Why I kicked my daughter out of my morning routine

When the pandemic started Lilly, my 9-year-old daughter, and the sweetest child on planet Earth, and I got into this weird morning routine.

Previously she would always give me and Sarah a great big morning hug and ask us how we slept. But now that we were making an effort to quarantine, our schedule was out of whack.

We would sleep in just a little later than we used to and when we would see each other in the morning, I’d still get my customary hug, but there seemed to be this unwritten agreement that we would put off the morning conversation.

It is almost like we would avoid each other like you do when you see an old friend at the grocery store, but you’re in a hurry, so you pretend not to notice them.

I used to do this with one of the Executives at my old job. He can’t give me a random project if he doesn’t bump into me in the hallway.

Anyway, I never said this aloud, but I wanted to get to my coaching clients right away and not get any further behind their daily crisis of being shut down and creating the next steps.

Lilly would also need to get a quick breakfast and log into Google Classroom for her never-ending Zoom calls and videos she was required to watch.

This routine even slipped into the weekend when I needed to mow the yard and she would want to crawl back into bed and watch “Some Assembly Required” on Netflix. By the way, Netflix has put out some god-awful kids’ shows. Not inappropriate, just plain ole bad. Like Ishtar and Weekend at Bernie’s II bad.

Most days we would get back to our old routine and have an actual conversation by mid-morning and do daddy-n-daughter stuff.

I know what you’re thinking...“but now I’ve realized the error of my ways and make my kids a priority first thing in the morning!”

Nah.

This routine has worked during this little period of our lives or as folks in our church say, “this season of life” which is Christian lingo that is terribly overused.

This same kind of routine is also prevalent in following up with leads and referrals.

Recently, I had a financial advisor, Adam, respond to some of my content and say he’s interested in learning more about Explainer Videos.

I sent him a templated reply and made a reminder to check back in a week.

He replied and said he was still thinking about it a week after that.

Then, I sent Adam another follow-up email and then another.

Adam apologized a month later and said he was still interested.

Adam and I still haven’t had our conversation as I do with my Lilly Bug every day.

We both just keep putting it off, because it’s easy and we are busy.

But there’s a real problem here.

Adam needs an Explainer Video so he can start closing more leads and getting more clients and I need him to buy one for the same exact reasons.

Even though this should be a priority for both of us, we are doing the morning routine that Lilly and I have, but we’re never getting back together for a real conversation.

It’s easier to just get “busy”, check emails, endlessly work on projects with no deadlines, etc., than it is to get the priorities done.

It’s okay to knock out some busy work if it is more urgent, but you always have to come back to the most important stuff.

You know, the things that HONESTLY make you real freaking money.

Because of this, I’ve made a couple of changes.

Now I make a better effort of chatting with Lilly Bug earlier in the morning because I know that my coaching clients will still be there later, but she will grow up soon and start thinking she’s too cool for me like my 12-year old Ava does (insert sad face emoji).

This has led to more daddy/daughter time and less guilt.

And I’ve gotten more aggressive in my follow-up with the Adams of the world by using the telephone app on my magic pocket computer and sending more frequent and direct emails.

This has led to more Explainer Videos for more clients and me sharing this with you because I’m betting you are in the same routine.

Break the routine of getting too busy with your urgent tasks.

Create more time for the important items that make you happy and make you real money!