Prepositional Feet: 3 Keys to Working ON Your Business

by: Michael Jordan

Warning: this one is punny.

Prepositions show direction, location, or time, or introduce an object. They are usually followed by an object—a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun. The most common prepositions are little and very common - Miriam-Webster.com

Are you intentional about your success when your attention is needed most?

I have a mental trigger or a mnemonic device I like to use when things start to feel like they’re moving too fast around me. It reminds me that sometimes I need to step back, asses and take action on things that I might not be giving their just allotment of my time. These are the things I know are critical to my success but that challenge human desire for instant gratification (this is my gentle way of avoiding a self diagnosis of ADHD).

It’s not intuitive but working IN your business all the time and without exception will not help you gain lasting success. In fact, doubling down on your workload can actually cause more challenges. Vacations aren’t always the answer to the problem either as some would suggest. Few among us can get away easily and as often as it would truly require to be the only response mechanism you use. Conversely, working ON your business instead of IN your business is an effective and realistic counter measure when you feel ineffectiveness washing over your core.

In middle school I had an English teacher who would drill in the meaning of what we all apparently found to be a confusing fragment of the English language by leading us in a game called “prepositional feet”.  It was a nerdy version of “Simon says” and allowed for full class participation.  Each student had to listen for the teacher to call out an action for his or her feet, hands, arms, legs, head or any combination thereof.  “Put your feet on the desk.  Put your arms around the desk”. Put your hands in the desk”. 

In business I often use “prepositional feet” as a trigger for me to reflect.  What direction are my feet moving?  Do I need to spend more time in the business or on the business?  Taking time to be introspective isn’t always as painful as I imagine and that simple reminder has served me well. 

If you determine that you need to spend time ON the business, consider these 3 key strategies

1. Block

Time is a depleting resource. Protect your time carefully and assign meaning to as many moments as your tolerance allows.  The best way to do this is to schedule it.

Want to think up a new concept? Schedule it.  Want to make more calls?  Schedule it.  

At work I am a self-described ‘stickler’ for my calendar.  At home my wife and I use a shared iCloud calendar to track every event related to the household. Our kids even have a calendar chalk board to track their activities.  It sounds like a lot because it is a lot.  That’s the point. 

2. Commit

If you’re supposed to be meditating then meditate.  Don’t waiver on your decision to do what you know is in your best interest.  Do not schedule meetings over your block time.  Do not take phone calls. Your participation is required to win.

3. Solve

Working on the business means problem solving.  Not resolution of service items but the removal of any blockages disrupting the flow of success (which, at the risk of seeming hypocritical, at times requires resolving service items).  Of course, you have to know what the problem is first.

Luckily the unconscious mind is an amazing thing.  Not simply because it houses our most basic biological urges but because it also has the power to answer the One Thing.  Ask yourself the biggest question that needs to be answered before you go to sleep. 

The next time you’re reflecting, remember to think “prepositional feet” and work the above methods. Working on your business with intentionality is critical to your future success.