Randy Wheeler, with Wheeler Coaching, shares tips to help you prioritize for success by figuring out what’s most important and how to focus your time.
Here is the transcript from the presentation:
Jamie: Let’s give Randy a hand.
Randy: Alright, well, glad to be here everybody. I’m excited for what I’m about to talk about.
Randy: Do I have the ability to share my screen? I will have the ability, OK, share screen. I do, awesome. So, is it, screen share is loading, and there it is, there we go.
Randy: So, today, what I’m going to be talking about is, I’m gonna be talking about prioritizing for success.
Randy: So, I don’t know about you guys. When I get to Sunday night or for maybe some of you might be Monday morning, I’m thinking, ohh the week is ahead. Well, I got a lot of things to do. What do I focus on?
Randy: It can be like a stressful time or it can be a productive time. I can get through. Even today, I’m looking at my calendar. I’m like, OK, where do I need to focus? What’s gonna move me forward?
Randy: So, my goal is, during our time I have two simple goals. In this 20 minutes, here is #1, provide something of value that you can take away, something that you will be able to take away and apply immediately. I have an opportunity for you to get a little tool here at the end. And then, for some of you, you may be like, hey, I wanna dive deeper into this and go further with this. I promise I’ll provide an easy next step for you.
Randy: Great. So, you already heard about me, but I’ll tell you a little bit about me again. I’ve been married for 23 years. If you did the math earlier, I’ve been my, almost 23 years in August, I have three kids, and by the end of the summer, they’ll be 18, they’ll be 15, and they’ll be thirteen. So yes, three teenagers. I need all the help I can get to not be driven crazy, two of them about to get their license, probably pretty close within each other. So yeah, there’s that.
Randy: Owner of Wheeler Coaching and Maxwell Leadership Executive program leader and faculty member. Just real quick, who is John Maxwell, if you don’t know who he is. He’s written about 100 books on the topic of leadership. He’s asked by world leaders to come in and do country transformation, which they’re launching a new country here in July. And I’m gonna go down and help with that. And they’re in Panama and the country of Panama, which that would be really fun. And he’s been named number one leadership expert by Inc magazine. And that’s just a little bit about him. Why do I tell you that? Because some of what I’m going to share with you comes from what he’s written about.
Randy: I love what he says here. John says this, he says that leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. That’s the Law of Priorities and the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.
Randy: So, when you look at our calendar at the beginning of the week, whether it’s Sunday night or Monday morning and we’re like, OK, what am I doing, and we may have a chock-full calendar, but are we being active or just, or productive? And my hope is that I can help you take a step closer to being productive every day that you, that ends in day.
Randy: So, what I’m going to look at is what I call macro prioritizing, micro prioritizing, and nano prioritizing. You’re kind of like, what the heck is that? Don’t worry, I’ll show you in just a minute.
Randy: Macro prioritizing, back in 1960, I was not alive then, but back in 1960, President John F. Kennedy, he said by the end of this decade, we are gonna put a man on the moon. And nine years later, the vision lived beyond him, and nine years later there was Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon and becoming the first man on the moon.
Randy: Why do I tell you this? Well, John F. Kennedy kind of showed these three macro priorities. The first one is purpose.
Randy: OK, purpose is why we doing what we’re doing. Why do you do what you do in your business? Why does your business exist? Why do I do what I do? Well, let me back up. Years ago I was a strength and conditioning coach working with athletes, and I was a couple of years in and I’m like, why am I doing this? And I came to the conclusion, and I would tell parents all the time this, I would say, hey, I’m here to help your son or your daughter develop the discipline and responsibility that it requires to accomplish a goal, and in the process become great leaders of whatever they do.
Randy: It gave me a why. And when we know our why, on the days we’re looking at that schedule on Sunday night or trying to pull ourselves out of bed on Monday morning,Ww know why we’re doing what we’re doing. We’re knowing the bigger purpose behind why we do what we do. And that helps us to know what to focus on.
Randy: The next one, when John F Kennedy, why did John F. Kennedy say that? He said he gave the vision, and we’re gonna put a man on the moon. That’s the what. That’s the what am I gonna accomplish in the next, you set the period of time. Maybe it’s a year. Between now and the end of the year, I want to hit this. This amount of money or impact this amount of people’s lives, whatever it is. John F. Kennedy’s purpose was, hey, the Russians already sent somebody or ahead of us in the space race. We can’t have those Russians ahead of us, so there is a bigger purpose, because on the third piece is values.
Randy: The value of freedom. That’s what America stood for at that time and still does. The value of freedom they wanted to be the first ones that get a man on the moon and win that race. Who knows, maybe, maybe John F. Kennedy was pretty competitive and he wanted to just went cause he valued winning a competition.
Randy: I had a friend, I have a client that I’ve worked with and she was trying to, she was struggling with, where do I need to focus my time? What do I say no to? And so, I took her through this activity, and in this activity, what her job was to figure out her top five values. And she, through this process, which I have this, the ability to provide that to you later, but through this process is, she determined, OK, these are my top five values. And then she determined, what do I not need to do. What should I not be saying yes to? I got a good opportunity here, but maybe it’s not that important to me.
Randy: For example, maybe you have an opportunity and it’s gonna take you traveling a lot. But, you have a family, and you value your family and time with family highly, so you’re not gonna choose this offer. You’re gonna say no to a good opportunity that may be lucrative, to say yes to a value that’s more important to you.
Randy: So, here’s what I want you to do. For a second, write down what’s your why. Write down what’s your why? Why are you in business? What will sustain you beyond on those days you want to quit?
Randy: OK, now write down what’s your vision between now and, you set the time period. Maybe it’s just, vision could be as short as just, between now and the end of the month. But, what’s your vision of, what’s something bigger that you’re reaching for?
Randy: For me there, that idea of vision, there’s a number right above my desk here. And that number is not a number I will reach in one year, but it’s a number that stands for both revenue and lives impacted. And I keep that number in front of me to remind me what I’m working towards.
Randy: Alright, you may, did anybody, and you may have, to give you values, I can’t take you through that whole exercise right now. But if you wanna write down what your top few values are, if you know them off the top of your head, write those down so you have them in front of you.
Randy: Now the reason to put, get clarity on these three is, cause what it does is it creates the foundation for you. It creates the foundation to make decisions and to know what to say yes to, what to say no to. To keep you focused on where you want to go, it’s kind of like a lighthouse. If you’re out in the dark in a storm and there’s a lighthouse, that lighthouse shows you where you’re headed. This kit provides you lighthouse so you can set your priorities.
Randy: Alright, so that’s your macro priorities.
Randy: Now let’s look at micro priorities. So, Kennedy, he said, OK, we’re gonna put a man on the moon. Well, they had to create a whole institution around this idea, and they had to create NASA and these guys in NASA, they’re just trying to figure out what the heck they’re doing with the resources they have or don’t have, so they had these questions, they probably had to ask. Were they asking these exact questions? Probably not. But they had to determine on the day-to-day, what are our priorities?
Randy: In this book, Developing the Leader Within You 2.0, John Maxwell gives us three questions and I want, as I share these questions, I want you to write down, pull out your paper, write down your answers to these questions. This is called learning a little and doing a little. I don’t wanna just hear me talk, but think, OK, how can I apply this? What can I do with this?
Randy: So, the first question to ask is this. What is required of me? What is required of me? Go ahead, and let me open it up in front of me, maybe, there it is. I’m gonna open up the chat, go ahead and put in the chat the things that are required of you. This is what that means. The things that you and you alone can do or you and you alone should do. That no, that cannot be delegated off on this somebody else.
Randy: Like maybe it’s the finances in the business. Maybe it’s, maybe if you are the content creator, if that’s part of what you do, then you are the only one that could do it. Maybe, maybe not. There’s people that can write for you, but you gotta decide that. What is required of you that only you can do it, and it may only be a couple things. Take a minute. Think about it and then throw it in the chat. I wanna hear what you got to say on that one.
Randy: You know, financial planner, you can’t get that one off, Jamie. Meeting new clients, OK. Generating new content, seeking new meaning, ideas, and venues, teaching, and training. And providing leadership for the team, creating engaging and relevant content. Alright, very good.
Randy: So that, so you got at least some of the, you gotta start, this is what’s required of you.
Randy: The next question that John suggests is, what gives me the greatest return? What gives me the greatest return? So, those are the things that OK, if when I do this, so you’ve got the required things, then there’s these things that like, OK, I can do these, I don’t have to do them, but by me doing him, does it give me personally a great return and also does it give us as a business the greater return by me doing it?
Randy: So, what are some of the things that you would put it, go ahead and put in the chat, what are some things that give you the greatest return? Because it may be something that you can do, but that does not mean that you should do it.
Randy: Ryan, new content definitely converts gains new members, OK. So, what else gives you the greatest return that just because, but then again, just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should do it.
Randy: So, maybe another way to look at this and say, OK, is there something I need to stop doing because it’s not giving me the return and either stop doing it completely or give it to somebody else. Meeting new people. OK, outreach for Spotlight keeps new guests. OK, so that gives a great return for you, OK. Posting on social media. So, the question is, is that something the next level question there is, is that something you should do or is that something at some point have somebody else do? Calling potential prospects, cold calling, OK. Thank you, Brianna.
Randy: Our third question, and just like John- Ohh, got another one, someone else needs to do it, but I still need to review all the content. Yeah, making it probably, yeah, you gotta make sure it’s in compliance and everything like that. Especially in certain industries. Good, good point, Jamie.
Randy: Like John says, just because you can do something does not mean you should do it. So, let’s go down that road for a moment.
Randy: On the flip side is there something that you’re doing that you should get off your plate. That when, maybe when the resources are available, what is it? What is it? What should you get off your plate?
Randy: Data entry, OK, opening new accounts, OK. Social event planning. OK.
Randy: Then I’m going into the coaching mode here, but the next question is for you. And you don’t have to put this in the chat. Maybe just jot it down is, what do you need to do? What’s your first step to get that off your plate? And that maybe, hey, grow the business so I can hire somebody to get it off the plate or something else.
Randy: Alright, I’m just giving you time. We don’t have time at our command to dive really deep into all this, so I’m just, I’m gonna keep us going here.
Randy: Let’s, we talked about what is required of me. What can all, what should I and only I do as the owner of the business is,nad the role I fulfill in the business, what is it that I is required of me and no one else can do it?
Randy: #2, what gives me the greatest return.
Randy: #3, this one can be tricky. Sometimes we may not have the luxury of completely living into this. And this next question is what is it that brings the greatest reward.
Randy: I have a friend of mine that’s in Maxwell leadership and he’s grown his business to such a point that, you know, he can kind of try to choose and pursue who he wants to work with. So, maybe the reward is being able to choose who you work with, which may mean you get rid of some clients. You kind of fire them, or do you just move on from them? Not cause you don’t like them, but it’s just, you’re creating room for working with the people you want to work with. Because he’s now focuses on a couple of different industries which he’s passionate about, and that’s who he works with.
Randy: So, Jamie, you said, what brings you the greatest reward is solving problems for people they didn’t even realize they were facing. OK. What Brian- Ryan, and Brianna, what do you mean? Did you want to expand on that? See you unmuted there, Jamie.
Jamie: Well, I was just gonna. So, I have a meeting tomorrow with a couple and they wanted to set up a trust for their family. And through the conversation with them, I realized that they own 50% of a business and 100% of another business. But the business they own 50% of, they have no plan whatsoever. If something were to happen to one of the four owners. And we’re gonna talk through a situation much like Brianna talked about earlier with the succession plan. And she is also the key person in the business. So, if something were to happen to her, there’s a very good chance the business would go under, and we need to come up with a plan to have that. And that’s a problem that, I can promise you, tomorrow morning they don’t even know they have. Or, if they do, they don’t know there’s a way to solve it. And, by lunchtime tomorrow, we’re going to have a plan in place to figure that out.
Randy: Well, that’s great. I love it. Seeing clients succeed, tell me more, Ryan.
Ryan: So, when working with somebody who’s passionate about their business, I’ll give you a great example. I think everyone here knows Denise Praul, and I’ve worked with her. At the end of our meetings that she feels a sense of accomplishment and of relief that all of these things that she was, not, that she had a hard time with putting together, we were able to zip through, and she knew moving forward that all of the pieces of what she needed to do was right there, step by step by step. So, she not only got it done faster, but it actually was getting done consistently, which keeps her audience growing too.
Ryan: So, that sense of accomplishment that she knows that it has a benefit to how her business works moving forward. That’s a really great feeling to see a client have is to know that they’re off to the races now.
Randy: Brianna, you said providing education and access to resources that business owners did not know were available. Do you want to expand on that one?
Brianna: So, a part of my role is going out and meeting business owners and networking events similar to this. And then also just around the city and all the time. For me it’s just second nature, and it’s just things that I know based off of my experience. But just talking to people and hearing their problems and then being like, Oh well, did you try this? And then they’re like, oh, no, I didn’t. I didn’t even know that I could do that, and so just providing them with that knowledge and education. And yeah, letting them know that there’s hope and that there’s an answer to the problems that they’re having and that they don’t have to just suffer through it. So, similar to what Jamie had mentioned earlier.
Brianna: Some of the things that we do and that we know about, you know, especially me only being in the business for about three years in the coaching industry. Yeah, just being able to provide something new and new perspective to help them feel better about their business.
Jamie: Thank thanks, Brianna.
Randy: So, then the question here is, OK, when we’re prioritizing, where are we putting our time? What do we need to keep? What do we need to eliminate?
Randy: And now I’m gonna go to nano priorities. Cause that’s gonna we’re gonna get into, there’s gonna be a tool that’s gonna help you figure out, where do, where am I investing my time and where am I spending my time?
Randy: So, this nano priorities. John Maxwell says this idea all the time. Here’s the thing. We all have uphill dreams. We have uphill visions of where we want to go. We have these big ideas, big dreams of what we want to do. But we have downhill habits. Brian Tracy said this, he said that successful people are simply those with successful habits. And when we get to this idea of nano prioritizing, we’re looking at our habits.
Randy: Now right here, if you want it, you can, you’re welcome to access it right now. I call it a calendar calibrator. So, if we look at our calendar, I have this weird thing about me. I don’t know if it’s because I spent so many years in a in a weight room and like on a 7-minute timer. So, like my brains, like, wired to think in like 7-minute intervals or something like it’s just natural and weird for me. But this calendar calibrator is, it’s basically gonna take your day and look at your day. And it’s gonna give you a tool to to break it down. And this is set up in 10-minute increments. I have one that’s set up in in 15-minute increments as well. And look at your day and just track your day. Maybe it’s for just a day. Maybe it’s for a week. Maybe it’s for longer period of time.
Randy: And then step back and look, OK, what am I doing? What do I need to keep doing? What do I need to stop doing? And what habits do I see forming? Like, if you track for a week. Ohh, is this habit serving me? Ohh, at about, you know, 12:15 every day, I just start scrolling on Facebook for 30 minutes. Well, is that helping you get towards your goal? Unless you’re building, intentionally building some relationships, but when people are scrolling, they’re probably not moving towards their goal. So, that’s the tool that you can dive into and utilize.
Randy: So, in my calendar, even today, I had a window where nothing was, like, in there. And then I go back into my calendar, my Google Calendar and I put in there, OK, this is what I did and I couldn’t remember what else, which is not a good thing because that’s a sign I was not using my time productively. So, I put a little question marks. I knew I did some emailing and then put question marks. So, then when I come back to my calendar at the end of the year and I reflect on how did my year go, I’ll see where I have gaps.
Randy: Another way you can use your calendar and look at your habits, your nano prioritizing, is you can say, OK, what do I need to stop doing? What do I need to evaluate whether I should do or not and what do I need to keep doing?
Randy: I’ve come to the end of my year around between like Christmas and New Year’s, and I look at all the things I’ve done and then I think, OK, what’s the return I’ve gotten on the time I’ve spent in that group, for example. On some groups I’ve spent, moved to spending less time with because I haven’t gotten a lot of return from a business standpoint or any other way, and sometimes I get, I move away from a group because just other opportunities that are giving me greater return, both professionally and personally are raising up, and I need to invest my time there.
Randy: So, this is a tool that you can use to kind of evaluate how you’re doing.
Randy: Now, I told you at the beginning that I would give you, I promise you, first of all, has this been helpful? Have you gotten something practical you can take away? Yes, no? You’re at least kind of nodding your head and telling me. Thank you.
Randy: So, we talked about this, we said get clear on your purpose, your vision and values. That’s the the macro, that’s the foundation. Next, apply those 3R’s, what’s required of you? What gives you the greatest return? What gives you the greatest reward? And then, finally, take that calendar calibrator tool, use it, use it and evaluate, how am I using my time, how am I prioritizing my time?
Randy: Now there’s other tools that I didn’t have time on my command to dive into, but what I’ve done is, I’ve just created a resource to help you kind of go to take the next step and dive deeper and that resource, if you go right there, you can get that resource. It’s called Prioritizing for Success and taking maybe 30 minutes, maybe. Takes you through like 5 different modules between a short video and some activities in each module. Thinking deeper into your purpose, vision and values, thinking into your goals, thinking into some tools for prioritizing your day and that you’ll have and be able to implement. And, because you all are here, I’m feeling generous. If you use that coupon code, it’s 50% off. It’s just available between now and a week from now, so if that’s of use to you, great. I hope you can use it.
Randy: I hope it can add some more extra value to you, but and with this kind of thought, the Law of the Lid says that our leadership, our ability of leadership selves, determines our level of effectiveness. That’s not exactly how it says it. I messed up, but that’s alright.
Randy: But, everything rises and falls on leadership and our ability and how we lead ourselves. Our leadership ability determines our level of effectiveness and part of our leadership ability is how we lead ourselves in this area of prioritizing.
Randy: We talked about the macro, the micro and the nano. The nano is just change one habit. And if one habit is just getting up early and creating a morning routine or going in to bed at a certain time every night to help you be more effective, then you’re moving in the right direction.
Randy: I hope you guys got a lot out of this. I hope this was helpful and I appreciate Ryan, thank you for the opportunity to be here and I hope it serves you and this community well.
Jamie: Thank you so much. Anybody have any questions they want to ask Randy?
Jamie: Randy, have you noticed that you developed a niche for your coaching clients? Is there a certain group that you gravitate towards or what’s a great referral for you?
Randy: I really enjoy working with small business owners. I have a couple of clients in the, I don’t know, like, construction kind of industry, clients that are that are more on the blue collar side of things and I’ve worked with other organizations, really small business owners as a thinking partner for them. And then also we’ve done some work with some banks.
Randy: So, I’m kind of, I haven’t gotten, like, this is definitely, ohh, I just love working with them, but I do enjoy working with those, in the kind of trade / blue collar, it’s just, they’re down to Earth. They’re hard working down to Earth people. And I like it.
Jamie: There you go. And are you focused mostly here in central IN or are you able to work anywhere now?
Randy: I am able to work anywhere. I have some clients, work with some clients in the Cincinnati area. I’ve worked with some clients near Chicago, but I can you know, I can work anywhere. I can do what I do virtually. I can travel as well but a lot of it by intention. I, remember, I have three teenagers. It’s stayed a little bit more in the Indiana, Indiana and vicinity.
Jamie: Anybody else have any questions they’d like to ask?
Jamie: Alright, let’s give-
Brianna: Question, I want.
Jamie: Sorry, go ahead.
Brianna: I want to know, what your routine for success is on a daily basis, or if you have one?
Randy: I get up between 4:00 and 5:00 AM and I go down and I read and I journal and then I head to the gym by about 7:00, usually about 7:30, I am getting to work. I bet, when I have creative work to do, if I don’t have a meeting at 8:00 or at 7:00, cause once in a while I do. If my, I found that my creative juices are flowing best in the morning. So, when I have to create something, I’m best then and then I’m usually in bed by, you know, 10 at the latest, but I again, I have three teenagers. Sometimes that’s hard because they’re all wanting to be up forever. And then what I do is, I use my calendar, and I plan out my day on that calendar, like, white space on my calendar. I’m all for it in that white space. We need white space for the unexpected. But at the same time, if I have a lot of white space, especially from the hours of nine to five, it bothers me. I get kind of mad at myself.
Randy: I’m, like, I’m not being productive, so, I think, OK, what’s ahead of me? What do I need to be planning for if I don’t have a meeting that’s coming up, or if there’s not somewhere I can go network and meet new people or phone calls to make, I just try to figure out what, and can I put in my day that is going to be a good return on my time. What did, what business building activities can I do? So, I mean that’s kind of what I do.
Randy: And then, I, you know, when I read lots of books, but that’s, and that’s intentional cause I gotta readers or, you got, if I wanna be a leader, I gotta be a reader, and if I wanna keep growing, I gotta keep reading, so, that’s kind of my routine.
Randy: Get up, have a structure in the morning, I read, like, for 5 minutes before I go to bed because that’s about all my body will let me. That’s how I kind of slow down. In the middle, I try to live a very structured, intentional, purposeful day. Does that help?
Brianna: Sure does. Thank you.
Jamie: So, like, great question Brianna. I’m guessing the way you finished that sentence, that means intentional living may be one of your favorite books.
Randy: It is a, yeah, it is one of, it’s not my favorite book of John’s., of John Maxwell’s, it’s Failing Forward. But he did just come out with this one and if you wanna work on communication, this one is fantastic. 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication. I read that, devoured it. Wanna kind of keep going through it and processing it. It’s kind of like the Dale Carnegie book that you showed, Ryan. It’s along those lines because it’s a very practical on, about communication.
Jamie: There you go. The one thing I love about John is, he’s just so, even he gets excited when he’s on stage, but when he reads his books, his audio books, he’s just so even. And I like to listen to a lot of things when I’m mowing the grass and I cannot listen to John Maxwell when I’m mowing the grass because he doesn’t talk over the sound of the lawnmower, no matter, no matter how loud I try to turn it up, I can’t hear it and I can listen to a lot of other things. But John, I can’t. It always makes me laugh, but I do have quite a few of his books and they’re fantastic.
Jamie: Awesome, Randy, this is great. We appreciate you being here, excited, excited for all the people that are gonna see this archived on the website, will be good stuff.
