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  Own Your Day

  How Sales Leaders Master Time Management, Minimize Distractions, and Create Their Ideal Lives

  Keith Rosen

  Own Your Day: How Sales Leaders Master Time Management, Minimize Distractions, and Create Their Ideal Lives by Keith Rosen

  Editor: Keith Nerdin

  Cover Design: Keith Nerdin

  Interior Design: Keith Nerdin

  No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without written permission of the author. For information regarding permission, contact us at http://keithrosen.com.

  © 2016 by Keith Rosen. All rights reserved.

  Published by Ember Publishing. EMBER and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ember Publishing.

  Printed in the United States of America

  ISBN 978-0-9863814-3-0

  [CONTENTS]

  CHAPTER 1 – What’s Your Drive to Thrive?

  CHAPTER 2 – Develop Your Personal and Professional Vision

  CHAPTER 3 – Identify Your Core Values and Priorities

  CHAPTER 4 – Define Your Specific and Measurable Goals

  CHAPTER 5 – Create Your Strategy to Attain Goals

  CHAPTER 6 – Outline Your Routine

  CHAPTER 7 – Assign a Value to Your Time

  CHAPTER 8 – Create Your List of Nonnegotiables

  CHAPTER 9 – Identify Your Value—Delegate the Rest

  CHAPTER 10 – Treat Everything like an Appointment

  CHAPTER 11 – Be Realistic with Your Time

  CHAPTER 12 – Determine the Best Time for Each Activity

  CHAPTER 13 – Plan for the Unplanned

  CHAPTER 14 – Know Your Stop Time Each Day

  CHAPTER 15 – Manage Your Calendar like a Puzzle

  CHAPTER 16 – Create Alternate Daily or Weekly Routines

  CHAPTER 17 – Multitasking Is Evil

  CHAPTER 18 – Eliminate Your To-Do List

  CHAPTER 19 – Stop Focusing on Results

  CHAPTER 20 – Get Off the Adrenaline Train

  CHAPTER 21 – How to Manage Expected Interruptions

  CHAPTER 22 – Empower Your Calendar to Hold You Accountable

  CHAPTER 23 – Acknowledge Your Successes—Now!

  [ABOUT THE AUTHOR]

  Keith Rosen

  Keith Rosen, a global authority on sales and leadership, is fanatical about your success. Over the past three decades, he has delivered his courses to hundreds of thousands of salespeople and managers in practically every industry, on five continents, and in more than fifty countries.

  Keith is the CEO of Profit Builders, named one of the Best Sales Training and Coaching Companies worldwide. He has written several best-selling books. His globally acclaimed book Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions won five International Best Book Awards and is the number one best-selling sales-management coaching book.

  As a leader in the coaching profession and a pioneer in the field of management coach training, Keith was inducted into the inaugural group of the Top Sales Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contributions in sales and leadership development.

  Inc. magazine and Fast Company named Keith one of the five most influential executive coaches. He’s been featured in Entrepreneur, Inc., Fortune, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He was also featured on the award-winning television show Mad Men and was one of the first of only a handful of coaches who earned the distinguished Master Certified Coach designation through the International Coach Federation.

  To get Keith’s e-books, articles, and videos, visit http://keithrosen.com

  [PREFACE]

  Is Time Management Sexy? Now It Is!

  Joe Connolly and I had spoken over the phone only twice before meeting each other in person. Joe worked for the Wall Street Journal and had invited me to sit on a panel of experts for a small-business breakfast in New York City. I accepted the invitation, and as we took our positions at the panelists’ table, Joe introduced us one by one. Following my introduction, he added, “After speaking with Keith, I knew he was the real deal, especially when I asked him if he could commit to the date. Instead of saying yes on the spot, which, according to Keith can mean you’re a ‘yesaholic,’ he responded with, ‘Thanks, Joe. Let me check my schedule, and I’ll get back to you by the end of the day.’ So not only is he an expert on time management, he’s a guy who practices what he preaches.”

  The discussion began, and a question came my way: “Hi, Keith,” the gentleman began. “What strategies would you suggest to better manage my time?”

  I shot back, “Stop trying to manage something you cannot manage in the first place.”

  Blank stares from the audience. “Let me explain,” I said. “But first, let me ask everyone sitting here a question: How many of you are familiar with the expression ‘time is money’?”

  Almost everyone raised his or her hand.

  Then I asked, “By a show of hands, how many of you manage your money in some way? Whether you use a stockbroker, financial advisor, accountant, bank, hidden safe, or just do it yourself? Raise your hand if you manage your money in some way.”

  Several hundred people raised their hands almost immediately—a good 90 percent of the audience.

  Then I asked, “How many of you manage your time as diligently as you manage your money? In other words, raise your hand if you have a consistent, weekly routine you follow from the time you wake up in the morning until the time you end your day. A routine that contains the specific, measurable activities and tasks you engage in that move you closer to your business and career goals, while honoring your priorities and keeping your personal life in harmony.”

  Not a single hand went up. In a room filled with highly successful professionals, not one person could confidently raise his or her hand and say, “Yes! I have that!” These people were still successful in spite of the fact that they all in some way had just admitted, “I do not treat time like my money. I can benefit from changing how I manage my time and think about my schedule. I do not own my day.”

  “Isn’t that ironic?” I continued. “Here we are, on the surface believing that time is money, yet we’re not managing our time and ourselves the way we manage our money. We don’t give our time and money the same respect, diligence, and planning.

  “And the kicker is, once you choose to invest or spend your time, you don’t get it back. You can’t double it, invest it, or save it for a rainy day. But you can learn how to do things more efficiently and effectively and create more time to focus on your priorities and what you really want to be doing. That’s why it’s important to shift the focus from trying to manage your time to managing what you can control, which is yourself, your thinking, and the actions you take each day.

  “The foundation to living your potential is to first upgrade your relationship with time so that it becomes your ally, not your adversary. Then you can begin the process of developing a routine that can allow you to create and live your ideal life.”

  Time Management for Sales Managers

  I wrote one of my first books, Time Management for Sales Professionals, back in 1996. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with sales leaders and their salespeople all over the world.

  The one central theme everyone seems to struggle with most is managing their time. Between handling all of their personal and professional responsibilities, it becomes almost impossible to find time to also create a rich and fulfilling life without sacrificing something.

  Repeatedly I’d hear the same thing from sales managers: “Keith, I’m bought into coaching. I see the importance of it and understand why it needs
to be a priority for my sales team and me. But with all the demands placed on us, it’s impossible to find the time to coach people on a consistent basis.”

  I get it. Most of these sales leaders take their work very seriously and are doing, or trying to do, a great job with the resources available to them. And the majority of them are hitting their business objectives and sales quotas. So one could argue that their current system works. Another possibility is, most managers I know are wired to be survivors! That means they do what it takes to get the job done, which isn’t necessarily a healthy, sustainable strategy. If I were to drop practically any manager on a deserted island, he or she would probably adapt and survive. Just like you survive whenever you’re dropped into any new situation. It’s in your DNA. You’re a warrior—you have a winner’s mentality. Never, ever give up. Your competitive nature fuels you to succeed!

  It’s when you combine that competitive nature with formal training on how to best manage your time, goals, responsibilities, and ultimately your day that you’ll experience exponentially higher levels of success, as well as overall harmony and significance in what you do and who you are.

  It’s just like hiring a new salesperson who has never been trained to sell before. What would you do to ensure their success? You’d put them through training. Why? So that you can make certain that they possess the essential foundation, mind-set, and skill set necessary to thrive in their new role.

  The art and science of managing your day with mastery and precision is no different than maximizing your income or ensuring the success of a new hire, while minimizing costly errors from a mishire or faulty onboarding process.

  But you already know this.

  So let’s get started.

  [ACKNOWLEDGMENTS]

  I’m forever fortunate to make the time to enjoy that which is most precious in my life, especially my family. Life is too short to live in regret.

  My wife and children will always be my greatest teachers and the center of my world. You continually remind me of what my true priorities are: to be present, to recognize the perfection in every moment, and to appreciate deeply the greatest gift of all—the value of time.

  [PART ONE]

  Your Personal Navigation System

  [PART ONE]

  CHAPTER 1

  What’s Your Drive to Thrive?

  The Foundation of Your Routine

  Years ago, when I first began coaching, I was searching for a way to coach people around setting and achieving their goals in a way that was more holistic and effective than what was traditionally being done.

  For most people, the greatest challenge wasn’t the act of setting their goals. Don’t get me wrong. If you were to stop ten people on the street, maybe one would admit that he or she has taken the time to map out goals in written form. What posed the greatest threat to achieving their goals was how they were navigating their day and attempting to deal with everything being hurled at them along the way.

  The work I started all those years ago has continued to evolve to this day. And although I’m writing this book for sales leaders focusing on time management, the concepts and ideas in this book apply globally, regardless of your role. Regardless, it’s crucial to note that you will get the most value out of this book if you first take some time to clarify and define your:

  Personal and Professional Vision (Chapter 2)

  Core Values and Priorities (Chapter 3)

  Specific and Measurable Goals (Chapter 4)

  Strategy to Attain Goals (Chapter 5)

  Just like building a new home, your vision, goals, and strategy will act as a blueprint for your success. But it’s not just about you being able to achieve your goals or generate the results you really want. This is your opportunity to redesign your day, your lifestyle, and ultimately your life so you can begin achieving the levels of peace and harmony you want in life now, rather than later.

  So imagine you’ve been given a blank canvass. This canvass serves one purpose—for you to design, with visually creative and detailed clarity, your ideal life. What masterpiece do you want to create called “______’s (fill in your name) Awesome Life”? How would it look different than it does today? What are some of the parts of your life today that are already part of your masterpiece? If you’re reading this book, then chances are, you’re already a successful person in many ways.

  What will you do with your time every day? What choices will you make? How will you respond to situations on a daily basis that will ultimately create what you want most in life?

  Clarifying the end result in your mind before beginning this process of upgrading and redesigning your day will help you get where you want to go much faster.

  After all, it’s so much easier to reach your destination when you know where you’re going, you know what it looks like, and you have a path to get there.

  Why Goals Fail

  As I thought about the clients and managers who have struggled the most to reach their goals over the years, I identified these most common reasons that caused them to fail at attaining their goals:

  Overcommitting (too many goals)

  Wrong goal (“should”-based goal, need-driven goal)

  Wrong time

  Wrong strategy

  Wrong resources

  Wrong activities

  Wrong skill

  Unrealistic goals (set up for failure)

  Wrong timeline to complete

  Not aligned with values, lifestyle, or priorities

  Wrong people

  Wrong manager

  Wrong expectations being set or agreed to

  If it’s ever been a struggle for you to reach bigger goals, keep your resolutions, manage your schedule, or maintain your focus and motivation, then I encourage you to take time to develop your Personal Navigation System. Doing so will enable you to map out a new path to achieve your goals, accelerate your productivity, and generate greater results.

  A Personal Navigation System is similar to the navigation system in your car or a mapping app on your phone. It’s the system you use to navigate through your career and life. A system that encompasses your vision, priorities, goals, strategy, activities, and routine. A system that provides you with a clear sense of purpose, harmony, passion, and direction.

  Running your business or managing your career without having the right goals and Personal Navigation System in place would be equivalent to driving from New York to California without a road map—while wearing a blindfold. You’d wind up somewhere, but it wouldn’t be where you originally intended to go.

  Road Trip!

  When you think about your goals, consider what’s needed to achieve them with the least amount of risk and in the least amount of time. You will need the following:

  A clear destination or vision of what the desired outcome will look like

  Resources needed

  A target date of reaching your destination

  The most effective strategy and resources for arriving at your goal

  Milestones to achieve along the way

  Measurable daily activities

  Throughout each chapter in part one of this book, I’ll refer back to a recent experience I had coaching Chris, the VP of Global Sales at one of the largest IT companies in the world, as he designed his own Personal Navigation System.

  Previously, Chris and I had discussed what would soon be a life-altering decision—whether or not to leave his position after eighteen years with the company, a high six-figure salary with benefits, and stock options and instead, venture out on his own and start a brand-new consulting firm.

  After weighing his options carefully, and several months deliberating over his decision by mapping out his Personal Navigation System, he made up his mind. After a successful eighteen-year run, Chris was ready to move on. During a coaching session several months before announcing his departure from his role, it was time to get serious. I started our conversation with this question: “If you were to leave your current position and start yo
ur own company, what would your goals or intentions be every day? What do you want to create for yourself?”

  “Well, I’ll tell you what I don’t want,” he replied. “I don’t want to work the hours I’m working now. I don’t want to continue traveling down the path I am on. I don’t want to miss any more of my kid’s games or recitals. I don’t want to work for an organization that doesn’t put its people first. I don’t want my reward for hitting an aggressive quota to be a pat on the back and an even larger quota for the next quarter. I don’t want to feel guilty if I don’t respond to an e-mail over the weekend. I don’t want to travel as much. I don’t want to deal with so much office politics. I don’t want to be bound by golden handcuffs or have to be forced to work with people I don’t like.”

  The rant continued for another minute or so. I let him continue. He needed to get it out. Then I stated my initial question again.

  “Thank you for sharing that, Chris. However, you didn’t answer my question.”

  “What was your question again?”

  “My question was, if I recall correctly, when you leave your current position and start your own company, what would be your goals and intentions every day to create what you want for yourself? In other words, describe your ideal life. That includes your career, what you’d be doing every day, with whom, and how that aligns with the priorities in your life.”

  There was a long pause.

  “So are you talking about setting clear goals?”