Jim Collins, author of Good To Great, studied companies that achieved and sustained extraordinary success. Then he found common traits among them. Here is one of Collins’ observations, as recorded in an interview in Business Week magazine:
“As I look at the most effective people we’ve studied, a ‘stop-doing’ list or ‘not-to-do’ list is more important than a to-do list, because the to-do list is infinite.”
A Not-To-Do list. Amazing! What a concept!
What could it mean to your life and mine if we made a list of what not to do, and then stuck to it? Have you ever committed to something and later wished you hadn’t? You could put it on your Not-To-Do list for future reference.
Have you noticed a time-wasting, dreaded, or even harmful habit or activity in your life? Maybe that should go on the Not-To-Do list, as well. This mindset can be fruitful on both business and personal levels.
After many years of navigating lengthy, multiple To-Do lists, I’ve seen how this new way of thinking positively affects my life. But I’ve got to stop writing now. I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff not to do.
The above is used by permission from the book Three Years Of Tuesday Mornings: 156 e-mails about business and life by Steve Fales.
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