Personal Best Become the CEO of Your Life

Many of us have come to live “in the moment” as if life is a string of instant messages that can be answered with the press of a button. While computers, cell phones and other electronic gadgets have made life fast and easy, we still live on planet Earth not in cyberspace. The choices we make today carry over into the future. Therefore it is essential that we slow down and take the time to think and plan our lives with vision.

Become the CEO of your life

The role of a CEO is “to give direction and leadership toward the achievement of the organization's philosophy, mission, strategy, and its annual goals and objectives.”

Start by looking at the long-term commitment of your organization (you), by creating annual goals. I like to start with a 5-year plan and then break it down into 1-year increments, monthly goals and then daily tasks. When thinking in terms of investing in yourself, include your body, mind and spirit. Take care of yourself now and you’ll have less damage control to deal with as you age. After all, you want your business to thrive giving you the best return for your investment.

Here are some tools that can help get “You” running like a Fortune 500 Company.

• Create a Mission Statement. What do you stand for in life? What outcomes are you seeking? Write up a mission statement that represents your personal philosophy. You’ll probably surprise yourself. Most of us never really do take the time to compose our thoughts, dreams and desires on paper. This could open up a whole new world to you as well as resurrect long dormant dreams.

• Clean up your act. Organize your home office, desk, kitchen cabinets and closets and keep them organized. Having a messy work and home environment is draining. You just keep thinking, “I need to clean this up” instead of getting to more important projects. Anyone who comes into your space should think, ”Wow, this is a well run company, I would invest my time and money here.”

• No Hoarding Please. Now that you’ve gone through your stuff, get rid of what you don’t use. Donate, recycle or throw it out. Donate clothing, furniture, books, toys and working electronics to homeless shelters, inner city schools and missions. These places give items to the needy free of charge. Recycle broken electronics, paint cans and batteries through special pick-ups. Check online for dates, times and locations. Throw out the rest.

• Delegate. Every experienced CEO knows that they need a good support team. Ask for assistance from spouses, children, other family members, friends and neighbors.

• Prepare for that rainy day. There are always emergencies. Cars break down, roofs leak, and wallets get stolen. Have an emergency plan that includes a separate “emergency fund” bank account so that you can deal with these in a composed and efficient manner. Remember, you’re in charge of your life, not the other way around.

• Pay your bills on time. Don’t be a company in the red. Accruing interest on credit card debt can quadruple the cost of the original purchase price. So much for that 50 percent off sale or saving a bundle on bulk items at the big box store! If you don’t have the cash flow to back up a purchase, don’t buy it.

• Budget is not a four-letter word. Streamline your operating costs by creating a budget of both your money and your time. Wasted time is wasted energy and costly in the long run. See where you are being unproductive (too much time on Facebook?) Start buying only what you need, not what you want. You’ll probably be able to cut your credit card bills in half. Money woes are the number one stress inducer, and are thought to be responsible for physical pain (oh, your aching back!), illness due to lowered immunity, marital strife, and depression and weight issues. Heal your money mess and you’ll heal the rest.

• Take a break. Learn what is important to you besides work, chores and errands. Allocate time every day to do something good for your body and your soul. Exercise, family time, meditation (a hammock under a tree is a great place for that. Put one up!) a massage, volunteering, lunch with a long lost friend, working in the garden. Decide what it is that brings joy and health to your life. The most successful companies such as Google, Apple and Pixar take care of their employees providing healthy food, a fitness center and a social environment. Provide that for your company.

• Hold yourself accountable. Take responsibility for the decisions you make even the mistakes. We all make them. Learn from them, don’t ruminate over them. Missteps can be better teachers than our successes.

• Be in Partnership with yourself. Treat yourself with the respect and kindness you would offer anyone in your company. Self-sabotage is a very real issue when we make big commitments and feel overwhelmed. Know your trigger points and your patterns in these situations. Think about seeking professional help to help eliminate recurring negative patterns and get you back on track.

• Bonus Time! Is your company successful? Well then, reward yourself with a bonus for a job well done. That could be a vacation, a trip to the mall, a new set of golf clubs or the latest electronic gadget you’ve been pining over. Whatever you would consider a bonus and not a necessity. Go for it. Let “You” know that you’re a valuable CEO. This will set you on a pattern of investing in yourself for many years to come.

Get on Track

1) Create a weekly agenda. Monday is a good day to sit down and plan the week ahead. Know what each day is going to bring so that you have a sense of control over your company. Make it manageable. You don’t have to get it all done the first week. You just have to get started.

2) Have an inbox. Have all of your undone tasks placed here. This will allow you to confront and organize all outstanding work on your agenda.

3) Prioritize tasks and commitments. Handle the must do’s first. As you whittle down the list don’t feel obligated to add more items to look busy and important. Rid yourself of the “Filofax” mentality that swept the world in the 80’s. You don’t have to schedule yourself every hour of every day.

4) Have an outbox. Transfer finished tasks to that container. This will allow you to have a sense of completion when tasks are done.

5) Finish! Set a goal to have the outbox pile higher than the inbox pile. Shred and recycle the paper when no longer needed. It’s important to be a green and globally aware CEO.

Deborah Brooks is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Fitness Instructor through UCLA. She is the co-owner of edgeworX sport-fitness, a company founded on the belief that there is an athlete in all of us. Deborah is also an International Adult Figure Skating Gold Medalist.