86,400 Seconds a Day

Manage Your Time Down to the Second to be Amazingly Productive and Profitable

Pierre Poteau

• Publisher: PierrePoteau & Co.
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781087853208
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Gestion du temps

In the 86, 400 seconds each day, you'll lead an efficient, fulfilling, and better life when you know how to make the most of those seconds through goal setting and time management. Learn to:

• Break destructive habits-build useful habits
• Identify your best priorities and act on them
• Filter and sort tasks to fulfill your commitments
• Reduce interruptions-eliminate distractions
• Rid yourself of the barriers that prevent focus

Work toward results with positive momentum and gain these outcomes:

• Self: appreciate your talents and nurture your health and well being
• Family: find balance with respect, love, forgiveness togetherness requires
• Community: enhance casual relationships with appropriate attention and kindness
• Education: find joy in the practice of continual learning
• Career: understand the integrity of exchange in employment and business

Dr. Poteau offers wisdom earned through personal, educational, and professional experiences to enable the self-responsibility and self-confidence that comes with successful time management. Find answers to questions and utilize strategies to live the full, rich life you deserve in all 86, 400 seconds!

Chapter I

The Importance and Benefits of Goal Setting

EXACTLY WHAT IS GOAL Setting?

Goal setting. It’s a term that is used quite often, and in my experience, is not given its proper importance in business and life. Not achieving our goals is directly related to disappointment from excessive expectations of the outcome of any project. Our ability or inability to weigh a project with lofty expectations is directly correlated to getting tasks accomplished or not. Goals are tasks associated with the time we set and are based on the conclusions we induce as visualized outcomes. By expecting definitive results, we are setting ourselves up for failure. When it comes to time management and goals, we are all guilty of getting in the way of ourselves.

I want to encourage the practical use of time and goal setting. I want to present the best emphasis and importance of setting obtainable goals. I want to share my acquired knowledge on business, and career success through specific strategies and anecdotal evidence gleaned from the discovery through my journey leading to my distinct life accomplishments.

I have spent my entire life following a path of attainable goals and some not-so attainable. Even though my life was idyllic and normal in an American family, we encountered challenges, as all families do. I was the eldest of three brothers and, along with my mom and dad, encountered many struggles we had to face. My brothers and I made the best of it by setting friendly, brotherly goals and initiating them as challenges through a friendly competition to reach each one of them. Each of us would set a goal to obtain and put an “execution milestone plan” in place. Being kids, our goals were simple at first: getting through elementary school, making good grades, and to making the honors list in junior high school. These goals were competitive and pushed each of us toward achieving and setting higher attainable goals. First, it was high school, then college, masters’ degrees, and PhDs.

We were playfully and fiercely out for each other to push and achieve those goals as young students. Each of us made the goals harder and more challenging as each of us strived to push each other further and further. Doing our best was the fuel for our goals. After we achieved each goal, we would set the bar higher and build in increased specifics for what each of us set out to do. Each of us went after them directly and moved forward toward our goals. It seemed we were on a task-and-goal marathon amongst brothers.

What I learned and want to share is that the goals each of us made for ourselves, we accomplished one at a time by learning sharpened hyper-focus. We achieved them all by defining the goals and taking the definitive action necessary to make them happen. To say it was easy would be an untruth. It wasn't. Without setting the goals and learning the management of those goals, I would not be where I am today. I am here to share my experience to aid you in moving your career, life, and business forward until you fulfill every goal you want to achieve.

To get started on the right foot, let's first go over the technical aspects of time management and the definition of Effective Goal Setting. I base the technical descriptions upon a goal-setting theory that addresses the process and the effects of tasks being performed and accomplished through the act of setting specific goals. It has been proven throughout the years that setting specific, attainable, and focused goals are achieved better than broad, less accessible, and lofty types of goals.

Edwin Locke, a known researcher, published a scientific paper in 1968 titled “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentive.” The paper included Locke’s groundbreaking Goal Setting Theory. It was an authentic glimpse and blueprint of businesses, big or small, that showed the correlation between goal setting and productivity, and employee engagement. Locke’s goal-setting theory addressed the idea that setting goals with strategic productivity methods motivated the arrival to completion. He concluded that employee engagement was both clear and actionable when outcomes were proved to be achievable. Locke shows me that any workplace challenge is not a bad thing if we define the goal and can follow through. I have found that once I determine a goal and gather the specifics, it aids me. The real way to establish a goal is to employ practical action steps and important goal-setting principles. Here are action steps and principles to follow to make your goals achievable:

1. Clarity. The clarity of a goal is determined by a clear, measurable, and achievable idea. A specific goal is mostly attainable by setting a specific timeline for completion.
2. Challenge. Any goal worth pursuing must present a degree of difficulty in maintaining motivation. When a goal is presented as a challenge, it will push you to strive harder to achieve that goal.
3. Commitment. A high level of commitment must be put forth to achieve any goal. Hold yourself accountable by being deliberate in meeting your goals. Find an accountability partner and share your goal to help you stay on track to reach your goal.
4. Feedback. Set yourself up to respond and be open to feedback on your pathway to achieving your goal. If, along the way, you find the goal was too lofty to attain, it is best to adjust the goal midway than to quit and not hit your goal.
5. Task complexity. Being open to the difficulty of the task you have set forth is vital. If a goal you have set is complicated, give yourself leniency in the learning curve time frame. If the goal is discovered to be too tough to attain, adjust, and give yourself time to allow for the best chance in succeeding.

Purpose of Setting Goals

In 1979, Harvard MBA conducted a study on goal setting. They analyzed their graduating class by testing the number of students who set goals and which students had a plan to attain their goals. The researchers asked the graduating class one question about their goals in life. The question was this:

Have you set written goals and created a plan for their achievement?

This one question raised the following statistic numbers:

• 84% of the entire class did not set any goals
• 13% of the class had written their goals but had no direct or specific plans to make them happen
• 3% of the class had both written goals and concrete plans to achieve their goals

Ten years later, the Harvard researchers examined the students included in the study. They found that 13% of the class that had set written goals but had not created plans, were making twice as much money as 84% of the class that had set no goals. The most significant aspect of the study was that 3% of the class were making ten times as much as the rest of the 97% of the class.

This study is a conclusive example of the positive effects of having a definitive plan for your life and how planning is essential in hitting your goals. The key to increasing your advantage and chances of achieving your goals is to define and write down your goals. Having a record of what you want to accomplish in front of you holds you accountable to yourself. Specifying what you’re passionate about and writing the plan out in front of you is the key to finding success.

What are the things in your life you hope to do?

What do you want to achieve the most with your life?

When making these important life decisions, it is imperative to be honest and forthcoming with yourself. Don’t worry about others and their opinions. You must do what makes you happy, and the rest will fall into place. Once you discover the passion in your life, you can use it to drive the rest of your life toward success. Most people do not understand how to sit down and take the time to set goals, nor do they even do it. They do not see the value in it and get used to life controlling them instead of being in control of their own lives. Although discovering your passion can be challenging, it should be the main priority because, without it, you will float aimlessly without direction. Let’s look at some of the best reasons to set goals for your life:

Setting Yourself up For Success

Each of us has the exact amount of time every day of our lives. No more and no less. From the moment you wake up to the time you rest your head, it is up to you to guide what happens to make your life move forward. Having your goals prioritized will set you up for positive outcomes— and great success. When you do not place your goals as a top priority, you could lose out on immense opportunities, which could prove to have dramatic effects on your life. Diligently working toward your goals will put you in an incredible position to see massive success in whatever you choose to do.

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HAVING GOALS HELPS You Define What is Important

Having your goals set will reveal what is truly important in your life. Through your efforts, you will discover who you are and the essential people around you. You will find the meaning of family, work, school, and relationships— and all will start to have a profound purpose. When you don’t go through the process of defining goals in your life, you could begin to feel broken, unfocused, and even experience failure in other efforts in life.

Experience the Joy in Living

Pursuing your dreams by setting long and short-term goals will give you a roadmap to achieve success. The only thing stopping you is by doing nothing. Achieving your goals brings a deep satisfaction that is hard to describe. The feeling of accomplishment can bring joy to every aspect of your life. Everything around you will begin to make sense. This joy goes a long way and begins to affect everyone around you positively. Your achievements will help your family and friends to see you as strong, capable, and able. Having your family and friends in your corner, believing in you, and supporting you will bring great happiness and joy to your life.

Goals are Just Like a Roadmap

By setting your goals, you are giving yourself a pathway to freedom and success. The secret is to draw a line in the sand and pinpoint the main goal you want to achieve. Make this goal your life’s destination. Most people do not have a destination in their life. They wander and float through life without meaning or direction. Without the destination, you will veer off your path— and run the risk of never reaching your goals. Use your goals as a compass to direct your life, and use your passion to push you to grasp what it is you intend to achieve. The only way to do this is by treating your goals as a top priority and taking these aggressive actions will shape and direct everything in your life.

Brings Hope and Confidence

Following your passions is fulfilling in every way imaginable. When you follow ambitions, your immense effort morphs into a greater sense of dedication and direction within yourself. Goals are your dreams and exist to instill a sense of confidence and, most of all, hope for your future.

Goals – How to Avoid Distractions and Stay Focused

I spent eight years in the Armed Forces serving as a chemical and operations officer, and six years as an enlisted member. I needed to become adept at working with technology during my years in the military in Iraq. My job relied on time management and leadership, which required me to maintain stringent focus at all times. I discovered during those years that to stay on track with my tasks by alleviating distractions was crucial to accomplishing any goal at hand. The reality was, and is, with technology comes significant distraction.

You can’t escape it because technology is a double-edged sword. The convenience technology affords for many of today’s jobs makes it possible that which was not possible not that long ago. And with that convenience comes the propensity to become distracted, as it introduces complexity at many levels, which adds to the work. Recapturing and generating focus is a challenge and accomplishment in these modern days of work.

What are the Distractions?

The reality is, I sit here. I’m typing on this computer and to the left of me is a mobile phone where the world is at my fingertips. The urge to “hop on” and check email, look at the sports scores and check social media is powerful. Like most of us, these types of distractions are unclear to us in our lives. The distractions appear to be a part of normal life, and we accept them as routine and not distractions. To maintain the level of productivity to hit your goals, recognizing and reducing your distractions is vital. Have you examined how much time you spend on nonproductive things, leaving your tasks to be delayed or not completed at all? To eliminate anything in your life that could be a possible distraction problem, the best route is to determine what the real distractions are. Anything in your world that can take your attention away from the goal at hand could be labeled your “Achilles heel” for getting things done.

What are the distractions in your life? Let's examine some and look at what a common distraction could be.

Technology

• Computers
• Cell Phones
• Laptops
• Tablets
• TV

Environment

• Events
• Family
• Co-workers

Social media

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• YouTube

Removing the urge to concentrate on anything other than the task at hand is easier said than done. Social media is a leading cause of distraction today. The curiosity generated with social media is on a different scale when it comes to distractions in our day — the form of distractions found through social media as forms of mental escapism. Social media sites, our inbox, or even grabbing an extra cup of coffee, could clutter our mind instead of clearing it for working complexity. The need to reward our brains amidst the hustle of everyday tasks becomes overwhelming. Our brain works overtime in convincing us to stay motivated, and we need a reward to keep going.

Projects, big or small, with all the pressure involved, require us to fill a different set of needs. The fixation on social media curiosity, for example, is caused by a chemical in our brains. Much like being addicted to cigarettes, drugs, and even food, when we don’t have it, our brain releases chemicals telling us we do. Dopamine is the chemical released that creates those good feelings when we connect with social media. The feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and euphoria you experience when subjected to social media create strong emotions and sensations that soon make our brains crave more. The urge to check social media can be labeled as a real addiction with mass proportion. It is challenging to resist the urge to check social media, along with partaking in other distractions. The urge is more than we can bear or handle and morphs into an addiction. The addiction could lead to wasting an immense amount of time and not achieving goals.

Your Brain and Science

Is your brain perhaps in the wrong place at the right time? In looking at it from a scientific standpoint, the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) of the brain is the section of the brain that craves the dopamine release when we log onto social media. This is the area of the brain that demands and needs more dopamine and recognizes the deficiency when we don’t have a social media connection. And this works to trigger the “crave” to get on and check it out, causing major distractions when we don't need to be distracted. Our brain’s VTA portion is the culprit of significant distraction, and with social media, it is not our friend.

There are specific things and solutions we can do to escape the trap and cycle of distraction:

• Isolation
• Journaling
• Taking Breaks
• Good Night’s Rest
• Clean Work Area

Isolation

For starters, working in is...