Two Lists Every Entrepreneur Needs

I got this post in through my RSS reader this morning. It is a Bnet article, and the headline caught my attention. I am quite into lists, and my to-do list is something that I reference many times, every single day. When I read the title “The Two Most Important Lists You’ll Ever Keep” I clicked on it immediately. What I found were two very simple lists, they really got me thinking . They were:

1. Things That Keep Me Up At Night.

2. Reasons I Get Up In The Morning.

Simple concepts often provide you a lot to actually think about. I think these two lists are truly very important lists that every entrepreneur should develop for him/herself and constantly update. The first list has the ability to reduce stress fairly substantially by the end of the day. Without this list you could ppossibly end up with something like …. have a crazy day at the office, and when you return back home your mind is still racing about all the things that need to get done, or the things that you may have missed doing. The problem without a list is that we tend to run through the same items several times, this can become tedious and overpowering. From personal experience I know there have been nights spent wondering about the events of the day or a big meeting the following day. There always seems to be something or the other niggling in your mind, the aim of this list is to bring a degree of order to this madness.

The second list is the bigger picture list. I have quoted Steve Jobs as saying “When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” This quote really brings home the importance of the second list for me . We need to constantly remind ourselves of our motivations to do what we do. Are we enjoying ourselves or just making our way through it somehow? This list should be a source of inspiration to affirm to yourself, that what you are doing has a purpose.

I have really enjoyed reading the above mentioned post and have to thank Sean Silverthorne for writing a great piece. I hope this post gets all of us thinking about the bigger picture and why we do the things we do.

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