(4 min read)
"Most people fail in life, because they major in minor things"
Majors and Minors. A subject that sounds so simple, and yet, when you really think of it, you realize it encloses one of the most important and key elements that determine our success in life.
So what’s a major thing, and what is a minor thing? Simply put, majors are those tasks and activities that takes us closer to our goals. Majors are those tasks and activities that move the needle of our gauge of success. Majors are those tasks and activities that provides us the momentum in the direction of our dreams.
In complete contrast, Minor things…… is everything else. Minor things are those tasks and activities that do not contribute significantly to the achievement of our dreams and goals. Nevertheless, they consume our time, focus and energy. So when we “major in minor things”, it means that we are investing most of our time, focus and energy on tasks and activities that do very little or no contribution to the achievement of our goals.
Successful people are those who have learned to “Major in the major things”. They spend most of their time, focus and energy on those tasks and activities that take them closer to their goals and dreams. Success leaves clues, and we need to identify and follow these clues if we want to achieve success in life. The great part: we can all learn the science and the art of “Major on the Major things”. Let’s dissect this a little bit further.
Step 1: Identify your Goals and Desired Outcomes
Your “Majors” are going to be defined by your goals. So this is the first step in separating the major from the minors. Know your outcome. It is impossible to reach at your destination, if you don’t know what or where your destination is. It is also very important to establish a deadline for this goal, a due date on which you want to accomplish your goal. You start to materialize your dreams once you write them down on a paper and establish a date for its attainment.
Step 2: Make a Plan
Once you have identified your goals, you need to come up with a plan to achieve these goals. Now, the easiest and quickest way to come up with a plan is to model someone who already has achieved that which you want to achieve. Remember, success leaves clues. What are the plans, strategies, tactics and actions that helped these people to achieve what you want to achieve? Which were their lessons learned? Wins? Pitfalls? Most importantly, what is the mindset these people have? Do your research and find out as much as you can. The more information you have, the more robust your plan will be, and your possibilities of achieving the goal will also increase.
Step 3: Take Massive Action (and don't Major in Minor Things)
So you have identified your goal, and have developed a plan for its achievement. Is now time to start executing your plan with massive, determined action. Focus on those “major” things that will take you closer to your goals each day and make sure you allocate major time for these.
For purposes of illustration, let’s use an example. So let’s say that my goal is to loose 30 pounds in three months. An example of “major time” would be the time I spend training at the gym. Another example of major time would be the time I spend choosing and preparing my meals for the day. Now, let’s go to the minors. An example of minor time would be the time I spend at the shopping mall choosing my training attire, or my tennis shoes. Another example of minor time would be the time I spend looking for a gym. Now don’t get me wrong. These tasks are all necessary to the attainment of my goal, but is not were I want to spend most of my time. I don’t want to spend 3 months looking for the “perfect gym”. I’d rather do some quick research, pick a gym and get started at once training and loosing weight. You need to differentiate and prioritize the more important and significant things of the less significant ones, and make sure to spend major time on the major things, and minor time on the minor things.
So let’s use another example. Let’s say I am a salesman, and I have a goal of breaking the sales record at my office. Some examples of minor time would be: organizing prospects files, or on the road in the way to seeing a prospect, answering emails, or telling my co-worker about the last episode of my favorite TV show.
On contrast, a major on this subject of selling would be: making calls to prospects, in the presence of the prospect selling my products or services, promoting my products or services through other channels like social media, getting referrals, etc. These are the key tasks that will contribute significantly to the achievement of my goal, so these are the tasks where I want to spend major time.
Conclusion
Majors and Minors. A simple concept, and yet, a determinant factor on the achievement of our goals. The GamePlan App is a very useful tool to prioritize your tasks and make sure you allocate time for them. And, you can get started today for FREE. If you want to learn more, click on the following link and find out how this amazing tool can help to become the productive and successful person you are meant to be.
From now on, make sure you spend major time on major things, and your probabilities of achieving your goals will sky rocket. If you liked this article, or if you want to know about a specific topic, please let us know on the comments below!
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.