Play a Bigger Game

Remembering Your Why

Jack Collins — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:20:12 +0000

The Why of Success

Success begins with desire! The first thing you need to determine in any business venture is why you are doing it in the first place. What is it you are looking to get out of it. Make the why something very special, very important to you. (Sometimes your why can be a “don’t want” and that’s OK, too!) I suggest that you write it down and look at it everyday. Doing this will help you in profound ways as you build your business:

Vision

A great why will serve as a great vision for your business. Every other action and decision should spawn from your vision. It sets the course and acts as a guide. When you are presented with choices about the fundamentals of your business, remembering your why will guide you straight every time.

Focus

To realize your vision, you must set goals. The demanding pace of business can make it very hard to stay focused on your goals. Distractions can come from within and outside of your business. Remembering your why will go far to help you keep your business on track by focusing you on those activities that will bring your why into reality.

Motivation

As wonderfully rewarding as business is – it can be tough! The planning, doing, working with others, long nights and tired days. It might be an issue with a business associate or maybe a presentation didn’t go well. Maybe you didn’t make the sale or your having to learn to deal with rejection. In these tough moments, it is important to remember your why. It may very well be the one thing that prevents you from giving in and keeps you in business one more day to seize the opportunities that lay ahead.

Keeping a Very Short Daily Tasks List

Jack Collins — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:22:46 +0000

One time-tested, popular and proven tool that caused me to struggle with my productivity for years is the daily tasks list. As a practitioner of the Getting Things Done methodology, the use of a traditional daily task list is discouraged. After years of using the ABC-123 daily tasks list, it proved very difficult to let go of, even though GTD replaced every other part of my old workflow quite easily!

In his most recent newsletter, David Allen outlines three key practices for managing your workload and staying on top of your game:

1) Make decisions about what we are going to do with our “stuff”
2) Put those outcomes and actions down in written form
3) Look at the reminders

This last step is where I would get stuck, largely because I would prepare a lengthy daily tasks list each morning. Instead of looking over the reminders throughout the work day to decide the next best action, I would work from the task list. The situation would become worse because, as items came in through the day, I would just add them to the task list in front of me. The problem with this is that only the “latest and loudest” get worked on and you keep stuffing things into your reminder lists, but never get to them. Or you only get to them once they’ve become crisis.

What I’ve learned to do is keep my daily task list very short. I do this by scanning my calendar and reminder lists in the morning, noting ONLY items that absolutely have to be done that day. That is to say, calendar items and reminders that actually have a date on them. This list needs to be very short! If I have more than about 4 items on this list, I try to renegotiate a deadline or see if I can defer a task to another date.

The point is not to only do four tasks a day. The point is that you want to get to all those task reminders on your lists. What I have found is that, counterintuitively, the shorter this daily list is, the more I get done. More importantly, more of the right things get done.

Quote

Jack Collins — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:15:49 +0000

“Many years of research have proven that the systems and tools for personal productivity that have the greatest value are relatively simple. Too many lines and boxes on organizing forms, for instance, are not only unnecessary — they create more pressure than they relieve. If you have to think too much every time you engage with a tool, then it isn’t serving you well.”

- David Allen

Giving Yourself the Time You Need

Jack Collins — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:11:24 +0000

You’ve launched your business and now you’re working hard towards your goals. Then you notice – this isn’t easy! After a few rough patches, you may start to wonder what your doing or even if this business is for you. What do you do? Don’t worry, that’s what!

One great advantage to Networking Marketing that most people don’t realize is you can start out being really bad at it and still come out on top! This business is going to give you the time you need to develop your skills. Traditional business may not offer you the chance to perform poorly and develop over time. Network Marketing is unlike any other business in that you have to do it poorly in order to get better at it! The old saying goes “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly – until you can learn to do it well!” This is true of any human endeavor. Nobody starts out as an expert.

More than that, you have a team of people ready to train you and work with you one on one to sharpen your business skills in Network Marketing. This group of people, your upline, will be there with you every step of the way and are willing to go to work for you to help get you started and train you to take your business to the next level. It is important that you take advantage of this and for more than just getting better at Network Marketing.

Another reason is that your upline will also train your budding team. A key to success in Network Marketing is having a duplicatable system. The people that are helping you will also set good examples to your new team members as you are still learning the system. Your new downline will follow your lead and you don’t want to pass on bad habits. If your team sees you being coachable and following the training provided, they will do the same and this will breed success in your business.

So remember, patience is a virtue. You will get where you need to be with the particular skills it takes to succeed in this business. We’ve even coined a term for those that push through and allow themselves to develop over time: Champions!

Advantages of the Network Marketing Opportunity

Jack Collins — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:58:02 +0000

One important part of Playing a Bigger Game is your financial life. A key factor to financial success is building assets. One vehicle I have chosen to generate extra income and develop a real asset is to start a network marketing business.

There are numerous advantages to having this type of business. However, when I really sit down and think about it, there were four main aspects the drew me in and keep me motivated daily:

Low cost investment

With any reputable network marketing business, for a very low investment, generally $200 to $500, you get a complete business system, training and a group of people to work with who are dedicated to your success. What other business opportunity offers you all of that for such a small investment?

Build it on your own schedule

There are no set schedules because you are the owner, so you set the schedule! Not only that, but you can build a successful business part time. Success always takes hard work and dedicated time, but with network marketing you can fit this in around your other obligations.

Working hard for your own dreams

Hard work is certainly a virtue and if your worth your salt, you’re working hard on your day job. Even so, that work is for building somebody else’s dreams, because you don’t own it. Networking marketing gives you an opportunity to work hard to build your own dreams.

Helping people, fostering potential in others

As cliche as is sounds, network marketing really is about people helping people. You will succeed greatly by doing for others. When you start, you have a team of people to train you and go to work for you. As you build your business, you develop a team to do the same for others. It really is a beautiful thing!

Quote

Jack Collins — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:32:18 +0000

“You are what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind. You can change what you are, you can change where you are, by changing what goes into your mind.”

~Zig Ziglar

The Secret of OBED-EDOM

Jack Collins — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:34:37 +0000

A Book Review

My wife gave me a new book last weekend called “The Secret of OBED-EDOM” For the first time in my life, I was so engrossed in a book that I just couldn’t put it down. And yes, I finished it in one sitting. (Complete with highlights and notes, of which there were plenty!) I want to share a little of this experience with you and encourage to order a copy of this amazing book and take the journey yourself. You can pick up your copy here.

The Point

The book takes you on the journey of OBED-EDOM, a little-known Bible hero. The book tells how living in the tangible presence of God changed this man’s life. As I love to say, success leaves clues and along the way, this book shows how you, too, can live with the tangible presence of God in your life. And I’m not talking theory here, within this book are down-to-earth, practical ways to accelerate your life’s journey.

Everyone desires supernatural success. Now Daniel reveals how you can achieve it.

The Journey

I’ll give a brief overview of the book in this post, but please, I implore you all to go buy a copy of this book and read it cover to cover. It is a game-changer.

First, the book describes the blessings God wants to realize in your life. It sums this up nicely by simply stating that “Blessing encompasses being set free from unprofitable work, anxiousness about life, and dependence upon another for your livelihood.” These are the things God wants for you. It then details how to take the journey of life in God’s tangible presence. This includes overcoming your past, using your talents faithfully and letting God’s work in you take your life to entirely new levels, and so much more.

A Few Passages

Donald Trump, Billy Banks, Martha Stewart, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet? God is a better mentor than all these experts combined. He wants to guide you to greatness in every area of your life.
Sin won’t ask for much in the beginning, but in the end, it will steal everything you have.
As a human being, you were created to worship. You will worship something. What you worship is revealed by what you focus on.
The success of God’s house and the success of your house are intertwined.
Your gifts, talents, and abilities are not your creation; they are your discovery.
Small opportunities are often the beginning of big enterprises. Do your job and then some. There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile
Before you can be promoted, you must have deep foundations. Downward preparation always takes more time than upward progress
The secret to being great, to being at the top, to being the best of the best, is to be a servant.
It is better to go fishing with your son today than it is to go fishing for him tomorrow.
Your story is not finished yet!

The Author

This book was written by Daniel King of King Ministries International. He has several other books available on his web site and I already have another one of his queued up. Daniel and his wife Jessica are missionaries who travel the world-over spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

On Being Inspired

Jack Collins — Sat, 01 May 2010 22:36:00 +0000

The Importance of Being Inspired

Inspiration is a key element of success and a great tool to help you play a bigger game. In and of itself, inspiration is simple: the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something. But like many great things, its simple nature can have a profound, positive impact on your life. Inspiration usually doesn’t happen on its own. To experience the fruit of inspiration in your life, you must seek it out; invest some time into it. Is it really worth your time to do this? Think about it – How often do you hear successful people talking about the importance of being inspired to better things. Things like cultivating a winning attitude, operating at a higher level of thinking and achieving greater creativity. Amazingly, this works the same no matter what your goals are or in what area you are trying to play a bigger game.

Those That Inspire You

There are many places to look for inspiration; the Bible, other great books, sports, etc. The one I want to focus on here is other people. In all probability, there are people out there who have masterfully navigated the same opportunities and challenges you now face in reaching your own goals. Those in this world with the qualities that you seek to develop in yourself. The truly great ones have reached out to share their experiences, wisdom and advice with the world. Invest time in getting familiar with their work and their ways. Success, my friends, leaves clues.

My Personal List

There are many wonderful people that inspire others to better things. Below are a few of the people that inspire me on a daily basis. (I see to it that they do!) At some point I may dedicate an entire blog post to each, but below is just a brief intro. You would do well to learn more about them on your own.

Michael Hyatt, CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishing, Business Speaker
“The bottom line is that you don’t need to get everything done. You only need to get the right things done and leave the rest with God.”

Jim Rohn, Network Marketer, Business Philosopher
“Learn to work harder on yourself than you do your job.”

Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker
“You are what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind. You can change what you are, you can change where you are, by changing what goes into you mind.”

John C. Maxwell, Preacher, Author, Business Speaker
“Attitude isn’t everything, but it is the main thing that can make a difference in your life.”

Waiting On Emails

Jack Collins — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:30:21 +0000

Cranking On Email, Asking For Things

This trick goes under the “dorky little things that really work” category. We’ve all been there, cranking through emails, replying, forwarding and and asking for responses or delegating tasks. Well how do you keep track of all those things you need to hear back on? This little trick helps you stay on top to the things you’ve asked for, from everyone, every time you ask, and cost almost no time at all!

What You Need

Create a folder in your Inbox named “@WaitingFor” (or some such). Any email system worth its salt now a days will let you create your own subfolders under the main Inbox. You will also use the “BCC” field. “BCC” stands for “Blind Carbon Copy” and that means that any address in the box will receive the email, but only you and the recipient will know they received it. Even if you put multiple addresses in “BCC”, they don’t all see that each other received the email. Just each one of them individually and you, the sender. If you don’t see a “BCC” field under the “CC” field when creating an email, don’t worry, it is just hidden by default. You can look in your email program’s settings to make it visible from now on.

How It Works

Whenever you write, forward or reply to an email that you need hear back about, add your own email address to the “BCC” field. When you have finished the email and hit send, a copy of it will appear in your Inbox. Simply drag that email over to the “@WaitingFor” folder. Now, you have an instant inventory of every email you’ve sent that is asking somebody for something. Just get into the habit of scanning the “@WaitingFor” folder once a day and you will quickly identify the things you are still waiting on. For the things you want to ask about again, simply forward this copy of the email to the recipient. This is a very effective way of reminding them about it without sounding like a nag. I usually just add a single line such as “I was wondering if you’ve had time to get this done.” or “Can I get a status on this, please?” Something short and sweet.

Why It Is Better

You could just drag a copy of any email you send from your “Sent Items” folder to the “@WaitingFor” folder and not bother with the BCC field. But then you lose your chronological history of sent items. This can spell trouble for you later when you’re trying to find something you have sent, for whatever reason. Also, by having a copy of the email in the “@WaitingFor” you can simply delete the email without worry once it is time. This also beats writing a note or adding an entry to a list as a waiting for reminder, because it is instantaneous and almost automatic.

What emails tricks of the trade have you learned to help with your workflow over the years?

So It Starts….. Welcome Aboard!!

Jack Collins — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:45:04 +0000

Welcome to Play A Bigger Game!

My name is Jack Collins and I am a Christian, husband, father, employee and business owner. I have a deep faith in God and the saving power of Jesus Christ. My wife Heather and I have six wonderful children. In addition to a 15 year career in the software industry, I have recently started my own network marketing business.

This blog will be my way of sharing, learning and hopefully fostering some great discussions about living life by design, not by default. This is a subject I am very passionate about and writing and learning more with all of you is an exciting prospect. Am I where I want to be with living my life by design? No, I’ve got a long way to go, baby! My true hope is that blogging will help us get there together!

This blog is all about what the title says: “Play A Bigger Game” Life is about more than just carrying your own weight – it is designed to be lived for a purpose. With the grind of today’s world, so many people get trapped in the 9-5 and life’s circumstances that they lose site of this. I will be blogging about three fundamental things that can help people take their game – their lives – to the next level: Christian Living, Personal Development and Productivity. Another way to say it is that you have to believe in something, work on yourself and learn to get things done!

My hope is that this will be an interactive experience for all of us, so I encourage you to get involved in the discussions. Please leave comments to me and each other and feel free to email me, too! All I ask is that people are treated with respect, use clean language and generally make constructive contributions, not trouble-making!

If you’re still reading this, thank you and I’m REALLY looking forward to this journey together!