How many times have we heard executives pushing back on corporate targets to achieve more-than-balanced growth increasing both revenues and profits, while also reducing DSO’s? This is not possible, they claim, you can grow the top line but at the expense of the bottom line or you could improve DSO´s but at the expense of top and bottom line.
How many times have we heard the same executives claiming that they cannot strike a balance in life? To be successful they need to focus on their jobs and spend the long hours. If they do so, they are not able to see their families enough, to exercise enough, to practice their favourite hobby and so on and so forth.
It is true that time is a scarce resource and pushes us to set priorities and make choices. Most people just don’t think about it and go with the flow drifting randomly from side to side putting off fires here and there. They live immerse on the trade-off paradigm always focusing on sacrificing something at the expense of something else.
Now, successful people understand that it is possible to walk away from this paradigm and create synergy in all they do. Most times, it is a “catch 22” and finding the key to breaking the vicious cycle becomes paramount. Some people enter through exercise as a way to achieve health, clarity of mind and a positive attitude, which allows them to focus on what really matters at their job allowing them to be more effective, which in turn allows them to accomplish more in less time releasing time to spend with their families. They suddenly find themselves within a virtuous circle by which one good action leads to the next generating value in everything they do.
Achieving synergy, doing the right things and all things right, is possible when you are in control of your life. In many cases it is just a matter of having more discipline, setting priorities, creating and committing to slots throughout your day. Successful people tend to do this naturally. However, this could be learnt through more awareness and reflection, more discipline and through getting a clear understanding of what your entry points are to break the vicious cycle and, most importantly, taking action. Monday morning 8 am is a good time to start.
Good luck and see you on the road!
