The Daily Blueprint to Win the Day
In most sports, particularly in high-speed racing, routine pitstops are crucial to performance. The driver’s life is in the hands of the crew as they make the necessary repairs that stem from pushing the car to the max.
Ross Brawn, Former Formula 1 Team Principal and Technical Director:
"A pit stop is where races are won and lost.
The speed and precision of the crew, combined with the strategy behind the stop,
can be the defining factor in achieving success."
Your travel business routinely gets pushed to full throttle. Volume is high, customers are more demanding, and oh, those changes. Policies shift, itineraries change and technology feels like we are spinning our wheels with bots rather than getting important issues solved with humans.
As the driver of your business, it is essential to leverage pit stops with a careful approach that may not seem like life or death, but when you are running at mock speed, without rest, your well-being suffers, patience wears thin, and the joy of work slowly seeps out of your existence.
Here is a proven approach to sustain you and your business:
The Blueprint for Success – 90 Minutes to Win the Day
Your race is won or lost in the first 90 minutes of the day. If your current practice is to do your planning in the shower, or into scribble down notes in a Zoom meeting, it is time for an overhaul.
Research shows that the brain is at its peak in the morning, thanks to our natural circadian rhythms that boost alertness and clarity. After a good night's sleep, our minds are refreshed and ideally poised to do the work. First step?
Decide, what is the most important task on your list?
The mistake most travel business owners make is not taking enough time to prioritize. When nothing is made more important than anything else, suddenly we are working and leading chaotically.
Without planning, we are treading water, and not gaining ground.
“Plans are useless. Planning is everything.”
- Winston Churchill
Here are a few tips for making that all important decision, what matters most, today?
1. Create a blueprint for success. A blueprint is a framework for planning, rather than the plan itself. It is time blocking for similar tasks to be done together. I have used this approach for over a decade, and coached thousands of owners and advisors on finding their own frames.
Set aside 90 minutes for each of these areas, or about half a day in total. That leaves plenty of time to respond to the urgencies of the day. Over time you will achieve a highly effective cadence for running your business.
a. Vision: Working ON the business –projects, priorities, programs
b. Growth: Growing the business – marketing, promotions, sales
c. Execution: Working in the business –meetings, conversations, time sensitive “to do’s”
2. Embrace Procrastination: We put off working on projects or priorities, especially if they are new, hard, and out of our comfort zone. The lie we tell ourselves is, “I’ll work on that when things slow down.” Things either never slow down long enough, or when they do, we still struggle to get started.
Work on the most important priorities first thing in the morning, blocking out all of the distractions – especially your phone.
Hold yourself accountable by working with a peer, a group, or a coach that can help you achieve what you are most passionate about AND are most likely to put off.
3. Leverage Your Crew: You cannot do this alone. The driver depends on the crew, and the entire crew wins the race. Recruiting and engaging the team to meet the growing consumer demand is the most important strategy in your business.
4. Know your Numbers: The evidence of what matters most to you lies within your numbers. Numbers people are strong risk takers because they have the facts to back up their vision. They also have a good sense of how they are spending their time. It only takes a few magic metrics to make a significant difference in your decision making and leadership.
When you prioritize, embrace what you are avoiding, leverage your crew, and know your numbers, business grows and life gets easier.
Enjoy the journey!
PS. If recruiting new advisors is an important priority for you, and you need help getting the right plan in place, join us for Recruiting Made Simple. It’s FREE and it may even be priceless. Space is limited, one time only: June 20th, 2024.
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