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ShortCuts To Success Working Smarter Not Harder May 2007 Dear Friend, Welcome to my new monthly newsletter, ShortCuts To Success.  I think you're going to love it.  If you don't, you can easily unsubscribe at any time. Shortcuts To Success is focused on how to get everything you want in business and in life, quicker and with less effort.  In short, it's about working smarter, not harder.  It's about being efficient and effective.  Each month you will get one new ShortCut which you can use to produce rapid results.  I've been a professional full-time Life and Business Coach since 2003.  I've also been interested in human potential and the secrets of manifestation since I was a teenager.  This newsletter is a chance for me to share the best of what I've learned. It's all been tested in the laboratory of my life, my businesses, and by my satisfied clients. ShortCuts to Success will give you tips, exercises, and links to helpful resources for creating the life you desire.  So, without further ado, let's dive into the first ShortCut! Enjoy! Ryan   Short Cut #1 - Do The 20% First Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  It says that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions you take, while 20% of results are produced by 80% of the actions you take.  If you tracked it for a while, you would probably find this to be true for most of the outcomes you are working on.  The mistake most people make is to spend a lot of time doing the 80% that gets only 20% of the results, and they never get around to doing the most important actions.  If you do the most important actions first, you will get results faster, and with less effort.  Let's call these important actions (20%) your "high priority actions" and the rest of the actions (80%) your "low priority actions". There are many reasons you might be making the mistake of focusing on the low priority actions.  You may be choosing your actions unconsciously or consciously based on one or more of the following disempowering criteria: It happens to be on the top of your to do list It's the easiest action You already know how to do it You know you won't look bad doing it It's urgent (but not important) It's on your desk or on top of the pile Somebody else wants you do to it You've always done it this way Someone else or your company has always done it this way It's the only way you know already It's more comfortable It won't require as much time (or so it appears, but in reality it gets less results so you'll end up spending more time) You can do it in small blocks of time, which are all you seem to have Someone told you to do it this way You saw it in a book somewhere You've broken this strategy down into manageable steps, but you haven't broken the high priority strategies into manageable steps Have you heard the story about the man who lost his keys?  He was looking for them underneath the street lamp on a dark night.  A woman walked up and asked him, "What are you looking for?  Can I help?"  The man answered, "Yes.  That would be nice.  I dropped my keys and I can't find them?"  The woman asked, "Do you know approximately where you dropped them?".  He answered, "Yes.  I dropped them way over there by the car."  Perplexed, the woman asked, "Why are looking for them over here then? You're nowhere near where you dropped them."  He answered, "It's dark over there by the car and I can see over here under the street lamp." This story is an extreme example of what you may be doing on some of your projects.  You may be spending too much of your time on the low priority actions that don't produce results as efficiently as the top 20% high priority ones.  I propose that you take a little time to identify the high priority actions, and then commit to doing them first.  If there are obstacles to doing the high priority actions, deal with those obstacles directly.  Also, stop doing the low priority actions and don't do any of them until after you've completed the high priority ones.  The exercise below will help you to apply 80/20 rule. You can do this exercise in 5-15 minutes, and it might just save you hours, or days, of work! www.RyanEliason.com ShortCuts Archive About Ryan Testimonials Benefits of Coaching Contact Ryan Ryan Eliason has been a professional, full-time Life and Business Coach since 2003, successfully supporting more than one-hundred clients to produce extraordinary results in their businesses and personal lives.  An entrepreneur since a young age, Ryan has founded several successful businesses and a non-profit.  He developed his unique ShortCuts approach through 15 years of business consulting, designing and leading workshops, and working with both coaching and therapy clients. He received his formal training with the renowned Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California.  He is also a certified Master Hypnotist, massage therapist, polarity therapist, and Transformational Therapist through the Heartwood Institute. more "When I think of Ryan, I think of manifesting dreams, getting things done, making it look easy. When I think of what it takes to manifest my own biggest dreams, I think.... I could use some of that Ryan magic." -Zak Zaidman, Social Entrepreneur  more testimonials

Exercise - Applying the 80/20 Rule Step 1:  Choose a goal or intention.  A measureable goal such as "have 50 clients by June 15th" works best, but you can also do this exercise on an intention, such as "to get more clients".  Write down your goal or intention now.   Step 2: Brainstorm a list of all the potential actions you can think of that will lead to achievement of your goal or intention.  Include the actions you've already been taking, as well as any new ideas.  Don't censor your ideas.  Write down everything you can think of.  Make a list now. Step 3: Now, ask yourself, "If I only took 20% of these actions, which ones would likely produce 80% of the results?"  Circle each action which fits in the top 20% category.  If you don't know which actions will create the most results, then include some actions that will help you learn the answer to that question. Step 4: Commit to taking the circled actions first.  Also, commit to not doing any low priority actions until the high priority actions are complete.  Doing the high priority actions will sometimes require more thinking, creativity, or effort initially.  However, you will likely achieve your objective before you even get to the low priority actions, saving massive amounts of time and effort. This Month's Raving Fan Peter Sandhill, Real Estate Investor, Seminar Leader "Ryan has worked with me for the past year. I came to him to help me with my new business venture.  I consider myself very able and yet was stuck in many aspects of translating the big picture of my dreams into the reality of day-to-day tasks and events.  Ryan not only helped me to see the picture more clearly and create clear goals and intentions, he also helped me translate this clarity into a more healthy balanced lifestyle.  I made seven real estate investments while working with him, and they have been very successful.  Ryan's style is very warm, kind and also direct. He knows when to let you explore a thought yourself and when to jump in and guide.  He uses great tools and his coaching gets results. I have recommended Ryan to my family and business associates and I recommend him to you." For FREE INSTANT ACCESS to my 70-minute audio seminar and 43-page workbook on How To Have The Best Year of Your Business and Your Life, simply enter your email address below and click "go". I will guide you through the 28-steps to make this the best year ever, including more profit and more time off. You will also receive a FREE trial subscription to ShortCuts To Success, my highly acclaimed once-per-month newsletter packed with practical tips to get more done with less. Your email address will be kept confidential and you may unsubscribe at any time. Claim Your FREE Information Email: home | testimonials | why hire a coach? | articles & resources | about ryan | contact