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I don’t know if you believe in New Year’s resolutions, but now is the time of year when many people think about ways to improve themselves. The problem is that the real world gets in the way. Despite our best intentions, we can never seem to find the time to follow through on the promises we made to ourselves in the beginning of January.
We don’t find the time because behavior modification is hard. It’s human nature to make things easier on ourselves (not harder). With that in mind, I have found Sahil Bloom’s 30-for-30 Challenge concept very helpful for busy professionals who are trying to improve in all aspects of life.
Whether it’s improving leadership or communication skills, mastering a niche area of the Tax Code, or just getting into better shape, if you devote just 30 minutes a day for 30 straight days toward that goal — no excuses — you’ll be amazed by your progress.
I get it; you’re busy! But everyone can find 30 uninterrupted minutes in their schedule every day for personal growth. Unlike some aggressive goals, 30-for-30 won’t take over your life, make you irritable or alienate your friends, family and co-workers. Think of 30 minutes per day as the minimum effective dose.
Examples
1. Improve listening. To be an effective professional service provider, you must be a good listener. Read books on effective communication and train yourself to ask better questions.
2. Improve writing. If you want to be a better writer, start reading books about developing writing skills. Try keeping a daily journal or authoring short blog posts for your clients and fellow professionals to read. Journaling can be an impactful daily habit to build your writing muscles, to help clarify your thoughts and gain self-awareness.
3. Improve health. Suppose you want to get in better shape. Just commit to exercising for 30 minutes a day for 30 straight days — no excuses. No matter what you do to get your heart rate going, do something consistently every day that will be aligned with where you want to end up.
Set yourself up for success
The key is to take small but consistent steps that help you build momentum toward your goal. Here are a few considerations when setting up your 30-for-30 challenge:
1. Activity-based vs. results-based. One of the reasons people need help sticking to New Year’s resolutions is because those goals are outcome-based, rather than activity-based. People say, “I want to lose 10 pounds” or “I want to make this much money.” Those statements are simply results you’re aspiring to. You need to commit to the activity every day that will get you to those results. You cannot control the result; you can only control your activity.
2. First things first. Block your 30-for-30 time in your calendar first thing in the morning. Here’s why: If you set your 30-minute challenge time for 4:30 in the afternoon, more often than not, your day will get backed up, and you’ll run out of time. Instead, read your book for 30 minutes first thing in the morning, hit the gym, or do some writing. You’ll not only have something positive checked off your list first thing, but it will give you positive momentum for the rest of the day.
3. Eat the frog. Productivity expert Brian Tracy has an expression: “Eat the frog.” That means if you have 10 tasks that must get completed on a given day, take care of the hardest, orneriest, most distasteful task first. You’re going to dread doing it all day, anyway. The anticipation of doing it is always worse than just doing it. So do it, and then you’ll build momentum for the rest of the day.
When you open your Outlook in the morning, you should see time blocked out for your most important meeting — your 30 minutes a day devoted to self-improvement. If you are the leader of your firm, you could spend 30 minutes each day focusing on a different member of your team. It could be building a better relationship with that person, getting them ready for the next level of responsibility, helping them pursue a professional development goal, or simply building more mutual trust.
Maybe you need to become better at listening — the reciprocal of communicating. The old saying goes: “There’s a reason why we have two ears and only one mouth.” How can you get better at asking questions? There are hundreds of books and online courses on this topic. Listening is what drives better relationships between you and your clients. Work on listening skills for 30 minutes daily: how to be a better listener, ask better questions and be more empathetic.
Suppose you recognize flaws in your firm’s client onboarding process. You could spend 30 minutes a day — for 30 straight days — improving a certain aspect of the onboarding process and making sure that it’s clearly documented. Again, ensure that the effort drives you, not the results, because you can’t control the results.
After 30 days
When you’ve completed your 30-for-30 challenge, it’s time to assess. Ask yourself: “What did I learn about myself? Did I commit? Did I follow through? How can I do better next time?” Then decide if you want to go even deeper on this topic the next time or choose something else to work on.
I know what you’re thinking: “I’m so busy, I don’t have time for this.” Really? I don’t know many people who are so busy that they can’t find half an hour somewhere in their schedule to focus on what’s most important to improve.
If you’re still hesitant to take the 30-for-30 challenge, find an accountability partner to help you stay on track. It could be someone inside your firm or someone outside the firm. It’s one thing to let yourself down, but it’s tougher to let someone else down.
How do you handle personal growth and professional development at your firm? I’d love to hear from you.
