Important vs Urgent–why I wrote my new book

We all know that:

  1. Businesses don’t build themselves – it’s important to focus on the work of improvement.
  2. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in the urgent matters of the day.

My new book is written to help you focus on the important, 10 minutes at a time.

Every useful business book I’ve read has a single theme–to counter the human instinct to deal with the urgent matters staring us in the face every day. It’s great when I can get time to read.

You may have an angry customer to take care of, or a production line that is bottlenecked, or a key team member to talk back off the ledge. Maybe the Board has just added to the agenda for next week’s meeting, or you have a week full of standing meetings and an Inbox that never lets up. All of these matters are urgent, but to do them you’ll have to postpone tomorrow’s strategic planning meeting–something’s gotta give!

Can you find the time to think?

I’ve been an Executive for over 25 years and have always benefited from stepping out of my daily routine for short periods of reflection. Brief meditations about the work my business is doing, where we’re succeeding, and how we could do better. Some of the best ideas happen that way. That’s why I wrote 10-Minute Reflections–with one simple goal in mind–to provide you, the business leader, with a brief diversion from your busy day that will be enjoyable and productive.

The book provides 30 accessible exercises to help you reflect on diverse aspects of your business. Each reflection is a 5-minute read followed by a 5-minute exercise. If the questions need more time, they may merit a longer session at a later date. Your call.

If you can dedicate just 10 minutes a day you’ll be in the top 1% of the hundreds of executives I’ve worked with–and no surprise, they’re always the most successful.

By the end of the book, my hope is that you will have generated 10 ideas in one month. 10 actions to enact in your business this year. I’ve had feedback that the exercises are also great to pass around your team for a wider perspective. You can even use them to kick off a new initiative.

I hope you can take the opportunity to step back, reflect and enjoy the exercise before you return to the rest of your day.

10-Minute Reflections is now available on Amazon.

As ever, drop me a quick email at graham@primeFusion.ca with your questions and comments. Let me know what you liked about these exercises, and how they could be improved. I’ll be publishing another edition and will incorporate your feedback.