Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing
it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will
be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up knowing it must outwit
and outrun (at least) the slowest gazelle or it will
starve to death.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.

When the sun comes up, you’d better start running.

It’s not a pretty vision, but that little saying pretty
much sums up the world of business, doesn’t it?

Thousands of businesses in Australia die every year. And
with the state of the current economy, the bloodbath is
sure to continue.

But in my experience most people don’t start the day
running. They get up… shower… shave and prepare for
their day which is fine. But the first thing they do
when they get to work is CHECK THEIR EMAIL.

And that’s a big no-no in my books. Why? Simply because
you start the day by answering to everyone elses demands
rather than focusing on what you need to do to grow your business.

Checking your email is not really important. And in 9 cases
out of 10 it’s not urgent. Truth is, in the first 15 minutes
you start work, it’s critical you take control of your day.

Otherwise you end up getting caught up and letting the day
run you. Other people’s needs become more important than
your own.

Here’s what I try to do every morning. I am by no means
perfect, but I am getting closer to living by these rules:

1.A quick meditation and visualisation of my goals

2.Plan out my day, prioritising the top 6 things in order

3.Get to work

And only after I’ve done a couple of hours of work do I
resort to clicking that send/receive button on my email
to see what the rest of the world wants.

In short, I start my day running.  I start my day focusing
on the most important priorities which will get me from
where I am to where I want to go. That’s how you become
the metaphorical lion who catches the gazelle (goals).

I remember back when I was an employee (before I used to
affirm to myself on a daily basis “I will never, ever,
ever, ever, ever, ever, ever work for somebody else again –
and I never have since”) I knew these sales guys who used
to get to work half an hour late, have a coffee and a chat
for half an hour and then get to work.

I didn’t dislike them, but if I was their boss I would
have fired them. Because at the end of the day, they were
lazy gazelles who the lion would eventually eat for lunch.

That’s one way of starting the day slow and it requires
enforcing the habit of discipline.

But there’s another way of losing the game… even if you
wake up at 4:30am and don’t start running until 8pm.

I know a guy who does this. Works three jobs. Doesn’t see
his kids all that much. And doesn’t earn a heck of a lot
of money.

Why? Because he doesn’t have the right tools. He hasn’t
taken the time to fill his mind with the sort of education
which turns to gold.

You see, a doctor can earn far more than a tradesperson
because he has filled his mind with the right information.

And the same applies to the world of business – a business
person with the right tools can get twelve hours out of an
eight hour day and make more money than someone who works
from dawn to dusk, by simply furnishing himself with the
right education and tools.

“Survival of the fittest” used to be based on physical
strength. Today it is based on personal discipline combined
with getting the leverage you require through specialised knowledge. And you can get that specialised knowledge you
need to get more customers and be the gazelle who outruns
the lion (recession) by clicking here

All for now,

Scott Bywater