Roger was the COO of a multi-national organization based in Vancouver.
He is a 45-year-old leader who takes pride in his ability to get things done and manage people.
Like most COOs he was also a lone wolf.
He is not a part of any communities like the COO Alliance or Young Presidents Organization.
He hasn’t had any COO training in the past.
He learned everything via trial and error.
Today was one of those days:
He didn’t feel productive.
Yes, he does have a To-Do List with 5 important tasks on it.
There seems to be a bottleneck situation in all these tasks.
Roger was sitting there, staring through his 11th-floor glass office.
He drank some coffee.
Smoked some cigarettes.
Browsed through Linkedin & Facebook.
Stood by the water cooler.
Responded to random emails.
He did everything except what needed to be done.
The more he procrastinates the work – the less his motivation to do it.
He wanted to close the day by ignoring these tasks.
Despite knowing that these very same tasks will pile up on him
as uglier, hairier tasks tomorrow morning.
The anxiety started to kick in:
As much as he wanted to finish these tasks to stay out of trouble:
: his brain couldn’t process exactly where to start.
It seemed almost impossible to get these done today.
“What’s the matter, Roger?“ Sam asked.
Sam was the President and past COO of the organization.
Sam was the one who hired Roger, and they share a very strong bond.
In fact, it was Sam who trained Roger in his leadership development program.
Roger told Sam about the vicious cycle he is stuck in.
All COOs have had such days in our working careers…
Sam with his stern voice told Roger, ” I Dare You, Roger“
“I dare you. Right Now. Write down the TOP 1 thing that you NEED to get done.“
“Then do it. Focus on only this top 1 task until it’s done“, Sam said in a strong tone.
Sam told Roger he will meet him at the end of the day and left for his office.
It was 1 PM sharp when Sam dared Roger.
The sun started to fade.
The clouds became darker.
Employees started leaving their desks one by one:
The clock ticked to 6:32 PM.
Roger came out of his office.
He had a sense of accomplishment on his face:
You know the dopamine hit we get when we look at the finished work?
When Roger ignored everything else and focused on the one task – it seemed doable.
The focused work made him complete the first task.
Which in turn motivated him to finish off the second, third, fourth, and fifth as well.
Roger had a productive day at work.
What about you?
Are you reading this blog while you are supposed to be working?
I, Cameron Herold, dare you to go do your TOP 1 thing on your list RIGHT NOW.
Stop everything.
Get off Facebook & LinkedIn.
Ignore those emails & pointless meetings.
Set a timer for 4 hours and get your #1 Task done.
I dare you to do it.
Let me know in the comments below what happened after your timer rang.
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