1 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office, 2 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to set 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: challenging but sustainable goals each day. Progress is motivational, and 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: making your goals doable is the key to well getting 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: things done. In Jim Collins's book Great by Choice, he 8 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,639 Speaker 1: talks about the concept of a twenty mile march. When 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: explorer ruled Munson was racing with his men to reach 10 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: the South Pole first. They managed the chaos by marching 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: twenty miles a day. In good conditions, they could have 12 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: marched more, but they didn't. That meant that, in bad 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: conditions they had the stamina and energy to make it 14 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: twenty miles, even if it would have been easier not to. 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: This discipline meant that they could count on a certain 16 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: level of pro no matter what. Doing what you set 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: out to do means declaring victory day after day, and 18 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: so you want to get up and march again. I 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: love this idea, which, as you can imagine, has all 20 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: sorts of implications for business. In his book, Collins points 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: out that Southwest Airline's fantastic growth was highly disciplined. Dozens 22 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: of cities would be begging Southwest to start service, and 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: Southwest would start service to four. They could have grown faster, 24 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: but by leaving some potential growth on the table, they 25 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: increased the chances of entering markets well and of not 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: being overextended during the airline industry's inevitable downturns. I think 27 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: of this with my writing goals. I recently wrote a 28 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: short book about working from home. It will also be 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: called The New Corner Office. I wrote this book between 30 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: April ten and May eighth. It wound up being about 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand words, and I wrote that at a 32 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: pace of approximately one thousand words per day, writing for 33 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: twenty one days at that pace, accelerating a bit after that, 34 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: and leaving about four days for editing. Writing one thousand 35 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,799 Speaker 1: words a day isn't really all that challenging. I knew 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: I could write more, but with producing my podcasts and 37 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: dealing with the kids who are all home from school, 38 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: that seemed doable, even on busy days. I also knew 39 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: that I could write that many words every day. A 40 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: number like three thousand would have been a lot harder 41 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: to sustain. I would have missed the mark some days, 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: and that would have been discouraging. I think this idea 43 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: of the daily twenty mile march is particularly important for 44 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: people who work from home. When you work in an office, 45 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: you often feel like you've done something just by commuting 46 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: there and showing your face. You know the day is 47 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 1: done when it's five o'clock and everyone else is leaving. 48 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: When you work from home, this is less obvious. If 49 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: you don't get anything done, you don't have a commute 50 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: or the FaceTime to console you, and if you're swamped, 51 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: you could just keep working forever with no obvious signal 52 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: to shut down. A better idea assigning yourself a challenging 53 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: but doable list of tasks each day. Sure, on good 54 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: days you could do more, but when your list is short, 55 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: it can become a contract with yourself. You know you 56 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: will get through it, even on rotten days, and when 57 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,239 Speaker 1: you do get through it, you can be done. The 58 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: day is over. Whatever time it is. Usually that will 59 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: be a normal time. Most of us can figure out 60 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: what tasks will fit in eight hours, but each day's 61 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: twenty mile march means you will reach the south pole 62 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: whatever storms arise on the way. In the meantime, this 63 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to succeeding in 64 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: the New Corner Office. The New Corner Office is a 65 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app. 66 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts are wherever you get your favorite shows.