I was tired. And behind. It had been a long week full of long days. Just like every other week. My brain felt fuzzy. I felt stressed. 

I was putting in the effort. But I always felt like it wasn’t enough. I could never keep up let alone get ahead. 

I was working my tail off. But it wasn’t working. And it was killing me. 

Sound familiar? 

One day, I needed a change of pace. I drove out to a coffee shop in a town about an hour away. The morning of the drive was a quintessentially beautiful, Alaskan, winter morning. I enjoyed the silence of the time on the road. The exceptional, stark beauty of a late Arctic sunrise cleared my head. 

To my surprise, what came up was raw emotion. All the exhaustion, effort, and frustration just welled up and I began to cry. I’m not a crier. I’m not good at it. It feels weird and I don’t like it. But I was crying that morning. 

Something needed to change. But nothing was going to change until I changed. 

This was about 20 years ago. 

I began pursuing change at that time. I didn’t have a guide. Didn’t know what changes were needed. So, there were many false starts and rabbit trails. But I pursued it. 

Fast-forward: Outside of exceptional circumstances, I no longer work long days or weeks. In fact, my work weeks are relatively short and flexible. I am geometrically more productive. I feel good. 

You don’t need to work so hard.

You don’t need to work so hard. You can be more on-target, and more productive. I don’t want you to have to wander, for years, like I did trying to figure this out. 

I want to give you some free resources: I’m about to do something that every copywriter and sales guru would say, “No” to. I’m going to point you in a few directions. And most of them aren’t even towards me. But if you identify at all with what I wrote above (or know someone who might) I want you (or them) to get unstuck fast. 

So here we go: 

Several years ago, I developed a resource called How to Accomplish More Without Working More. It’s free. Download it. 

Answer the questions. Follow the steps. It holds the ‘hiding in plain sight’ secrets to freeing up your time and energy. It’s not too big to say that it could change your life. 

But there is more:

After I wrote that resource, I met Craig Ballantyne. He’s the author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling Unstoppable and The Perfect Week Formula. Both of those links are to free copies of his books. I don’t get anything from pointing you in his direction. But I mention them because

A) They are solid.

And B) I like and respect Craig.

Craig has become an important accountability partner for me. I pay him for this. We connect regularly. Because knowing what to do and consistently putting it into practice are two different things.

I work alone. I need accountability. He’ll say he needs it and has built his relationships to receive it. Even though we both professionally provide it for others.

As an aside, I’ve found that any coach worth their salt will always have at least one coach – or equivalent – in their life. Craig is only one of the relationships I’ve built who helps me continue to grow.

Accountability is more than important. It is critical for leaders. 

I work with owners and executives all of the time. Most have no one (or very few people) they can talk to who can or will hold up a mirror and tell them how it really is. They need someone outside the system to bounce ideas off of, to be encouraged by, or who can challenge their assumptions.

Nearly all of my clients, when I start with them, are working too hard for too few results. It’s the most common starting point. Even if they hired me to accomplish a different goal – we often can’t get to that goal until we clear clutter, help them focus, and gain traction. I provide accountability for them.

When you are a senior leader, it is very easy to create a scenario where you are ‘alone at the top.’ One of the worst places in the world to be is stuck and alone. If you are tired of that, if you feel ‘done’ with spinning your wheels and not getting ahead – make a change.

If you want to experience change, you need to change. 

Download the resources I’ve linked to. Everything is free. No strings attached.

Then find someone outside your organization who can provide accountability for you. This should be someone you respect and don’t want to disappoint. Sometimes friends can do this. Often, they can’t.

If you can’t find someone to help or aren’t sure where to start, contact me.

Wishing you a productive, prosperous, and peace-filled 2024!

Christian