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Good Morning. Here is a great thought for the day:

My boss claimed that he would show me how to double my income and double my time off within twelve months. This sounded completely unrealistic, but I was willing to give it a try.

He asked me to make a list of all the things I did for the company, then he asked, "If you could do only one thing on this list all day long, which one task would contribute the greatest value to your company?" Once I had identified that task, which was quite easy, I put a circle around that number.

He then asked, "If you could do only one more thing on your list of key tasks, which would be the second activity that contributes the most value to your company?"

Once I had identified the second most important task, he asked me the same question with regard to the third most important task.

He then said something that shocked me at the time. He said that fully 90 percent of the value that you contribute to your company is contained in those three tasks, whatever they are. Everything else you do is either a support task or a complimentary task that could probably be delegated, downsized, outsourced, or eliminated.

As I looked at the three tasks, I realized that these were the three things that I did that contributed the most value to my company. This was on a Friday. On Monday morning at 10 o'clock, I met with my boss and explained to him what I had discovered. I told him that I needed his help in delegating and outsourcing all my work except for those three tasks. I felt that if I could work on those three tasks exclusively, all day long, I could more than double my contribution to the company. Then I said to him that if I doubled my contribution, I would like to be paid twice as much.

My boss was completely silent. He looked at my list of key tasks, looked back up at me, looked at the list again, and then said, "Okay". It was now 10:21 am according to the clock on the wall behind him.

He said, "You're right. These are the three most important things that you do in this company — and the three things that you do the best. I will help you to delegate and downsize all these other minor tasks to free you up to work full-time on these three key tasks. And if you double your contribution, I will pay you twice as much."

He did; then I did; then he did. He helped me delegate and assign my minor tasks so I could concentrate on my top three jobs. As a result, I doubled my output over the next thirty days, and he doubled my income. I had been working very hard for more than eight years, and I doubled my income in just one month by focusing all my time and energy on my three key tasks. Not only that, but instead of working ten and twelve hour days, I work from 8:00 to 5:00 and spend time in the evenings and on the weekends with my family. Focusing on my key tasks has transformed my life.

Perhaps the most important word in the world of work is contribution. Your rewards — financial, spiritual, and emotional — will always be in direct proportion to the value of your contribution. If you want to increase your rewards, you must focus on increasing the value of what you do. You must dedicate yourself to contributing more results. And the three key tasks always contribute the most.

Prioritize.

Have a wonderful day.

"Each morning is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When the sun rises tomorrow this day will be gone forever, in its place will be something you have left — may it be something good. Follow your heart, it knows what to do."

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