1. Understanding what is important The shortest path to personal effectiveness has to lie through understanding what is important for you. People try to do stuff they believe is important. Believing and knowing your priorities may not be enough to succeed, but that is definitely a starting point.
2. Setting goals We are bombarded with impulses: there are tons of unimportant things we fall for doing. Watching TV is the one biggest time consumer for many people.
However, if you know what is important for you, you can prioritize and you can set goals. The best goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
3. Managing time There is one resource that we cannot save. It is time. Managing time is probably not the best way to put it. We cannot manage time as it simply happens to us. What we can do, however, is manage our activities. To be effective, we need to give time to achieving our goals and less time to routine. Managing time is connected with the first two points: get the priorities and the goals right, and allocate time to pursue them.
4. Managing money The best thing about money is that you can save it. You can accumulate it. You can use it to help you achieve your goals. Not having enough money is bad. Impulse spending is the real evil. If you watch and plan your expenses, you will be a happier person in the end. Saving for the contingencies & important things is the way to go.
5. Managing emotions & stress Our happiness in many cases depends on our relations with other people. Relationships are easier to build if you are open, sincere and helpful. Leading a social life has been shown to give fairly positive results. Give it a try
6. Managing Health Good life has to be long. To make sure we have enough time to reach our goals, we have to stay healthy. It means good dieting, regular medical examinations and physical activities.
7. Hard work Personal effectiveness means nothing if it is not used. To achieve results, we have to work and work a lot. The hard work should be also smart work: it makes sense to focus on the most important goals and priorities and achieve success there. Spreading thin is stupid & ineffective. Going too narrow will make us overspecialized and less prepared to change. Hence, the balance has to be found somewhere.
