18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done (22 page)

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Authors: Peter Bregman

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After some time, the corporate office sent in mystery shoppers to see how the sales associates were doing. Management was pleased: On average, the associates were displaying nine of the ten behaviors.

I asked the project lead if they had seen a change in sales as a result of this 90 percent success rate. After a short inspection of the data, it turned out they hadn’t.

So we looked to see if the associates were each missing different behaviors or if they were avoiding a specific
one of the ten. As we suspected, they were all skipping the same behavior: measuring customers for a good fit. Which means the other nine behaviors—the ones they were already performing—were immaterial since they didn’t impact sales.

“You don’t have ten Gold behaviors,” I told the project lead, “you have one. Measuring customers for a good fit is your one thing.” That was the one thing the salespeople could do differently to make more sales. We instructed the sales associates to focus solely on doing that one thing. Sales shot up.

Choose the one thing you’ve read from this book that will make the most difference in your life and do it. No matter what. Then, naturally, you will start to incorporate others. And, with time, you’ll find that your life moves in a purposeful direction.

Because the moments add up to days, the days add up to years, and the years add up to your life. Making sure that your days and moments are guided by what you want to accomplish with your years means each moment will reflect the life you choose to live. So you’ll know you’re getting the right things done.

It all starts with your one thing.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Some say that writing is a lonely endeavor. That has not been my experience. This book has many fingerprints on it, and I am thankful for them all.

I am lucky enough to have found the kind of advocate that writers dream about in Rick Wolff, my publisher and editor. Thank you—and your team at Business Plus—for your enthusiasm for this book, your vision of how to bring it together, and your unrelenting support of my ideas.

Giles Anderson, you are exactly the agent I wished for. Thank you for finding Rick, and for your reliability, your integrity, and your commitment. You’re a magnificent collaborator.

Katherine Bell, my editor at
Harvard Business Review
, thank you for being such a tremendous editor and encouraging partner, for believing in me, for creating space for my voice, and for caring about stories and the very personal side of leadership. Daisy Wademan, thank you for your
generous spirit. Without you, my writing would still be sitting on my computer.

I am surrounded by many friends whose editing suggestions continue to shape my own writing. Mermer Blakeslee, thank you for more than thirty years of coaching; it’s just beginning to stick. I’m inspired by your voice and so appreciate the way you help me strengthen mine. Anthony Bregman, Howie Jacobson, and Eleanor, thank you for reading my pieces and having something to say about each one that makes it better. Your opinions mean a great deal to me (even in those instances when I don’t follow your advice). Esther DeCambra, thank you for your impressive insights and for giving up your life for two weeks. Betsy Inglesby, thank you, for your special affinity, for commas. Stacy Bass, thank you for your artistic eye and, together with Howie, your irrepressible enthusiasm. You guys inspire me. Paul Burger, thank you for your sage advice and for having my back; you deserve to be paid more. Jessica Gelson, thank you for being such a champion of my writing (and me).

Thank you to my clients who are so often my source of inspiration. I am so appreciative of your willingness to be a part of my stories, and I never take for granted the trust you put in me. Thank you to the readers of my blog; your presence, comments, and emails keep me going. Thank you to GNOWP, to Bavli Yerushalmi, to the Rosenfields and the Bakers, and to my family—Anthony and Malaika, Bertie and Rachel, Robbie, Susan (your love is still so clearly with us), Catherine, and Margaret Harrison, Jerry and Margaret
Wolfe, and all the Weintraubs; your words of encouragement and caring criticism energize me and offer me invaluable guidance.

Mama and Papa, thank you for believing in me, loving me, growing with me, and supporting me. Always.

Isabelle, Sophia, and Daniel, you are such brilliant lights in my life. Thank you for your love, your laughter, your joy, your sadness, and even your anger. Thank you for being so fully yourselves.

And Eleanor, my love, I could not invent a more perfect partner. Thank you for loving me for who I am while encouraging me to grow. I thank God every day that we are traveling this life together. You make me a better person. You make it easy to take risks.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Peter Bregman advises and consults with CEOs and their leadership teams in organizations ranging from
Fortune
500 companies to start-ups to nonprofits. He speaks worldwide on how people can lead, work, and live more powerfully. He is a frequent guest on public radio, provides commentary for CNN, and writes for
Harvard Business Review
,
Fast Company
,
Forbes
, and
Psychology Today
. Peter lives in New York City and can be reached at
www.peterbregman.com
.

To download an
18 Minutes
template and get other helpful resources go to
www.peterbregman.com/18minutes
.

BUSINESS
PLUS

Recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious business imprints, Business Plus specializes in publishing books that are on the cutting edge. Like you, to be successful we always strive to be ahead of the curve.

Business Plus titles encompass a wide range of books and interests—including important business management works, state-of-the-art personal financial advice, noteworthy narrative accounts, the latest in sales and marketing advice, individualized career guidance, and autobiographies of the key business leaders of our time.

Our philosophy is that business is truly global in every way, and that today’s business reader is looking for books that are both entertaining and educational. To find out more about what we’re publishing, please check out the Business Plus blog at:

www.bizplusbooks.com

Acclaim for
18 M
INUTES

“A down-to-earth book.”

—
Crain’s New York Business

“18 MINUTES is an intensely smart, insanely readable, and eminently practical guide to boosting our effectiveness and deepening our satisfaction. I’ve already benefited from the ideas in this book in my own work. So will you.”

—Daniel H. Pink,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Drive
and
A Whole New Mind

“Feeling in control of your time is a key element of happiness. In the thoughtful, practical, and often funny 18 MINUTES, Peter Bregman explains how to make sure we have plenty of time to do the things that matter most to us—so that our lives reflect our true values and priorities.”

—Gretchen Rubin,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Happiness Project

“Pick this book up and read it. Bregman’s wisdom, humility, and ability to tell a great story run through every page of this gem. 18 MINUTES is the best blend of a business book and a self-help book I have ever read.”

—Robert Sutton, professor, Stanford University, and
New York Times
bestselling author of
Good Boss, Bad Boss

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Contents

Hover Above Your World

1. Slowing the Spin