How do you start your day? Do you wake up aimlessly wondering what work will bring today or do you wake up knowing what you can do to change your life? Whether you work a full time job or are a stay at home spouse, your day can POP!!! You can make today a day where you kick some major butt or a day where the day actually kicks your butt. If you don’t kick butt every day, then you need to POP. POP is what I refer to as how I plan my day to get the best out of it.
What Is POP?
POP is an acronym for Prepare, Organize, and Plan. It is how I make sure that every day I work, I tackle the day. I prepare by making sure I know what my goals are. I organize tasks associated with each goal so that I know what is most important. I plan my day to ensure I have time to knock out those most important tasks. But is it also more than that. It is also how I prepare my mind to take on the day. I take one hour each workday to prepare, organize, and plan. And so can you. But why would you want to?
Why Should I POP?
You may be thinking, “I have a crappy job. I have one plan. Make it through.” Well, you may not care to be successful in your crappy job, but how will you make it out of that crappy job if you don’t? People who have crappy jobs tend to do crappy jobs. Or is it, people who do a crappy job have crappy jobs? I believe it is the latter. What if you approached your job differently and planned to kick its ass? I bet you would not be in that crappy job for long. You would excel and people would notice. The next thing you know, you don’t have that crappy job anymore. You have another crappy job. HaHa..just kidding. You are now on to something better!!!
You may be thinking, “I don’t have a job. I’m a stay at home spouse.” I believe the stay at home spouses work harder than the people with jobs, especially if you have kids. It’s a tough job to stay at home and run the house. People who chose to be the stay at home spouse have a big responsibility on their shoulders. It can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t prepare, organize, and plan. Without a little POP in your life, you may find yourself stressed out, overwhelmed, and questioning why you can’t escape to a day job.
Most importantly, POP will help you identify what you need to get done and put you in a mindset to do it. It will help you line up your dominoes so you can knock them all over. If you use your time wisely, you can also change your life in the process. Look what POP has done for me.
What HAS POP Done For The 5and2Guy?
I have been using POP every workday for the past couple years. Since April 4th, 2017 to be exact. In that time, I have been able to accomplish 18 of 28 goals I have set. I was able to take a service to market within one year of setting a goal, reading it daily, and completing tasks to get it done. Compare that to another software application I began building 13 years ago that still is not on the market. I was also able to hit my savings goals, expand my Financial IQ, start the 5and2Guy.com web site, and even write a book. Check it out on the right side of the screen.
On a more personal note, I made an effort to work on myself. I committed to doing certain things in that POP hour that would help improve my relationships, happiness, and overall success. I can tell you that I have better relationships with family and friends, now, than I’ve ever had. I’m also happier now in my life than I’ve ever been. I wake up each day excited about where I am going. And by going, I mean where my goals are taking me. You can too. You just need to take some time each day to prepare, organize, and plan a day of success. What does a POP hour consist of?
The 5and2Guy’s POP Hour:
I take one hour each day and invest it into having a great and productive day. Here are the things I do and the order in which I do them during my POP hour:
1. I ask myself, “What is the ONE Thing I can do today that will make everything else either easier or unnecessary?” I got this from The One Thing book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. It helps me identify my most important project to work on.
2. I go through my goals and list of tasks to work on. I schedule them in my Apple calendar in time blocks so I can knock them out.
3. I use an app called Tick Tick to record daily habits I am working on and their progress. This helps me see how I am doing with positive habits in my life.
4. I read an entry from my daily book of grace and faith. This helps me remember what’s important in life.
5. I ready my goals. Yes I read my goals daily (Mon-Fri) to remind myself of what I want to accomplish and ensure what I just planned is inline with my goals. Plus this keeps the goals in my subconscious so it picks up on opportunities I would otherwise miss. Some people say that is just luck, but I say “luck favors the prepared mind.”
6. I have three affirmations I say, one minute each. These are just some positive thoughts I want to sink into my mind.
7. I answer three questions in my Gratitude Journal:
What is one thing in my past I am grateful for?
What is one thing I am currently grateful for?
Who is one person I am grateful for today?
I use the Morning app to record this. This helps me practice gratitude plus will be something great for my kids to read once my time on Earth is done.
8. I send my wife and kids a daily text message, wishing them a great day. This keeps me in contact with them, let’s them know I love them, and reminds them of how special they are to me. I also send a text message to a random person wishing them a great day. The random person is typically a friend I want to stay in touch with.
9. I live by a list of 15 Principles. I read over my principles daily to remind me of how I want to live my life. This makes making life decisions easier.
10. I have a daily passage of enlightenment that I read. It reminds me to live in the moment and always be mindful of what I am working on.
11. I check my voice recordings and take any actions. I use the voice recorder on my phone to remind me to do things. If I am in the middle of something and don’t want to forget, I record a voice memo for myself and check them daily. This helps forgetful people like me remember things.
12. Lastly, I meditate for 10 minutes. This helps me calm down, improve focus, and puts me in a mindset to tackle my day.
Conclusion:
I know that seems like a lot. It takes about an hour to get through, but I do it every day because it’s important. It has changed my life. Have you ever heard the old saying, “What gets measured gets done?” Well, by reminding myself of these things daily, I get more things done and I do them with a positive mindset. This has helped me improve my productivity, my focus, and my overall happiness.
Most people probably won’t try this, and if you told me ten years ago I would have a POP hour, I would have called you crazy. But I don’t know where I would be without it. Give it a try. Identify the positive things in your life. Remind yourself of them every day. It doesn’t have to take an hour. Make it 15 minutes at first. That is how mine started. I moved it to one hour because I saw the value in it and added things to my list to improve in all areas of my life.
Give it a shot and watch it change your life!!!