Coasters

People work in different ways and at different paces. It pays to know your personal work patterns.

Rare is the person who can work steadily for every working hour of every working day. Energy levels ebb and flow and work concentration ebbs and flows with it.

Many people are ‘Sprinters’ – they do focused work for finite periods and then coast for a while. If this is your work pattern, don’t beat yourself up, understand it and work with it. The trick is to ensure that your ‘on’ periods of focused work last long enough for you to get results. If they do not, you need more work spurts!

Coasters, on the other hand, are people who seldom sprint – they coast all the time. This is not a good thing. Coast for long enough and it can become an ingrained work ethic that can guarantee a mediocre career.

The younger you are, the more energy you should have. Don’t waste your prime energy years by coasting. There is a time to coast and a time to work.

I love Mark McKeon’s idea of having a Go Zone every working day. For one hour per day, you do nothing else but focus on an activity that produces results. No interruptions, no excuses, just focused work for one hour per day. Everybody is capable of doing that, but many who know about it choose to not do it.

Think: how much could you achieve if you worked harder?

Hard work won’t kill you and nobody is suggesting that you sacrifice your family for your career. But let’s face it, many relationships are not under strain because one or the other partner is working too hard. Many relationships are under strain through financial difficulty.

You can fix that. Work harder. Plan, follow your plans, save money, invest wisely, and financially set up yourself and your family as quickly as you can.

To quote the late Jim Rohn:

“The sooner you get money out of the way, the sooner you will be able to get to the rest of your problems in style.”

Something else to consider. Don’t coast during your play time either. Plan plenty of fun activities with your family and friends. Make the most of your life, and that includes your leisure time.

Relationships can suffer through lack of communication. This means that couples do not talk with each other. Turn off the TV. Do something with your partner – something fun, something that creates memories. Talk. Listen – this especially applies to men. Be together, not together in front of the TV.

Don’t make a habit of coasting through life.