Is Your To Do List Inspiring or Just Scary?

This is a practice that I learned from Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach.

To be honest, it hasn’t changed my productivity level at all, but it’s made a huge impact on my perception of my productivity. Dan calls it the positive focus and, essentially, it’s about truly acknowledging your progress before identifying next steps.

So, a little back story.

In the past, my habit was to sit down every day, think about what I hadn’t done, and write my to-do list accordingly.

As I checked off the items on my to-do list, I would naturally add more!

My focus was constantly on what I had yet to do rather than on what I had completed. And as that to-do list got longer and longer, that feeling of overwhelm got bigger … and scarier.

Enter the genius work of Dan Sullivan.

Dan suggests that you start your to-do list based off accomplishments that have already happened. It’s all about creating a foundation based on acknowledgment and celebration instead of incomplete work.  

Here’s my version of Dan’s Positive Focus:

1. Step 1: Write down 3-5 successes for the week or the day.
2. Step 2: Identify why this action feels like a success to you. This highlights what you value most.
3. Step 3: Clarify any further action you’d like to take in this area.

Now, here’s the cool thing: That list of next steps is often identical to the to-do list I would have crafted without first focusing on what’s going well. However, by identifying my successes first, I build momentum and inspire myself to get more stuff done, which is so much better than feeling overwhelmed and full of anxiety over how much I have left to do.

Here’s the biggest reason why the Positive Focus is so important: You can’t build on success that you don’t acknowledge.

I know you’ve heard me say that before, but it’s worth repeating. Beginning with a positive focus is all about building every action from a previous success. Thus, acknowledging what you’ve done so you can do even more.

Now, here’s the part that I’ve only just started implementing and am LOVING it.

My team and I have started hosting weekly meetings where we share our Positive Focus to really get the week rolling.

This has helped in a few ways.

1. It’s allowed me to recognize what each team member values most
2. My team can now appreciate the hard work they do and feel acknowledged for it.
3. We can have meaningful conversations about our work together. Kinda like a Monday morning group hug.

I recommend this approach for all the reasons I’ve mentioned, but also because overwhelm can be a sneaky thing. You never see it coming, but when it arrives, it consumes every aspect of your life.

For me, it’s the number one threat to inspiration. Plus, plain and simple: It wears you out!!

As a business owner, that to-do list will likely never end. And that’s just something you have to embrace; but that doesn’t mean you have to feel miserable about it. You can have a long list of things to do and still feel energized, motivated, and like you’re in a momentum instead of feeling stuck and too overwhelmed to move forward.

This new system has really transformed the experience of getting stuff done for both myself and my team and I highly recommend it.

What are your thoughts on Dan’s strategy? Is this something you can see yourself implementing in your business? Would love to know your thoughts below…