If you are like me you have days where you woke up and wondered how you
arrived at this place in your life?  Where did the time go?  How is it that
things have turned as they have?

Think back with me for a moment, way back.  Back when someone asked you
your age and you proudly announced you were 5 and ¼ or you were 7 and ½.
Our milestones were in days and weeks.  We crossed off the days to
Christmas like each day was a year.  We couldn’t wait to reach double
digits, become a teenager, drive a car, graduate from high school, and move
to ‘real” life!

Ah, real life!  Freedom!  No more school, no more chores, no one telling us
to make our bed, eat our vegetables, do our homework, turn off the
television, go to bed, or telling us what to do.

Ah, real life!  How real it becomes, real work, real bills, and real taxes.
But we are free to choose.

Freedom to choose!  At this point in our lives, we are a reflection of the
choices we have made.  Where we end up will be a reflection of the choices
that we make.  The greatest of all human freedoms is the freedom to choose.
Where ever we are at, what ever we might be doing, we are free to choose.
Every choice has a consequence or potential outcome but we are free to
choose.

Our goal must be to choose well!  William James, the American philosopher
wrote, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

As our world becomes more complex with the speed of information every
increasing and our connectivity to the world becoming more pronounced with
growing capability of wireless tools and technology, James century old
statement is a statement about choosing well and it is even more profound
today.

What we choose to focus on, what we choose to pay attention to, what we
choose to take action on will determine the quality of our life, our
relationships and our contributions.  An end-game that will certainly
reflect what we choose to overlook.  And what we choose to overlook is
growing more difficult every day because we are wired to our world.  A
world that has instant access to us and we have instant access to the
world.  A connectivity that makes everything look and feel important and
urgent.

Access and availability that is changing the essence of work!  You see the
essence of work has changed.  Why?  The speed of information has
accelerated and presence of competitive threat has exploded.  We have seen
organizations with clear chains of command and organizational hierarchy to
support the identification and delivery of clearly identified tasks and
objectives morph and shift to virtual organizations of high-performance
work teams operating in a constant state of corporate unrest and turmoil
driven by speed.

With an increasing focus on results we have lost sight of the need for
process and execution in achieving them.  We place incredible value on
action.  We applaud and celebrate being available 24/7.  The person who is
available and accessible is viewed as efficient.  Clicking off e-mails and
responding to voice-mails is impressive to say the least.  The thrill of
crossing off every item on our to-do list feels like work, looks like work
but is it work?

Our “to-do” list becomes a drug.  No matter how many items are on the list,
the daily goal is to cross them all off.  Each item on the list may have
varying degrees of importance or impact yet our goal is to get them all
done.  Nike built an entire marketing campaign around this theme of “Just
Do It”.  As we try to go faster and increase our efficiency we adopt
“multi-tasking” as a core strategy.  We think computers can do it and so
can I.

Interesting enough computers do not multi-task.  A computer lines up all of
the work as a series of tasks and completes them one at a time.  The
difference is that a computer can operate at lightning speed which makes it
appear that it is processing work simultaneously.  We are trying to do it
all and doing none of it very well.  Why can’t we multi-task effectively;
because our ability to maximize results comes with focus because that is
how the brain works.  We shouldn’t have to tell people do not send text
messages and drive at the same time.  We should have to tell people not to
read e-mails while they are engaged in a conversation.  We should not have
to tell people to put their blackberry down during dinner.

Enhancing and improving our quality of life and work begins with choosing
well.  If being wise is identifying what to overlook our choices have to
begin with knowing what is most important.  What are the most important
roles in your life?  What are the values and principles upon which my
decisions are going to stand?  What dreams and goals will contribute to my
most important roles?  And if you are a leader, coach, or parent help your
team with these important choices.

Where have we been?  Water under the bridge!  What has past is done.  Where
we end up will reflect our choices.  Choose well!  Overlook what does not
contribute to your most important roles.  Overlook what does not contribute
to your highest goals.  Let every decision reflect your high values and
principles.

Then what?  Ask yourself consistently, is what I am doing right now
contributing to my highest goals and supporting my most important roles.
This is the art of being wise in real life!  We all have the freedom to
choose.

Make it a great day,

Jim

Emotions of Execution?

1.  Choose well!
2.  Believe you can do it!
3.  Let nothing rob you of your passion!
4.  Embrace discipline!

These notes are written to share encouragement and support towards pursuing
personal and professional excellence.  Please feel free to share these
emails with your friends and family.

Copyright: James D. Akers