Ringmaster Literacy

I was reading about "Financial Literacy" a few days ago. It's a basic concept that is found in many financially-based books. Many tout it as the way to begin creating real wealth for yourself. Here are the 4 key elements:

1. Understand the difference between an asset and a liability.
2. Concentrate your efforts on buying income-earning assets.
3. Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses to a minimum.
4. Mind your own business.

As I reviewed the process I began thinking about how I could apply this same process to how I use my time and energy. Kind of a "Ringmaster Literacy" if you will. Would it have the same effect? Let's look at it:

Understand the difference between an asset and a liability. I would evaluate every use of my time from the perspective of how it would contribute to my purpose (asset) or take away from an opportunity to accomplish my purpose (liability).

Concentrate my efforts on buying income-earning assets. I would look for ways to invest my time to get the best return on accomplishing my purpose. Not just spending it with no thought as to its future impact on my success.

Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses to a minimum. Every potential distraction or interruption would take only the minimum amount of time and effort from me-unless it was an opportunity to further contribute to my purpose. Sometimes you might get a chance to invest in something that was originally not in your portfolio. If you have built up some "wealth of time" you might be able to invest in it-and reap the rewards.

Mind my own business. I would look at what is important to me and my purpose. I would be my own ringmaster more often and not let others run my circus.

Hmmmmmm... it just might work.

Three Ways To Disengage Your Performers

According to research done by Christopher Sibona, a graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver, the number 1, 2 and 3 reasons people get "unfriended" on Facebook are:

• Frequent, unimportant posts
• Posts about polarizing topics like politics
• Inappropriate posts, such as racist or suggestive comments

Couldn't the same be said for how we sometimes cause the performers in our circus to disengage from our circus? Giving too much information too often, introducing topics for discussion that have no purpose in moving work forward, or simply bringing up a conversation on something that violates someone's value system occur way too often in the workplace.

I have a friend who uses the answers to 3 questions to filter his words. He is the most respected man I know, and yes, he is a leader who has many performers who are willing to give their best effort to accomplish the objectives set before them. The questions are:

• Is it true?
• Is it necessary?
• Is it kind?

You may not choose the same 3 questions, but getting some guidelines in place might help prevent those moments when you push away those you need close to you-at work and in life.

The CAR Approach

One struggle we are frequently asked about is what to do when, in their words, "You have a ringmaster that thinks you can get it ALL done." It is true that people have unrealistic expectations of us, and it may seem that they are not sensitive to our current workload. One approach that may help you get to the truth is by using the CAR technique.

C is for Communicate. Ask yourself this question: What percentage of your workload do you think your boss or supervisor knows about? 75%? 50%? Even lower? So, let's look at it from their perspective. They don't know everything on which you are focused, so adding one more thing doesn't seem like a problem. When you are struggling under the weight of your workload, it is important to communicate what you are working on to your boss. This doesn't mean that you whine or complain. It simply means you let them know your workload so they can make better decisions (that's why they are the boss) about where and how to send along work to others.

A is for Ask. You should ask for help with prioritizing or reprioritizing your workload to accommodate this new request. Questions like, "How does this new assignment compare in importance to my current focus?" or "Knowing my current focus, what do you see as something I could reduce my time on so that I can focus on this new task?"

R is for Resources. With any new request made of you, you should ask for additional resources to complete the task. Resources could be assistance from someone else, additional time to complete another project or even physical space to create something. A good circus would never expect a new act to be performed without having to expend some type of resources to make it successful.

Above all else, remember this: If you aren't comfortable talking with your supervisor or boss about your workload, there's probably a bigger "elephant" in the room that needs your attention.

Who Is By Your Side?

Your relationships with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and your community are a vital and important part of your life. It is my opinion that it doesn't matter what job you have, what kind of car you drive, how big your house is, or the size of your bank account. What does matter are the people that walk by your side and go through life's experiences with you.

The challenge is that it takes a long time to develop and grow relationships and yet you can literally destroy them in a moment. Relationships are something that need to be constantly nurtured, developed and protected. Consider these basic ideas for building the relationships that matter to you:

• Say "Please", "Thank you", "I'm sorry", "I was wrong", "Forgive me", "How can I help?"


• Be considerate, good, decent and courteous


• Bite your tongue. Count to 10 when you are angry. Think before you speak.


• "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." If this is the case, think really hard of something nice and say it instead


• "Turn the other cheek", "...go with him twain", "...let him have thy cloak also."


• Remember that love is spelled, T-I-M-E. It is all about quality AND quantity of time spent together

When you put more of yourself into your personal relationships you will find that you will get more out of them. If you do the minimum to "just get by" what kind of results do you expect? Don't settle for minimal results.

Find Time for a New Thought

We truly live in the information age. It is amazing how easy it is to find "stuff" about most any subject. Sometimes it is too easy to fill our minds with trivia and quick "bites" of information thanks to TV, email and the web that we forget to actually learn new things and think new thoughts.

When was the last time that you:

• Attended a college or university class to learn something new?


• Read a "non-fiction" book?


• Attended or listened to a workshop, lecture or religious service?


• Learned a new skill or developed a hobby?

Learning should be a life long process. We should never stop thinking new thoughts, discovering new things and developing new skills and talents. Continuous improvement never ends. It is...continuous!