Tweet

Driving With The Handbrake On! The Texas Smoothie.

Guest post by: Craig Jennings

Article Overview: Entrepreneurs get trapped - one of those traps is what Michael Gerber calls "Doin' it, doin' it, doin' it!" where the tyranny of the urgent prevents us from doing the big-picture things that made us entreprpeneurs in the first place. Jerry from Texas found a unique and idiosyncratic path out of that trap.

Driving With The Handbrake On! The Texas Smoothie.

Driving with the Handbrake on - a series of conversations with entrepreneurs



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Craig Jennings, Business Coach

The Texas Smoothie.
Jerry from Texas was a member of my Mastermind group. He was an internet wizard, self-employed, and described himself as “busier than a cat in a sandbox.” (Colorful Texas aphorism.)
It seemed he wasn’t getting as much accomplished as he wanted to, despite a heroic work ethic.
I asked him how much time he spent as a CEO, as A Manager, and as the Chief Employee, and he responded 10%, 40% and 50%. (I privately thought the CEO time might be close to zero.)
So we had a look at his day. Jerry arose early, hit the john, and then put 30 minutes on the treadmill. Then the kitchen, where he made Smoothies, one for him and one for his wife, who was now waking up. Then he took his Smoothie into his office, opened up his laptop, and dove in! And he was knee-deep in urgent, trivial detail from there on in.
What I hoped was to find a small but regular place in his routine for big, structural thinking, what to do next month or next year as opposed to the next minute.
My suggestion was that he turn off his computer at night, reboot it in the AM, and have a CEO moment while it booted up. If his computer was as slow as mine, that would get us 5-10 minutes of CEO time.
“NO!” Jerry was horrified. “I can’t let my computer go off-line even overnight. There’s no telling what might happen, or not happen.”
We negotiated, and here’ s what came out. When he walked into his office with the Smoothie, he would place it on the lid of the closed laptop. He would put his feet up on the desk, and while he slowly consumed the Smoothie, he’d have some leisurely CEO-time. The laptop stayed closed, and CEO time existed as long as there was some Smoothie left.

Read his testimonial. “This Mastermind group is all about accountability. Not only did we focus on action, every member of the group held each other accountable. I took action on my goals partly because I wanted to, but mostly because I owed it to my group to keep my word and be in action toward my goals.”

“The actions I chose to take were a result of a really creative conversation with Craig. The result was that I re-prioritized how my time should be spent, and that I had to allocate time every day for CEO activities. This “CEO Time” resulted in many changes in how my company runs today. The greatest advantage of “CEO Time” is that it keeps me focused on what matters most. The specifics are too many to list. My favorite thing in the world is now my “CEO Time!” This [program] helped me conquer something I’ve been procrastinating for years!”
Jerry has cleverly tricked his procrastination demon – now he gets his CEO Time with a Smoothie, before the demon is even up and around!


CEO Time is critical. It's what most small-business owners do best, and most infrequently. There's a huge payoff for CEOs who can structure a regular "CEO Time" opportunity for themselves.

Related Articles
  Mastermind
  Are You Suffering From Post Christmas Bulge?
  Get In The Mix With A Smoothie Franchise Opportunity
  A Cool Time Management Lesson From A Fruit Smoothie!
  A Day In The Life Of A Mixstirs Franchisee

Article Tags: 30 minutes, aphorism, business coach, ceo, conversations, craig, desk, handbrake, heroic work, internet wizard, laptop, mastermind group, rsquo, sandbox, smoothie, suggestion, treadmill, trivial detail, work ethic



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do You Want To Be Taught? - Hi Jeff Thanks for this forum it is a big help. My biggest problem is very much like GT. Driving traffic to my website and getting more sales. MichelleJ
Hi Everyone! - I am TIm May from San Antonio Texas, Am new here be my friend.
Big Texas Hello - Hi! I'm Brad. New to the forum here. I'm an entrepreneur from Texas. Looking forward to networking and meeting lots of great people.
Re: Big Texas Hello - Hi Brad, Nice to see you here, I will be watching for your posts and hopefully sharing our experiences. I love Texas even without ever going there but there is so much I want to see and have made it one of the must do trips in my life. regards, Mal.
JoeMastrianoCPA here.... - Hello, I am Joe Mastriano from Houston, Texas. I got interested joining this forum primarily of American entrepreneurs who are starting it out and in need of advise from any accounting related matters to IRS representations. Hear from you all soon...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Online Business Ideas: A Look At Various Options

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

What is the bottom line to you?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.