’ll be the first one to tell you that it doesn’t feel good. Today, I can laugh at my failures in the past. But back then when it was happening, I needed to consciously manage my emotions.

I’ve turned the biggest failures in my life into million-dollar lessons and profited from them. If you treat failure the right way and learn how to overcome fear of failure, you can turn your mistakes into million-dollar lessons, too.

3 Best Ways To Overcome Fear of Failure

There are lots of ways to overcome fear of failure. Earlier in my career when I was travelling with Tony Robbins as part of his Platinum Members, I learned a lot from him. I’m going to show you the three best ways to overcome fear of failure which I’ve learned in my 30+ years of business experience.

#1: Reframe The Meaning Of Failure

Reframing is one of the best techniques I’ve learned in NLP. And it’s all about shifting how you see things so you’ll get a better perspective of your current situations.

Majority of the population feel like they’re a failure when they fall short of their goals. The problem with that is there are a lot of factors that will affect the achievement of the goals you set.

As an example, a lot of business owners set income goals and revenue goals for their business this 2020. But when the global pandemic happened, their business stopped operating and because of that, it affected their revenue goals.

Now, my business was also affected by this. But instead of feeling like a failure, I reframed my thinking and saw an opportunity because of it. That’s how my business and I weathered through the storm.

#2: Ask Better Questions

Tony Robbins always said that, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask.”

If you’ve ever experienced failure before and you’ve asked yourself, “Why am I always a failure?” then you’re not going to grow. If you want to overcome fear of failure, you should to ask better questions.

Instead of asking disempowering questions, ask these three questions:

• What did I learn from this failure / mistake?
• How can I grow from it?
• What am I going to do about it?

These questions will empower you to shift your thinking and focus on transforming your life and business for the better.

Here are some tips from Tim Ferriss on how to ask better questions:

#3: Identify The Risks And Prepare For It

The third best way to overcome fear of failure is to identify the risks you’re going to face and prepare for it. It doesn’t matter if you want to start a business, you have a project at work, or you have personal goals you want to achieve. You must identify the risks and look for solutions on how you can prevent or minimize them.

In my Ultimate Leadership Camps, I teach people this concept. I teach them my system on how to lead teams and businesses properly. In that system, you are going to identify the resources you have and the challenges that you might encounter.

Once you’ve identified those, you’ll be asked to find a way to overcome them. That way, you’ll be more prepared and more confident on leading. And you’ll be more confident to overcome fear of failure. If you want to know more about how to identify and manage risks, read this article by Investopedia.

Don’t let the fear of failure paralyze you from taking action and kill your dreams. Take these 3 best ways and apply it so you can overcome the fear of failure today!

All the best,

John Rankins

The Millionaire Maker – Sales Machine

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.