I’m getting ready to learn from “Growing Your Business” mentor Mark LeBlanc, in Salt Lake City.
One of Mark’s messages has had a significant impact on how I run my business. It is deceptively simple, yet is really, really powerful.
In a business, he says, we need to identify three “high value activities.” Those are activities that will lead us towards our monthly goals, or target numbers. Organizing your desk is NOT a high value activity. Working on a new product is. Doing research is not necessarily a high value activity. Making a phone call to a customer or prospect, with a purpose, is.
What are high value activities for job seekers?
I remember a problem my job seeker buddies and I had: we had ALL DAY LONG to do whatever we wanted. Sometimes we’d do things to “take a break,” and that break could last hours. We would send one email, or apply to one job, and then we’d reward ourselves with the break. By the end of the day we could have spent hours on breaks, and the things we did that “merited” rewards were really not that significant.
Differentiate between a productive activity and a HIGH VALUE activity.
Mark says we need to do 3 high value activities each day. 3 * 5 = 15 at the end of the week. I bet most job seekers are doing 1 – 3 each week right now. Can you imagine if you do 15 each week?
Do you think that will get you closer to your goal? Since I’ve been working on getting my three in each day I know I get closer to my goals. I’m not just feeling productive, I’m seeing results. And that’s what we need to do.
This is a skill that we can carry with us throughout the rest of our life, whether we do three high value activities in a job search, in our marriage, in our personal life, in our job, for our house, for our body, etc.
What do you think high value activities might be for you? Here’s a list of some activities… which are high value? (for sure, one is NOT)
- make phone call to someone you sent a resume to in the last 6 months
- schedule an informational interview for sometime in the next 7 days
- go to a network meeting and make and follow-up with 3 contacts
- go to an informational interview, and follow-up
- apply to ___ jobs on a job board
- introduce one of your contacts to another contact
- Find 3 relevant contacts on LinkedIn and communicate with them
- Review your LI Contacts and find 3 to reconnect with
- Find a blog in your profession and leave a comment on it, linking back to your LinkedIn Profile
- Help a new job seeker get started in their job search, ensuring they avoid the job search pitfalls
Make your own list and then do three, every day!
