There are obviously a lot of things you should be doing to gear up for our uber important first quarter of 2011, but really it all boils down to one MUST DO task.

Make a List

My mind is so full of stuff at any given moment, and if I didn’t use this brain dump strategy, I would go crazy trying to remember all of them, much less try to do them in order of importance.

And in fact, every once in a while I think I can just remember important things to do and I fail miserably.

So last night I sat down for an hour, and made a list of absolutely everything I need to do.  I grabbed my to do list on my phone, the random to do lists that I’ve been carrying around on pieces of paper in my pocket, and I made one master list of everything personal and business that I need to do.

And I feel like the weight of the world moved from my shoulders and onto these two pieces of paper.  It was an amazing feeling and now on this otherwise chilly and slow moving monday morning, I feel empowered.

So here is what I want you to do.  Depending on whether you are a computer person or a pen/paper person, I want you to make a list.  Write down the numbers 1-100 (you might need a couple pieces of paper).

Then spend a dedicated 30 minutes and fill up the list.  EMPTY your brain.  Even if it’s simple things..just add them to the list.

For example, a list can look like this:

1. Get oil changed

2. Steam clean carpets in gym

3. Fix belt on treadmill

4. Buy and install lightbulb in garage

5. Send wife flowers at work

6. Get extra key made

7. Order 100 Gym T-shirts

8. Watch www.FitBiz.tv 😉

9. Have a meeting with my personal trainers

10. Clean off desk

You might go beyond 100…I did.  My brain dump resulted in 142 things yesterday. And I actually thought of 3 more in the shower this morning that I added to it.

Don’t worry about prioritizing that list just yet.  Just dump everything in your brain that you need to/want to/should do over the upcoming month, and put it on this list.

Then each day I want you to take a notecard and write down 3 things from your list that you will do each day.  I’ve actually gotten to where I write down 4 Must Do’s each day, but I started with 3.

Yes, you might have other must do’s pop up throughout the day, and that’s fine.  All I’m asking you to do is do 3 things.  You cannot end your day until those three things are accomplished…so I recommend you try to get them accomplished early in the day.

When you finish one, mark it off your note card.  At the end of the day, go to your master list and mark all three things off of the list, grab another notecard, and put tomorrow’s 3 Must Do items on it.

Wash, rinse, repeat.  Do this each day and within one month, you will have nearly your entire list of 100 things accomplished.

Keep this masterlist in an easy to find place, perhaps your nightstand next to the bed at home.

And of course, we’re entrepreneurs, so we’ll be thinking of tons of things throughout the day that we need to add to the master list.  That’s perfectly fine.

On the backside of your notecard, jot down anything that comes to mind throughout the day. Then add it to the masterlist at night.

There are tons of computer programs, books, theories, and strategies out there.  But this is the one I use because it is easy, reduced stress immediately, and all it takes is two pieces of paper and some notecards.

Do yourself a favor, get ready for the New Year by setting the foundation now.  By the second week of January, you can have 100 things completed, allowing you the freedom to focus on selling a ton of stuff to your clients and members during our big revenue months!

Mock…Yeah…Ing…Yeah…Bird…Yeah…

Curtis