One Way To Become The Most Productive Jobless Person On Earth

Y ou have heard the adage, “Innovate or die”. Here is what has already killed millions world-wide. They are already dead but just waiting to be buried several decades from today. It is leading an agenda-less life.

I think the greatest mistake we do is to wait until we have a project or a job so that we can create an agenda for life. In fact the largest number of people who live agenda-less are those who are jobless. You take a look at their calendar (if they do have one) and it is more deserted than the Kalahari.

The sorriest thing however is that we do have people who have a job or a project yet they still do lead agenda-less lives! I think when your calendar if filled up with other people’s agendas and at the same time it has none of minimal entries of your own; it is the recipe for dying, at least in terms of your purpose on earth.

So whether you are employed or jobless, my call to you is that you first of all need to be a Self Executive Officer. This is someone who is daily living their purpose on earth regardless of what circumstances surround them. This means that this individual has their calendar filled up each week with activities that make them come alive!

My admonition today is for us to embrace the “Weekly Planning Habit”. This means that each week, you set aside at least one to two hours planning for the next seven days. Now, it makes no difference whether you have a job or not, this can be done.

The greatest question to ask oneself each start of the week is this: What do I want to accomplish this week? The man who asks himself this question is well on their way to being the most productive person in the group. Each of the six areas that I am going to share below must have an answer to this all important question. In fact, the biggest tragedy of life is activity without insight, motion without progress! So get an answer to this question first.

For those who would be asking just how is this possible especially if you do not have a job or a project, the following would be of help.

There are six areas that I believe are critical to plan around.

1. Purpose

[beautifulquote align=”right” cite=”Lawrence Namale”]

“The greatest question to ask oneself each start of the week is this: What do I want to accomplish this week? The man who asks himself this question is well on their way to being the most productive person in the group”.

[/beautifulquote]

There is so much to say about purpose, but I will not spend much time on it today. I have already done that here. My cardinal rule on planning is simple: Plan around your life purpose! The thing with purpose is that you have to be executing it. If for example, your purpose makes you to have a mission of speaking, then your weekly plan must at least have a speaking engagement. Do you need a Degree or a job to do this? Nope.

 

Now, if no one has called you to speak to their function, that week cannot be wasted on waiting. You have an audience of one—the mirror. Start from there. What you do in obscurity is what matters when your moment to shine finally comes. So if you are not actively involved in doing your purpose, at least spend some time either studying about it or practicing it in obscurity

2. Presence

The world is now a global village. Your online presence is something that can no longer be taken for granted. In your weekly plan, make sure you have some time fully dedicated to building your personal brand online. These days, your CV is your personal brand online. Stories abound of talented people who lost their jobs or opportunities to be employed because of what they were posting online. Jesus Christ said, “Out of the content of the heart, someone speaks” . Therefore, make sure that you are intentional about what you say online. Let it foster your mission, your values and your greatest ambition in life. Be yourself, be authentic. Again, do you need a degree or a job to do this? Nope!

3. Personal Development

Perhaps the greatest quote in this area is by one man called Jim Rohn. He is quoted to have said, “Formal education will give you a life, self-education will give you a fortune”. There are many people that I know who speak as if they have a Masters Degree or something of that ilk. Yet they don’t. Their knowledge is deliberate and informal over time. In fact, they speak like an authority in their field. Weekly, one of the things that can be done is to focus on developing ourselves. In this day of youtube, Google, quora, ted.com, inc.com, entrepreneur.com, smartcompany.com, success.com, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone not to focus on their personal development. There are millions of books out there that you can find. Why is it that people do not get to do this? The answer is found here. Do you need a degree or a job to do this? Nope!

4. Projects

These could either be personal projects of those related to your job/work. I think this is one of the most planned areas in life. Yet as you can see it is just one sixth of your life! The reason of planning here is to maximize your productivity. The most successful workers are those who have weekly plans around their jobs. They have a why.

5. Permanence

These are what I love to call the “Daily Non-Negotiables”. This means that come rain or shine, these activities must be done. Activities of this nature are of necessity those that will build you. What are the areas in which you need to grow? I will tell you just 3 and you can figure out the rest: Spiritual, Mental and Physical. Now, let us ask our question once again: Do you need a job or a degree to do this? Nope!

6. Partnerships

No man is an island. You need people. You need what Steve Covey calls, Interdependence. On a weekly basis, time needs to be set aside for meetings. The best you can do when attending a meeting is to go loaded with value. Do not just be a participant in a meeting, be someone who comes with questions, suggestions, recommendations and value worth writing home about. So schedule meetings so that you are organized when they come. You of course do not need a job or a degree to do this!

Now, weekly planning needs to be a habit. The following tips should guide you in setting up your weekly agenda:

1. Start with pen and paper: Outline a list of activities under the six areas described above
2. Allocate time for all the activities of permanence, the “non negotiables” first before allocating time to any other activity
3. Prioritize: Ensure that the most difficult tasks are handled first each week.
4. Create a momentum: I have said again and again that your greatest fight in life is the fight for consistency. In that week alone, create some momentum with your activities by allocating them each day or by skipping a day.
5. Calendar it: Put these things firmly into a digital calendar that can be referred to easily especially from your smart phone. Send invites for your “Partnerships” way ahead of time so that they are notified.
6. Stick to it: Planning is one thing, disciplining yourself is another. Make sure you are as militant as possible on sticking to the allocated time frames. Watch out for distractions, and if you could be distracted, it is because you did not plan for it. As you do this, make sure you are also tracking your activities. Draw a graph of progress to help motivate you.
7. Review: This is an opportunity each week. In fact, you ought to start here. See what happened last week and see what you can do to improve on this week. Pick up the slack of last week and make it priority. Do not allow things to fall off the cracks

Anyone who has a weekly agenda will gain respect of any group that they are in, without even announcing what they are doing. Why? It always shows.