The Morning Mindset
Welcome to The Morning Mindset podcast with me Craig Skelton.
The podcast dedicated to helping you take control of your day and set the tone for a productive and positive mindset.
Each morning, we dive into strategies, inspiration, and actionable tips designed to empower you to tackle your day with confidence and clarity.
Whether you’re looking to boost your productivity, enhance your well-being, or simply start your day on a high note, The Morning Mindset is here to guide you.
Join us as we explore the tools and techniques that will help you seize the day and make the most out of every moment.
The Morning Mindset
Prioritise for Success: Focus on Core Activities to Maximise Growth and Productivity
Unlock the secret to working smarter, not harder, as we explore the essential art of prioritization for entrepreneurs. Imagine a business landscape where you’re no longer overwhelmed by endless tasks but instead focus on the core activities that truly drive growth. We're unpacking how to distinguish what truly matters from the noise of daily distractions, using techniques like the 80-20 rule and aligning tasks with your long-term vision. Discover how to water the roots of your business to ensure it thrives, just like a well-nurtured tree.
Our conversation warns against the pitfalls of neglecting these essentials—burnout, stagnation, and missed opportunities lie in wait for those who spread themselves too thin. Learn why the power of saying no is crucial to protect your time and energy, and how focusing on non-essential tasks can rob you of the entrepreneurial passion that fuels your journey. This episode promises to equip you with the insights needed to refine your focus, maximize productivity, and keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive. Tune in to transform the way you approach your business and reclaim control over your daily activities.
Watch the episode on YouTube youtube.com/@themorning-mindset
Looking for one to one mentoring, visit my website to see how it works craigskelton.co.uk
Welcome to the Morning Mindset Podcast with me, craig Skelton. Each day, we kick off your morning with positivity, actionable insights and the motivation you need to conquer the day ahead. Whether you're looking to develop a positive mindset, a habit of persistence or simply starting your day on the right foot, this podcast is your daily dose of inspirational and practical advice. So today's podcast is why you should focus only on the essential things when you're self-employed or running your own business. When you're self-employed, running your own business, there's always so much to do. It feels like there's endless list of tasks, emails and commitments as well, pulling you in every different direction. But the thing is not. Everything that lands on your desk deserves your time and energy, and if you're trying to grow your business or build a life on your own terms, you need to master the art of working on only the essential things. Let's look at how you can identify what's essential, knowing exactly what deserves your focus and why this all matters. So why knowing what's essential is key. When you're self-employed, managing your business, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every email, every phone call, every tiny task feels like it's urgent. But the thing is not everything is essential. And when you treat it all as equal importance, you dilute your efforts. The ideal is to identify the few things that truly move the needle for your business and focus on that exclusively. So how do you figure out what's essential? It comes down to understanding what drives your business forward not what keeps it busy, but what keeps it growing. Think of it as planting a tree. When you plant a tree, you focus on watering. That's the only thing that you're focusing on, not the rest of the tree. The roots are what allows the tree to thrive and to grow. It's in the same way your business has roots and the core activities that give it life and growth. The challenge is to cut everything else away that distracts you from those roots.
Speaker 1:How do you identify what's essential in your everyday working life? The first thing to do is look at the long-term impact. Ask yourself does this task bring long-term value to my business or to my life? And if it's just a short-term fix or something that keeps you busy but not progressing, it's probably not essential. And then that moves on to is it aligned with your goals? We often get stuck in tasks that have nothing to do with our bigger vision. Before diving into any work, you need to ask yourself does this move me closer to my goals or is it just keeping me distracted? And then comes the 80-20 rule. This principle is gold when you're self-employed. The 80-20 rule suggests that 80% of your results come from just 20 of your efforts. So identify the 20 of tasks that yield the most significant and double down on those. For most of us, that might mean focusing on business development, client relationships or developing your own personal skills.
Speaker 1:Know your Saying yes to every single opportunity, every favour, every shiny new idea can leave you feeling overwhelmed. And, off course, knowing what's essential means getting comfortable with saying no to things that don't add value. It's about your time and your energy. Now let's look at what happens when you ignore the essentials and spread yourself too thin. The first thing will happen is burnout. When you're constantly juggling a million things, you're working harder but not smarter. Eventually, this will take its toll on you and your business. Burnout is real. It's one of the biggest killers of entrepreneurial passion. Trying to do everything leads to exhaustion. The second thing is stagnation. Your day is complete. It's just ticking the boxes that don't move the needle. You'll feel busy, but being busy isn't the same as being productive. The longer you focus on non-essential tasks, the less progress you make in areas that truly matter, and that's that's your fast track to getting stuck in your business, which then leads on to missed opportunities when you focus on small, non-essential tasks, missing out on game change of opportunities. These opportunities require your focus and energy, and if you're too scattered, you won't even notice them there, even if they're knocking on your door, which then leads on to stress and overwhelm. Trying to keep up with everything is stressful. Overwhelming can cloud your thinking, making it harder to see what's important. It becomes like a vicious cycle, one that you're constantly being reactive to rather than proactive.
Speaker 1:Now let's look at the positives. What are the benefits of non-essential stuff? What happens when you discipline yourself to work only on the essential things? The first thing is clarity. When you know exactly what's important, you become laser focused. Instead of bouncing from one thing to another, you put your energy into tasks that create real value, and you become more efficient and better productivity. Wise, because you're working smarter, not harder. You see more results with less effort because you're channeling your energy into what truly matters. This is where you gain momentum, and then you will have better decision making when your play is cluttered with non-essentials, it's harder to make sound decisions, but when you're, when you're truly honed into the essentials, you can make choices aligned with your goals and your growth.
Speaker 1:You're getting. You get better at identifying what deserves your attention and what doesn't, which then leads on to great fulfillment. By focusing what matters, you find greater satisfaction in your work. You're not just ticking boxes. You're making meaningful progress and this is deeply fulfilling, especially when you see your business grow as a direct result of your focus and that leads on to sustained growth, and business build on essential actions grows steadily and sustainably. You aren't stretched thin. You're operating with intention and clarity, which lays solid foundations for future success. And, of course, all this ties into the growth mindset.
Speaker 1:Working on the essentials requires you to believe that you can continuously improve and adapt. It's not about doing everything perfect. It's about focusing on progress and not perfection. When you adopt a growth mindset, you're asking you're always asking what's the most important thing I can do today to grow my business? With that question guiding you, the non-essential stuff falls away. Growth mindset also encourages you to embrace learning feedback. Sometimes you'll misjudge what's essential. You just will, and that's okay. You've got to learn from it, adapt and refine your focus as you go. The more you practice, the better you become at identifying the tasks that matter the most. So, since today is Friday, let's bring you back to where you are right now.
Speaker 1:The end of the week is always a perfect time to reflect. Did you spend this week working on things that truly matter for your business? Did you focus on the essentials or did you get caught up on busy work? Friday is a great day to pause and recalibrate. Look at the week behind you, evaluate where you spent your time, then plan ahead for next week.
Speaker 1:Identify the core tasks, the essentials that will push your business forward. Get them in your diary, protect that time for them and block out everything else. When you step into next week with that focus, you're already ahead of the game. And, as always, remember, it's not about being busy, it's about being purposeful. When you work on what truly matters, you grow your business and find more fulfillment along the way. So, as we wrap up up today's episode, really take a moment to reflect on what drives your business, what's essential and how can you make more space for it in your diary next week. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Please share. Have an amazing day, have an amazing weekend, stay motivated, stay focused, stay positive and run your own race.