In the previous newsletter I talked about the idea of a force field around you. This is called your excellence FIELD that helps you move on your journey to excellence. Over the next 5 newsletters, I will look in detail at each of these excellence FIELDS.

The first of these represents the F and that is FIRST

In simple terms first means deal with the hard stuff FIRST. Deal with the difficult tasks first because once you conquer those then the easy stuff is even easier because you've dealt with the hard stuff.

When I started my financial services group and started employing staff there was no real process of managing files. My staff would walk in every morning and be faced with the mountain of files in one pile. As we got busier I started noticing that the more difficult files just seem to take a lot longer. The natural tendency of the staff was to look at the file and say “Oh, that's too hard. I'll deal with it later” and then put that file at the middle or bottom of the pile.

When the end of the day arrived, the pile of files remained with the bottom half being a concentration of difficult files.

It took a long time to devise a system that forced them to deal with both the hard and the easy files in a single day. There is a chapter dedicated to this in my book “Dive in” where I talk about the Monday through Friday system. Essentially team members are only faced with 8 files per day (as opposed to a pile of 40 files) and are thus enabled and empowered to finish all 8 in a day.

As an aside, a while back. I was working with someone who was somewhat down and without making a clinical diagnosis, potentially depressed. Every time we spoke all he saw was this huge mountain that needed to climb.

I quoted him what one of my hockey coaches and running coaches taught me many years ago. That was when you run up the mountain, you look down at your feet. You don't look at the top of the mountain. You watch your feet for every single step of the way. And suddenly, miraculously, you'll be at the top of the mountain.

Whereas when you look at the top, you see the heights to which you must climb, and it seems impossible. But when you look at your feet and it's one step at a time, suddenly those steps accumulate into achieving the goal.

This is what the simplicity of the Monday to Friday system achieved. It allowed the team to works on the hard stuff FIRST.

We should be able to do the same thing in our daily work. We should be able to tackle the hard stuff first. Don't take the easy road, tackle the hard stuff. And then suddenly the easy stuff is even easier. And suddenly, we're at the top of the mountain.

As we move on this journey to excellence, remember the excellence FIELD and that you start with the first the first thing which is the hardest thing to get done, because after that, everything else seems easy.

I'll see you along the journey to excellence.

From being 6000ft underground in a mine, to starting an education business (that grew to have 4000 plus students) to spending years working in venture capital, I have has seen it all. I have listed companies on multiple international stock exchanges, and my financial services group has settled more than $3bn in loans over 20 years. I have a diverse work history combined with unique global research interviews with companies in more than 25 countries. Taking this knowledge and experience makes me perfect to work with leaders and managers on growing and achieving excellence, as I have experienced the rollercoaster myself, and know how to navigate the twists, turns and loops.

If you need me to have academic qualifications, I hold two Masters degrees; an MBA and MSc (Engineering) and am currently a Fellow of the MFAA (Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia), a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) (Professional Speakers Australia) and a Member of AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors).

My most important qualification is from the school of hard knocks and my most important skill is being able to listen to your needs and design a solution to help you.

In 2018 I published “Dive In – Lessons learnt since business school”

To find out how I can help you on your journey to excellence, book a free chat here https://calendly.com/rael-bricker/zoom

DO IT FIRST

As an aside, a while back. I was working with someone who was somewhat down and without making a clinical diagnosis, potentially depressed. Every time we spoke all he saw was this huge mountain that needed to climb.

Whereas when you look at the top, you see the heights to which you must climb, and it seems impossible. But when you look at your feet and it's one step at a time, suddenly those steps accumulate into achieving the goal.

I'll see you along the journey to excellence.

Rael Bricker

DO IT FIRST

As an aside, a while back. I was working with someone who was somewhat down and without making a clinical diagnosis, potentially depressed. Every time we spoke all he saw was this huge mountain that needed to climb.

Whereas when you look at the top, you see the heights to which you must climb, and it seems impossible. But when you look at your feet and it's one step at a time, suddenly those steps accumulate into achieving the goal.

I'll see you along the journey to excellence.

Are you Intense?

#mystongestself #myexcellentself

Rael Bricker