The Pro: Keith Rosen
Title: CEO
Company: Profit Builders

Be Process-Driven, Not Just Results-Driven
“Salespeople start the day prospecting and they might spend an hour making 10 calls. If it doesn’t go well, they give up for the day and go for low-hanging fruit – tasks that aren’t revenue-generating. It’s because they’re results-driven, not process-driven. That takes a huge internal shift. When you’re process-driven, you know that those 10 calls are part of the 500 you need to make that week. Otherwise, you’re just running around in reactive mode, asking yourself, ‘What can I do now? What can I do later?’ The only consistency is inconsistency. They don’t have a structured day. That lives in the routine you establish.”

Schedule Everything
“You need to establish a routine that details the specific activities you’ll engage in on a daily basis. ‘Routine’ is the bank in which you invest your time. Without a routine, you never stop to look at how you’re managing your day. It helps you honor your priorities, values and goals, both personally and professionally. Block out time for everything. Usually I’ll look at a client’s calendar and only see meetings, appointments and travel on it. You need to make it a snapshot of your ideal lifestyle.”

Expect the Unexpected
“There are always external forces in the universe that cause things we can’t predict unless we have crystal balls. Your kid is sick, you get a flat tire, your client has an emergency and you have to run over to their offices. These things happen and they take up time, so you have to plan for the unplanned. Don’t plan for exactly 10 hours in your day – plan for two hours of unforeseen situations. That leaves eight hours you can work with. If you need those two hours, you have to wake up earlier.”

Don’t Be an Adrenaline Junkie …
“Adrenaline junkies wait until the last minute to do things because they feel like they work better under pressure and fear boredom. People will tap into any energy source, and for them, adrenaline gives them the juice they need. They learn this at an early age, like when they cram for tests in school and do well. But that doesn’t always work when you have a job and a family and a mortgage. You have to get off that adrenaline train, because you’ve created a lifestyle that demands that fix.”

… Or a Yesaholic
“A Yesaholic can overlap with an Adrenaline Junkie because both love when they have too much on their plates. For them, ‘No’ is a dirty word. It would make them look like a bad person. But you have to shift the relationship with that word over time. It comes back to routine. If your calendar is blank, of course you say ‘Yes.’ You didn’t build buffer time in there. Instead say, ‘I’d love to help you but let me check my calendar first.’ You don’t have to react with a yes. Find a time when you can actually commit.”

Look at ‘Balance’ as ‘Managing Imbalance’
“Don’t be discouraged by not having the perfect work/life balance. It doesn’t exist. Instead, it’s about tapping into a healthier energy source than adrenaline: momentum. Consistent thinking + consistent activity = consistent results. And all roads lead back to the routine you’ve established. There’s no separation between work and life. It’s just life. Your routine will help you manage imbalances that exist. The question is, what do you want your ideal life to look like? You need the ideal snapshot of your life that reflects your personal vision, priorities and core values. That’s routine, which is more intentional and focused on activities that move you toward goals.”