The Missing Link #4: PRODUCTIVITY

Are you feeling stuck or paralyzed in your life or business? Do you spend way too much time on the internet, reading your email, drinking coffee or the equivalent because you just can’t focus on work? The fact is that many people are slackers and drifters, with mediocre lives…

The good news is that in the teleconference series on The Missing Link to Success, we look at the five components that I have found are central to creating a prosperous life. Here’s the formula:

PASSION + PURPOSE + POSITION + PRODUCTIVITY + PEACE OF MIND = PROSPERITY

As well as the article called The Missing Link to Success, which provides an overview of the whole series, there is an article for each of these ‘Five Ps’, so look for them wherever you found this article! I’m going to assume you’ve read the summary article plus the articles on Passion, Purpose and Position, because each components builds on the previous ones. Once you have reset the first three Ps, you are ready to improve your capacity to be PRODUCTIVE.

What does this mean? Why is it important to be productive? The main dictionary definition of productive is: “yielding favorable or useful results; being constructive; effective in achieving specified results.” (There are also specialized meanings in economics, medicine and linguistics, but the main meanings will do.)

In work terms, productivity means being able to focus on your assigned (or assumed) tasks, and to accomplish what you set out to do… whether as part of your job, vocation, hobbies or house-hold. For the purposes of this article, we are going to look primarily at work, because that is the prime worry for some people – and the primary delight of others. As writer Ursula LeGuin says, “Work is the lasting pleasure of life.” Wouldn’t it be great if that were true for you?

So how do you develop your productivity, and how do you use that productivity to create and sustain the work that you are here to do? ?

Unlike passion, purpose or position, your productivity is NOT laid out in your divine blueprint; it’s something you must develop yourself to support that blueprint. Productivity has five parts or components:

1. BOUNDARIES
2. DECISION
3. DETERMINATION
4. RESOURCEFULNESS
5. SELF-DISCIPLINE

BOUNDARIES are where you say ‘this is me, and that is you”, or “this is my job, and that is not”. So the first thing you need to see is whether you are in the correct job, work or career for you. It’s not about what you think or feel; those will keep you stuck at the soul level. If at all possible, get UP into spirit and ask if your work is obedient for you. That is, does your work take you into better alignment with your divine blueprint? If not, find something that you can be more passionate about, that is part of your purpose, and that takes advantage of your unique genius and position. (Do any of these concepts sound familiar? I hope so!)

Perhaps it’s time to identify, recognize and acknowledge exactly who YOU are, and then you will have a much better idea of who you are not – and then you don’t have to do those things that are not part of your job or assignment. Think of all the time and energy you will save! And the things that are part of your assignment can then receive your undivided attention, and you will therefore be more productive when you focus on them.

1. Do you have 100% of your correct boundaries?
2. Is anyone contaminating your boundary shields? How many? Identify?

DECISION is more than choosing this over that. Decision – decisiveness – is a frame of mind. To start with, you need to understand that you are the right person to make the decisions that affect your life. You must take authority over your own life and choices, and take responsibility for whatever you have decided.

When you realize that you have chosen whatever it is you do, then it becomes much easier to fix your attention on what you need to accomplish, both the end result and the steps required to achieve it. Decision allows and encourages you to stand up for what you need to do, to get it done and to celebrate the results.

1. Are you 100% ready, willing and able to make all decisions required for your life and work?
2. Is anyone blocking your ability to make decisions, or making them for you? How many?

DETERMINATION is what keeps your shoulder to the wheel until the job is finished. Effectively, determination is about making up your mind not to be sidetracked no matter what distractions, attractions or temptations come your way. You may not enjoy every step along the way to your goal, but when you are determined – and living in the Now rather than indulging in emotional reactions like dislike – then even irksome tasks are over quickly without too much irritation. It’s a matter of putting your whole attention onto whatever you have in hand.

1. Do you have 100% of your built-in determination?
2. Do you have blocks to your determination? How many? Identify?

RESOURCEFULNESS is the ability to see alternatives and weigh up which is the most useful in solving the particular problem in front of you at that moment. Competance absolutely depends on resourcefulness, in that when you find one thing doesn’t work, you must know enough (and be willing) to find alternatives. Otherwise, you will get stuck at the first stop sign, and never get to your destination. With plenty of resources, on the other hand, you will find away around, above, underneath or through any obstacle.

1. Are you 100% resourceful?
2. Do you have access to all your resources?

SELF-DISCIPLINE is the sum total of the previous four components, plus the emotional strength to keep at your work until it is complete. (Of course, it also means knowing when to quit!) Like every other lesson, self-discipline develops from small steps to large.

1. Do you have 100% of your self-discipline?
2. Are there blocks to your self-discipline? How many? Identify?

There you have it: boundaries, decision, determination, resourcefulness and self-discipline all make you more productive. If you want to make a success of your journey in life, your career through God School and your sojourn here on earth, then you must develop habits of productivity. If excellence is important to you – and I assume it is or you wouldn’t be reading this – then bring your productivity up to the highest level of which you are capable. Not only will your work be more pleasurable, but you will be able enjoy your leisure hours and activities with more zest and a clear conscience!