We’ve all heard we need systems in our business.
Systems are key for a few reasons…
1) they ensure that you’re doing things with consistency. Not approaching a sales call one way today and a totally different way tomorrow.
2) they allow you to shut off your brain and move to autopilot. If you don’t need to think about the steps every time, you become more efficient and can use that energy to focus on other things. It’s why Steve Jobs had a “uniform.”
3) you can test things. If you’re always changing the variables, it’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t. By creating systems, it allows you to tweak one step at a time to see what works better and make a direct comparison to the last system.
We all have systems even if you don’t recognize it as such. My morning routine is a good example. I don’t need to think about it. I perform the same steps in the same order every morning. From taking a shower to putting in my contacts, there is a step-by-step process. I bet you have a similar routine.
But this morning I was out of my groove. Jennine was using our bathroom so I took the second bathroom for my shower. All my stuff is in the main bathroom so I was out of step from the first second. The wrong shampoo, the wrong towel. It was all different. Later I transitioned back to my normal bathroom to put in my contacts and finish up.
After I left the house and was driving down the highway, I ran my tongue over my teeth. Rough.
Totally forgot to brush my teeth because I didn’t follow my system.
Sorry if I breathed on you today. Tomorrow I’ll follow my system.