Hi everyone, its Pat here. I wanted to share some really interesting, meaningful, and relevant content for you today. I’m just back from an incredible conference in Vancouver. Now, the focus and the emphasis on the conference was health and wellness. One of the reasons that I went, just one of the many, I always have goals when I go to a conference, was actually for a change of scenery and a change of energy for me because, as many of you know, those of you who follow me, it’s been a rather difficult month to two months, and so getting away at times is a very good thing.

I went to the conference with three specific business goals. At the same time, as many of you know, I watch human behavior. I’m always taking notes, and on the trip home, I was rather reflective and came up with the content for today’s Facebook Live. I want to share with you four tactics to master your time and your life, because time is becoming more and more precious to me as I get older, and as I watch many of my friends who are ill and/or dying, so time is precious. So I’ve come up with some content summarized, four key tactics, which I know I’m going to be implementing on a very conscious and intentional way, and I want you to give consideration to this too.

One of the things that really meant a lot to me last week when I was in Vancouver is that one person, in particular, made an effort to drive in an hour, through heavy Vancouver traffic, to come and spend time with me. That meant a lot, but one of the reasons this all came together is because she’s been a friend for close to 20 years, if not longer, and the reason that we came together last week is because we had both made the commitment over all these years – she now lives in Vancouver and I’m in Ontario – to stay connected. So when an opportunity comes up to have face time together, it’s a no-brainer, and so that’s one of the key points. I was very grateful for that time together with her and with others in Vancouver, but let me give you the four tactics that I’ve come up with, which I believe will be helpful to you.

Number one is to plan your day. No-brainer, right? However, I know a lot of people get to the end of the day and they sit back and think oh my gosh, where did the day go? Where did the day go? For me, a successful life is nothing more than a string of successful days, and so that’s why I say to you make a plan for your day. Businesses have plans. Coaches work with plans. Clients work with plans. You should have a plan for your day.

I prepare mine at the end of the day for the next day. You need to figure out what works for you, but I highly encourage you, tactic number one, make a plan for the day. I call that intentional living. That’s really what it’s all about, intentional living. What I do is I make a list, I check things off, and most of you know I work in threes. I focus on three things a day, and nothing gives me more pleasure than checking them off as the day goes by, and when you get things done, you’re living productively. That’s what it comes down to.

Also, my thought on this is the fact that daily accomplishments are the building blocks of a successful life. Take that in. Daily accomplishments are the building blocks of a successful life, so plan your day. That’s tactic number one.

Number two, and this is something I do, and again, oftentimes when things come easily to us, I know we sit back and we think everybody does that, don’t they? I’ve come to realize, especially lately, most people don’t do this one. So number two tactic is to make an appointment with yourself. In your calendar, those of you who do have a plan and those of you who want to live your best life, make a plan for yourself. In other words, schedule yourself into your calendar and make it non-negotiable, and it’s not that you need to explain to anybody what that time block is for.

For me, for instance, I was going to yoga at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It just showed I’m out of the office, no explanation required. It’s my business. It’s my life. However, having that in the calendar makes it a non-negotiable because that is for me and I’ve scheduled me in there, just as any commitment to anybody else – client, vendor, supplier, team member. It’s non-negotiable, so make an appointment for yourself. Put you in there.

I know that most people have conversations like this, and I’ve listened to it. I heard a lot of this last week, “Oh, let’s talk sometime. Let’s get together sometime. Yeah, let’s do that soon.” Well soon is not on the calendar.

I had an email from my best friend in Alberta, West Coast, this morning. She said, “I’m sorry I missed you this weekend. Let’s talk next weekend.” So I wrote back and said, “Absolutely. How about Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern? Does that work?” She wrote back and said, “Yes, let’s put it in the calendar.” That’s the way you want to live your life, intentionally. Those conversations around let’s get together soon most often don’t happen, and that leads to regrets. You don’t want that, so make an appointment for yourself and get that in.

What this tactic does, making the appointment, first of all it helps you get things done. Secondly, it helps you to avoid procrastination, and that’s a big one for many of you. Thirdly, scheduling yourself in creates self-discipline, particularly when it comes to scheduling in your self-care, your exercise, your time with aging parents perhaps, so it really develops self-discipline. Lastly, it really teaches you to respect your time. Isn’t that important too? Respecting your time? Because, again, life is short. That’s tactic number two.

Number three is use the “a little bit at a time” approach. I have the habit, and I call it a success habit, of working in 15-minute time blocks. I always, always, always have my timer on my phone set in 15-minute time blocks for me to get something done. It helps me to stay focused. I really come to respect and acknowledge how fast fifteen minutes goes, and yet I just dive right on in and get things done, so you might want to look at that approach, in a little bit at a time, particularly when you’re working on a big project.

Right now, I’m working on my book, and my buddy Carrie and I are both working on projects, so like I said last week, we set up our accountability work time. This morning we were accountable at 10:30. We checked in, what are you doing? What are you doing? At 11:30 we checked back. These are big projects. You’re not going to get a book done in an hour, but I will tell you when you schedule a little bit at a time for things like writing a book, I have friends who are in the process of listing their house for sale. When you consider the whole concept of decluttering after living in a house for 30-35-40 years, that’s not going to happen in an hour either. Do a little bit at a time, schedule it daily, be consistent in the time that you schedule it daily, so again, it becomes a habit and you’re making progress. And that’s a good thing because it goes back to my other tactic on checking things off. The same time every day. Be consistent.

Number four is know your most productive time. For me, it’s morning. We all have a body clock. Figure out and acknowledge what your body clock is telling you. Mine is morning. I’m very productive in the mornings and then I start to fade in the afternoons. That’s when I do different types of work. Oftentimes it might be phone calls or answering emails, or whatever the case might be. Know your body clock, figure out what times works best for you, and go with that.

I would say that part of it, and actually all four tactics, will help you be productive, live your best life, live intentionally, and what it also does is it removes guilt, it gets you past procrastination, and what I love to wrap it up with is the fact that successful and happy people don’t find time, they make time.

In my morning reading today, I was reading Ephesians chapter 5, section 16. It tied in beautifully with what I wanted to share today. It says, “Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days, because tomorrow is promised to no one.”

All right. That’s it. Four tactics. Choose one, choose three, choose all of them, and go make it your best day. Thanks for being here everyone.