By Jason Womack, MEd, MA, Founder and CEO, The Jason Womack Company
“Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More” will show you how to make your best even better, how to achieve more in work and in life, and how to sustain those changes over time.
I encourage you, before you even start reading Chapter 1, to write a first draft of one of your Ideal Days. Sit down, set a timer for 15 minutes, and write. Begin by writing about that portion of the day when you know you have a lot of energy and do your best work.
The first time I wrote about that Ideal Day, I remember it was not easy. At the time, I couldn’t imagine (a) living in the mountains, (b) being a published author, (c) raising a dog, or (d) getting married. I designed that Ideal Day after a mentor, Ron Kok, challenged me to do so. Ron, my graduate advisor at the University of California–Santa Barbara, asked me the following incredibly thought-provoking question: “Would you know a great day if you saw one?” Since then I’ve stopped from time to time to script out another Ideal Day; and over the years, I’ve imagined quite a few of them. They evolve over time, just as I do.
Let me make it very clear that I don’t actually experience Ideal Days exactly as I write them, nor do I expect to. I anticipate, however, that I will achieve parts of those days from time to time. And, over the last 15-plus years, I have! Since initiating the practice of imagining, designing, and anticipating Ideal Days, I’ve lived in the mountains, renting homes in Alaska and Lake Tahoe; and I’ve taken off entire weeks from work, solely to write, in wonderful places such as Costa Rica and Europe. Thanks to these breaks, I’ve finished three books and hundreds of articles. I’ve gone for trail runs in the morning, and I’ve read, sitting in the family room, sipping on a latte in the same room with my wife, Jodi, and our labrador retriever, Zuma.
For more than a decade, I have studied the practices and systems that my global clients now use to make their best even better. I’ve presented these principles in leadership development workshops throughout the Americas and in Europe. People who use these ideas begin to practice new habits, implement new productivity behaviors, and achieve more than ever before in their lives.
As soon as you redirect your focus, you gain another significant option: Change your direction. And, of course, if you change your direction, even a little bit, you could easily progress toward a new goal, achieve a big dream, or live a different life. Want to make your best even better? Focus on and write down what that would look, sound, and feel like.
Look around and think about your work, life, community, family, and habits. The results you’re experiencing represent the accumulation of your thoughts, discussions, and actions. If you would like things to look different, then it’s quite simple to start. Begin right where you are—right here, right now—to make things better.
Use the Ideal Day I describe in the Prologue as a model, and then write your own. Think deeply about what an Ideal Day would look, sound, and feel like to you. Take some time—right now—to draft your detailed description of one. Again, you’re not writing the Ideal Day; you’re writing just one of several you’d like to experience. Once you have that ready to go, turn to Chapter 1 to begin your journey of working smarter, thinking bigger, and making more.
“Your Best Just Got Better” shows you how to gain clarity, develop structure, and build momentum as the Architect of Your Experience. It will lead, inspire, and motivate you to walk the path of persistence, moving you toward a better you. Here is the information, and these are the experiences I am confident will support you along the way.
Open to Part 1, and get started using ideas, practices, and systems that make it easy to work smart. I’ll show you how to manage your ideas, think about your projects, and make the most out of the time you have so you can do more of what you’d like to do.
While reading Part 2, you’ll see and learn how to practice ways to think bigger. Here, I will present the tools and techniques people use to build leadership skills and get the most from their business and personal networks. I also will show you how you can study your current routines in order to improve your approaches to personal productivity and workplace performance.
And when it’s time to assess your results at the end of this book, the end of the year, or when you retire (!), use the ideas and activities in Part 3 to make more. What does “more” mean to you? While you’re reading this book, I ask you to keep that question in mind.
A bit about me: I am a workplace performance expert and executive coach. I have worked with thousands of clients over the last 11 years, and I’ve always told them, “I study this stuff so you don’t have to!”
One more thing: I define productivity as: “Doing what I said I would do, within the time that I promised.” The “more” that I want is to keep more of those promises. With that in mind, let me share the one I am making to you:
As a result of reading this book, you’ll know why, how, and when you must make your best even better.
Excerpt from “Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More” by Jason Womack.
Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA, provides practical methods to maximize tools, systems, and processes to achieve quality work/life balance. He has worked with leaders and executives for more than 16 years in the business and education sectors. His focus is on creating ideas that matter and implementing solutions that are valuable to organizations and the individuals in those organizations. He is the CEO and founder of The Jason Womack Company, and author of Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More. Womack shows that working longer hours doesn’t make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance. Entrepreneurs need to clarify their habits, build mindset-based strategies, and be proactive. Womack’s signature workplace performance techniques offer specific strategies to consistently and incrementally improve performance. For more information, visit http://www.womackcompany.com/contact-us/about-jason/
