The Now Habit at Work: Perform Optimally, Maintain Focus, and Ignite Motivation in Yourself and Other

Chapter 6. The Power of a Compelling Mission

Leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.

——John Gardner

To help you create an overarching sense of mission that could improve your work efficiency I've listed some of my mission statements and vision as examples. Because of my years of experience working with hundreds of procrastinators as well as high-level achievers, I've learned to quickly identify inner conflict, ambivalence, and the distractions that most frequently pull me off course. And I've trained myself to shift, in just a few breaths, to my executive brain ability to choose to focus on a high priority project and to recommit to my leadership vision.

Over the years, I've taught others how to rapidly shift from stress to safety and from anxiety about the future to what they can do now—using the symptom to trigger the solution. The fastest way to change negative patterns to productive, healthy habits is to use your awareness of negative habits to alert you to shift to corrective actions. You'll develop healthy habits more quickly when they follow from your values and mission statements. Listed here are examples you may wish to adapt to your unique situation and your unique personality.

(Note that here I means "my executive brain and strongest self" in its proper leadership and protective roles, as opposed to any frightened, primitive, or outdated identities.) ...