Ivy Lee method is so important in helping you focus on your vision just taking a few
days to think about and prioritize your micro goals for the next day and how they impact
your long term vision ensures that you are centered on your long term goals and it forces
you to keep them at the forefront of your objectives. Hello visionaries, creators, innovators,
entrepreneurs and leaders of all types. Hi, my name is John Miles and I wanted to welcome
you to this episode of the passion struck podcast where it is my job to interview high
achievers from all walks of life and unlock their secrets and lessons becoming passion
struck. The purpose of our show is to serve you the listener giving you lessons, tools
and activities that you can use to achieve passion Driven Life. Now, let the journey
begin.
Welcome to momentum Friday. I'm John Miles and I wanted to welcome you to Episode 29
of the passion struck podcast. Over the past three weeks we have had just some phenomenal
interviews and if you haven't had a chance to check them out, I would highly encourage
you to go back and look at those that we did with Vice Admiral Ted Carter, current president
of the University of Nebraska navy seal and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, my former Naval
Academy classmate and Dave Snowden, a world renowned expert on complexity science and
knowledge management, you're not going to want to miss any of those if you haven't had
a chance to check them out. If there's a person who you would like me to interview or topic
that you would like to hear, feel free to DM me on instagram passion start podcasts
are also Charles M swab said when a man puts a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit
on weekend. And he also said or a man to carry on a successful business. He must have imagination,
he must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing and one final quote from
him lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you and you
will be so surprised at what a happy life you will lead. I'm bringing up those three
quotes from Charles M swap today because I'm going to discuss with you one of the most
important methods I have found prioritizing time and last week I did the solo episode
on time management and before that I did an episode on living a pinball life. So this
is the third message that I'm doing in this series where I'm going to talk to you about
one of the best secrets that you can use to prioritize your time because basically if
you commit to nothing, you'll be distracted by everything but Ivy Lee method, if you haven't
heard of it before is an incredibly simple way prioritize your life by focusing on a
manageable number of tasks and are working to achieve your big picture goals. A little
bit of history here. Ivy Lee was an American publicity expert working at the turn of the
20th century and he is considered to be a pioneer in the field of public relations.
This method of prioritizing six tasks per day has helped entrepreneurs and businesses
worldwide achieve their goals along with many individuals helping them achieve their passion
driven success. And I can't wait to share and unpack the ivy Lee method more with you
today. Now let's get on with the show. In the early 1900s of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos
or Elon Musk of that time was a gentleman whose quotes I gave at the beginning of this
episode named Charles M Schwab. And if you're not familiar with him, he was an American
steel magnate as the CEO of Bethlehem Steel. He was the largest ship builder in the world
and also one of the largest steel manufacturers. At that time, Schwab actually owned a 44 house
estate if you could believe it that was equipped with a nine hole golf course. He even started
his own professional soccer team named Bethlehem football club. Schwab was known by America's
greatest inventor Thomas Edison is a master hustler. His competitiveness was second to
none. He was constantly looking for a competitive edge against his competitors, and he almost
always found one. It was in the early 1900s when oil industry magnate john D. Rockefeller
suggested to Schwab he should consult Ivy Lee at that time, Schwab wanted to increase
the efficiency of his business and bring out more productivity to his workforce. So Rockefeller
upon hearing that then suggested the consultant Ivy Lee and at that point Charles Schwab gave
him a call. The story goes that Ivy Lee asked for just 15 minutes with each of the Bethlehem
Steel executives the which Charles M Schwab asked what will the cost be and Ivy Lee said
back to him "nothing unless it works." After three months, you can send me a check or whatever
you feel it is worth to you and your corporation by the results that I achieved. And three
months later, Schwab wrote Lee a check for $25,000 which in today's money would be closer
to $400,000. Within a few years of that interaction Bethlehem
Steel would go on to become the largest ship dealer in the world. Can the second largest
steel producer in America and through that Schwab amassed a net worth of over $200 million
from Bethlehem Steel, and he was quoted later in life by saying it was the success of the
ivy Lee method and his involvement with the company that became the most profitable advice
he ever received. With that as a backdrop, let me go on to the
next segment where I'm going to talk about the six steps of the ivy Lee method and how
you can apply them for overwhelming success in your own life. The entire process takes
about 15 minutes each day and should be done the night beforehand. The first steps should
be done whenever you start a big project and it should be maintained and updated, if necessary.
throughout the project. Here are the six steps to obtain maximum performance and achieve
that passion you so desperately want in your life.
The first step is all about defining your vision. Clearly and concisely outline your
vision, your big picture, dream and the specific objectives that you want to accomplish in
your project, whatever it may be, that could be your business, your health, your lifestyle,
your wellness, the important thing is to focus on one thing in your life and what you picture
that vision to be in the future. The second thing is to list out the six most
important tasks in the next day to accomplish that goal. You do this the night before because
you really want to think about tomorrow. What can you accomplish in the next day that is
moving you closer to your vision, list out six practical tasks that you can do tomorrow,
that'll move you closer to it. And if you have more than six, remove the others from
your list. One of the most important things with the ivy Lee method is to only focus on
a small subset of real last is to only focus on a subset of realistic goals that you can
actually achieve Third prioritize tasks and then write them
out in a list form with the most important on the top and the least important on the
bottom Fourth complete the tasks each day begin with
the first task on the list and don't move on to the next task until the first one is
completed. And then once it is completed, cross it off your list and move on to the
next one. Fifth Move the unfinished tasks from that
day your tasks list for the next day. Simply put any of the goals that you don't achieve
today, it'd be moved to tomorrow's list and they don't need to go to the top of tomorrow's
list. It should be ranked in accordance with the other tasks that you need to complete.
In other words, if you don't complete something today, it doesn't make it to the top six or
the past that you need to complete tomorrow, remove it and consider if it was really necessary
and compelling book accomplishing your vision begin with I find this one extremely important
because sometimes learning which tasks get dismissed each day and being very, very valuable
in learning what your true priorities are. And
then the sixth most important thing is to repeat daily spend just 15 minutes each evening
prioritizing your tasks for the next day. Did you know that Forbes magazine recently
cited that 70% of individuals who do personal development, masterminds and one on one coaching
benefited from better work performance, increased communication skills in overall better relationships.
And we at passion strap are obsessed with self development, coaching and mentorship.
That is why we've created a free resource to help you unlock your hidden potential.
Because people doing great things in business in life are just like you only they've had
a coach along the way. And we've got that covered to let us show you the systems and
frameworks that we teach growth minded individuals to help them step into their sharp edges,
execute on their passion journeys and get predictable results. Time and time again.
Go to passion stroke comm slash coaching right now. And let's get igniting
The Ivy Lee method is something that's core to the passion struck process, which I did
in an earlier episode where our six steps are assess, prioritize ignite, execute, measure
and renew. And once you start mastering that passion stroke process, you can incorporate
the ivy Lee method into it and really the first two steps, the execute step and the
renew step. It's as simple as that. And you may be asking yourself, why does this work?
It sounds so simple. And that's precisely what it is. It is simple in a word. It's minimalism.
So many people get screwed up when they think of productivity because they think the more
complex something is, the more productive it will become an I believe just the opposite.
I believe its simplicity that really drives results. And that's why whether it's the passion
stroke process or the subcomponent the Ivy League method at simplicity and really help
you propel your dreams forward because so frequently when we're trying to make changes
in our life or our business, we fixate on a highly detailed plan that is so hard to
maintain, and in so many cases just fizzles out but the truth is simplicity works. It
works. In business, and it works in life. And the ivy Lee method is so straightforward
and easy to use, and it takes all the planning out of your day because the night before you
have already mapped out the six priorities that you need to get done the next day. And
wouldn't that make you sleep easier at night knowing what those are and what that task
list is that needs to be done. In essence, it takes away all the pressure of just getting
started. This becomes even more evident when you're trying to balance goals that may not
be related to each other. For instance, if you want to focus on your health, but you
put going to the gym or yoga class, we're doing some sort of exercise on the backburner
so that you can focus more on your work, you will find that you will skip the gym or that
yoga studio more often than not, but if the workout is always the number one thing on
your list, it will force you to make the time before you go into the office. Get it done.
As a co writer, author and podcast host the ivy Lee method forces me to choose what activities
I need to be focused on the next day and to prioritize them. When I sit down at night
and I think about priorities for the next day. I don't waste time considering my options
for what to work on. For the next day. I already had my list when I wake up and after I do
my morning routine, I can get started on the first item on my list. And Ivy Lee method
is so important in helping you focus on your vision, just taking a few days to think about
and prioritize your micro goals for the next day and how they impact your long term vision
ensures that you are centered on your long term goals and it forces you to keep them
at the forefront of your objectives. What I really love about this method is that
it forces you to make some really tough decisions about what is essential. How do you use your
time? And how do you get out of living a pinball life where you're reacting instead of taking
action on what is most important. And lastly, one of the most important benefits of the
ivy Lee method is it does not allow you to multitask. And as a society, especially as
we're getting more and more into our all digital futures. We have become worldwide a group
of people who just loves to try to multitask. And you know the reality a very, very small
percentage of people can actually do it some saying no one can do it. It's as if so many
people worldwide collectively have decided that being busy means being successful. And
yet there are so many studies that show it's the exact opposite. That's actually true.
And when you look at the experts in nearly every field, whether that's athletes stoppard,
slash surgeons, entrepreneurs, businessmen, breeders, visionaries, researchers, CEOs.
One thing that I have found by examining hundreds and hundreds of them is that they all tend
to be highly specialized with a narrow focus and sound. So what that means is that realistically,
you cannot excel at any one thing. If you are split constantly between many other objectives.
It's just as simple as that. So you may be asking Now, where do I use the ivy Lee method?
Well, I'll give you three ways right off the bat, and I'm sure you can come up with many
more. First is your job, whatever that may be. It's a simple daily tasks list that gets
you to focus on what is essential. And you'll find once you start, it's very hard to have
an unproductive day second at home, you could decide to use it weekly instead of daily,
it could help you with home chores, home renovations home projects, I jobs around the house is
think of it this way. Is it more important for you to fix a leaking sink or restore a
piece of furniture? Or is it more important for you to focus on a broken sprinkler system
or to plant new flowers in your flower bed, the third area to be on personal projects
for self improvement. And I find the Ivy League method is one of the most important things
I use and it's something that I teach each of my coaching clients because it's the perfect
system to get you moving daily. Really focus on those critical things in your life that
you need to change those obstacles you need to get over especially if you want to live
a passion driven life. And in summary, if you take just one thing away from this critical
message, it should be this do the most important thing first every day. I hope what I unpack
there will help you so much on your passion journey and improving your career improving
the way you prioritize your steps every day and taking a major step in controlling your
life, your career and your future. The Ivy Lee method is such an easy way monetize your
daily tasks and goals is something that you can easily incorporate to help you focus on
your long term objectives. Focus on those things that you want to achieve in your future.
This simple trip is an easy way to get you started each and every day with what is most
important and keeps you focused on your manageable objectives. And I hope you find this message
today actionable and that you will take the steps you will use this podcast and go back
to it if you need to as a guide to helping you implement and prioritize changes in your
life. And if you haven't caught those two episodes I talked about at the beginning the
one on living a pinball life and on the I don't have time syndrome, I'd encourage you
to go back and listen to Those two short episodes as well. Now like to end the show, I always
thanking everyone who listens to this podcast or watches it on our YouTube channel, John
Miles for taking the time become passion struck and for helping us make passion go viral,
and for this show to become one of the most popular in the world ranked in the top 1.5%
globally of over 2.2 million podcasts. And I couldn't do that without you, our audience.
So thank you very much. Now, I hope you apply this and you get igniting and becoming passion
start. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make passion go
viral. And we do that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to
unlock your hidden potential. If you want to hear more, please subscribe to the passion
stroke podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts at.
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notes for today's episode. Additionally, you can listen to us every Tuesday and Friday
for even more inspiring content. And remember, make a choice work hard and step into your
sharp edges. Thank you again for joining us.