| Michael Angier is the founder and CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer) of
SuccessNet based in
South Burlington, Vermont USA. He’s a father, husband, writer, speaker,
entrepreneur, coach and student. He's also the creator of The World Class
Business™ Conference. |
The
United States Marine Corp believes strongly in what they call
"The Rule of Three." They've found that implementing this
rule saves lives, gets more done faster and more efficiently.
An article on The Corp in INC.
magazine says, "The rule dictates that a person should limit
his or her attention to three tasks or goals. When applied to
strategizing, the rule prescribes boiling a world of infinite
possibilities down to three alternative courses of action. Anything
more and a marine can become overextended and confused. The marines
experimented with a rule of four and found that effectiveness
plummeted."
I've always believed that three is a
powerful number. We find it in some very significant places. The
most powerful physical structure is a triangle or pyramid. In fact,
it's the building block of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes and
the Great Pyramids of Egypt. For Christians--it's the Trinity:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And then, of course, we have Mind,
Body, Spirit. Three is a powerful number metaphysically--a number of
completion.
As we become immersed in the ocean of
information, possibilities, directions and the like, it becomes even
more important for us to focus on the things that are truly
important to us--the things that will make a difference in the
quality of our lives.
 Three things can easily be
remembered. Any more than that and retention suffers. We can all
sharpen our focus and get better results by using the Rule of Three
in our daily lives.
Here's a Few Ideas: List the three
most important values in your life. What's really important to you?
If you make this list, you'll place yourself in the top one percent
of all the people on the planet because very few ever do this. Your
decisions will become infinitely easier because your values are
clear.
What are your three primary missions?
These are different than goals. Goals can be measured. They can be
completed. A mission is your vision of something that you'll never
say is done--at least not in this lifetime.
Make a list of your three most
important goals. It's great to have lots of goals but which ones are
worthy of your best attention and efforts? Remember, you can have
anything you want in your life. You just can't have everything you
want.
What three things would you like to
master? Three things at which you want to become an expert. Maybe
it's speaking in public. Perhaps you want to learn another language.
Or maybe you want to become a masterful parent. It's your life and
you get to decide.
By making good use of the Rule of
Three, you'll sharpen your focus, increase your effectiveness and
experience greater fulfillment in all that you do.
--End--
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