In many countries September is one of the most frantic months of the year. You may be back from a well-deserved vacation but email and requests for your undivided attention have been piling up. You may have taken your vacation earlier and enjoyed the slower pace of August. Now everyone is back and catching up: budget plans, yearly evaluations, sales conventions, product & services launches, promotion initiatives, strategic meetings, union negotiations… meanwhile, your kids are encountering a new regime at school. Anything to add to this list?

So, how does the motivated professional that you are go through this with poise and enthusiasm? More, how can you make every day an amazing day?

In my book What Color Is Your Sky? I introduced a deceptively simple but incredibly powerful method that has proved a game changer for many: “The Deliberate Morning Program”, or DMP. My clients often comment: “Be careful with this—you may get what you asked for.”

Here it is. Try it for a week. It’s highly addictive.

The Deliberate Morning Practice (DMP)

Objectives:

To identify the key tasks to create a very successful day. To design your action plan by looking at it as an already done deal. To live each day proactively.

End Results:

You become excited about your ability to walk the talk. You experience a sense of joy, profound satisfaction, and exciting possibility.

Instructions:

Visualize the end of your very successful day and reverse-engineer it by asking yourself: If I am at the end of today, what have I done to nail it? As you go through your day, focus on nailing each task—doing the right thing and doing it right—and focus on only one task at a time. This will strengthen your will and your ability to focus. Notice when you are being derailed from your initial plan and learn from it.

First thing in the morning, take about 20 minutes to perform the following routine:

Visualize yourself at the end of the day. Print a copy of the DMP template and write down, in order of importance, three key actions you accomplished today. Please pick important but simple and realistic events.
Ask yourself what obstacles have come up.
Ask yourself now how you have structured things so that nothing got in the way of making it happen. Write down how you have organized yourself to make sure that nothing or nobody stops you from doing it.
Now, plan your day with specific short and simple actions. Jot down anything that you need to keep in mind to help you stay on track. Anticipate obstacles, interruptions, distractions, and other challenges you will meet. Strategize on how you will manage to stay focused and get it done—whatever it takes.

At the end of the day, take a short moment to debrief on how it went. Learn from both the good and bad. What behaviors of yours were helpful? Ask yourself how can you perform even better tomorrow.

Click here to access the DMP template. I strongly recommend you print several copies, keep them in your desk at the office and at home, always within hand's reach if needed.

Hervé Da Costa

Are you facing serious challenges in your company? Simply drop me a line at sky@herve.com.