Design your day: 17 Ways to take charge of your time

If we manage our finances, our emotions and manage other people, their time and sometimes even their money, then isn't it time we manage our personal lives? Here is 17 things you can do today to increase your productivity and ensure that you manage your greatest asset - you:

The "WHY" of what you do

Simon Sinek explains that the reason Apple's message is stronger than that of Dell for example, is because Apple first sells why they are doing what they're doing, then how they are doing it and lastly what the are selling. The same is true for every decision we make in our personal life. Instead of continuously looking at what is in front of us and what we can do about it we should  rather start by asking "why". For example:

Here's why Big Hairy Audacious Goals matter

The Boeing 747 prototype displayed to the public in 1968

Jim Collins, author of Built to Last, suggest that those who have Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) are more likely to be successful. Bob Galvin, a previous CEO of Motorola, said "at times we must engage in an act of faith that key things are doable that are not prove-able." Take the moon landing mission for example, President Kennedy said in 1961 that before the decade is out, we will land a man on the moon. That is certainly a BHAG. They did not go into a boardroom and tried to figure out how the vision and the mission will look like if they want to spend $549 billion on a space programme, because the goal in itself was easy to understand. July 20, 1969, President Nixon announced that the first man landed on the moon. This BHAG was so audacious that it was bigger that just one leader, and the mission did'nt lose momentum when the presidency changed. BHAG change the way that people are motivated, and here is how such a goal should look like:

The leadership paradox and the power of the AND

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. People are pushed to believe that things are either A or B, but not both. The same is true for leadership. A rational view that cannot easily accept paradox, is the idea that "great leaders lead from the front AND the back".

It is the same paradox we find in many other statements such as "you can have change AND stability"; you can be conservative AND bold; you can have low cost AND quality, you can have creative autonomy AND consistency and control; you can invest in the future AND do well in the short term; you can have self-confidence AND put the needs of others in front of your own.

Be a clock builder, not a time teller

In the book of Jim Collins "Built to last - successful habits of visionary companies" he explains that it is more important to be a clock builder than a time teller. This is a useful analogy simply because we all make the same mistake by trying to guess what the next big thing will be or over extending ourselves to develop products. Being a clock builder means to build a system or a structure that allows great things to happen. For example, if your company does not have a leadership programme to develop next generation leaders, it's not busy with clock building.

The company itself is the ultimate creation

The company is not a vehicle for products but the products is a vehicle for the company. Sony Corporation for example was started with a few core values and a clear vision, without even knowing which products they were going to sell.

How to increase your willpower

Willpower is a muscle like any other, and with the right skills this muscle can be trained. Willpower comes down to the ability to direct our attention and focus from things that give us instant gratification (chocolate brownies), to things that are more useful in the future (better waste-line). Willpower is not only something we can learn, but is something many people have not developed thoroughly between ages two and eight. Here's what you should know about how willpower works:

Three of the best debates ever - and what you can learn from them

Debating is not about having the most logical argument, not upsetting your audience or being able to convince your opponent. Debating is about telling the better story, not being boring and evoking one single emotion that your audience will remember. 

Here are 3 examples of the best debating styles ever:

Fokus geselsprogram op Pretoria FM

Luister hier na Charl Oberholzer, die programleier, en sy span: Prof. Koos Malan, Flip Buys en Heinrich Matthee, wat saampraat oor die volgende onderwerpe:  die SAUK, Monitor, Hlaudi, ens.;  Universiteite en Afrikaans;  Tswane-politiek en politieke geweld in aanloop tot verkiesing;  en Helpende Hand Skole-ondersteuningsentrum en die Wiskunde-onderwyskonferensie.  Die buitelandse fokus val op die Europese Unie in die lig van Brexit, waar Henrich Matthee se deelname aan die program hoofsaaklik op hierdie punt val. Dit is ‘n breë gesprek, maar die idee is om te probeer oordeel hoe die lyne getrek word en watter politieke kragte na vore tree.  Die Istandboel-bomme word ook bespreek.

Leierskapsles uit 1911 se Suid-Pool resies

Links: Ronald Amundsen. Regs: Robert Scott

In Jim Collins se boek Great by Choice verduidelik hy die teenstellings van die twee leiers. Ronald Amundson het in 1899 in voorbereiding 2000 myl met sy fiets tussen Noorwee en Spanje afgelê. Hy het met rou dolfynvleis eksperimenteer as 'n moontlike bron van energie. In sy voorbereiding het hy 'n pelgrimstog saam die Eskimo's meegemaak en so geleer om 'n slee met honde te trek. Hy het geleer dat honde minder sweet as ander diere en daarom minder oortollige sweet het wat in ys kan verander. En aangesien honde vleis eet gee dit hom die opsie om van die honde tydens sy Suid-Pool ekspedisie op te offer vir die ander honde. By Eskimo's het hy ook geleer om duk velle te dra wat los sit, om te help dat die vog verdamp en nie aan die klere vassit nie. Wat Amundson gedoen het is om nie te wag tot hy in die Suid-Pool is om sy probleme op te los nie, hy het voorbereidings getref vir enige scenario en seker gemaak hy doen voor die tyd reeds alles wat nodig is.

Bou só vertroue in die werksplek

Om werklik vertroue met jou kollegas, jou werknemers, jou kinders of vriende te bou moet ons eerstens verstaan wat in iemand se brein plaasvind wanneer hulle ons nie vertrou nie, en dan wat ons kan doen om vertroue te wen. Hoekom is vertroue belangrik? Verhoudings waar vertroue die vertrekpunt is stel bestuurders in staat om gemotiveerde werknemers te hê, ouers om beter verhoudings met hulle kinders te hê en maak van destruktiewe verhoudings konstruktiewe sukses stories.