"You get out what you put in.”

My personal trainer told me recently, as I was sweating my face off doing burpees.

Damn right, I thought.

The same also applies to every other area in life. Especially in business.

The results you’re getting are directly correlated to what you’re putting in.

It’s all about inputs and outputs.

So, if you’re currently not seeing the results you want, it’s time to turn your attention inwards.

Be brutally honest with yourself and ask yourself these hard questions:

Am I putting enough reps in?

Am I doing what is required?

Look, the biggest challenge lies in identifying the right inputs that will not only give you the biggest ROI but also the biggest ROE.

I’m talking about return on energy.

Because the biggest lever you can pull on is your energy.

If you invest all your energy into tasks that are not moving the needle in your business…

Then you feel burnt out, like you don’t have enough hours in the day…

And like you’re doing everything seemingly possible with nothing to show for it.

You see, the subconscious mind is fascinating.

It can trick you into focusing all your energy on something you believe to be important…

When in fact, it is only a distraction.

A mere coverage for what you should really be doing.

But consciously, you feel busy.

Even if it doesn’t get you the results you so desperately want.

Feeling called out right now? Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. (anyone who claims otherwise is lying)

Now, what can you do to change this and maximize your ROE?

Reverse-engineering for success

This is key.

Reverse-engineering won’t only help you achieve your goals, but also make you more productive in the process.

You start with the goal in mind and work out the exact steps to get there in reverse.

You essentially build a framework for success by breaking down all the steps and tasks required to reach your goal, from start to completion - in reverse.

For example, if you have a certain revenue goal for the year, first evaluate how many clients or contracts you’d have to get to hit that goal.

Then, think about how many sales conversations you need to get those clients.

Your close rate will determine how many sales calls you have to book to hit that goal.

From there, you know how many booked calls you have to get. (taking into account the average 60% show-up rate across industries)

Once that number is set, you go one step further and determine how many leads you have to generate.

Last but not least, you’d work out how much you have to spend on advertising to get that number of leads, based on CPMs and your KPIs.

Plan in granular detail

Now that you have reverse-engineered all the steps you need to hit your yearly goal, it’s time to get more granular.

Take the plan to success that you have just created and break it further down into:

• Quarterly micro goals (making up the big yearly goal)

• Monthly targets

• Weekly tasks

• Daily activities

This will ensure you stay on track, evaluate your inputs properly and use your energy wisely.

Put the blinders on

Congratulations, you have now established all the activities you should focus your energy on.

It's time to go ahead and execute wildly every single day.

Say “No” to distractions.

Don’t get off track. (no matter how hard it is)

Practice self-discipline.

And remember: today’s results don’t come from yesterday’s work.

They come from all the inputs you have stacked over the last few months, even years.

We cannot always see movement with the naked eye…

But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Keep that in mind.

If you follow all of those steps you’ll supercharge your productivity.

From now on, you know exactly where to direct your energy and which tasks you need to prioritize to hit your goal.

The roadmap is crystal clear, and as a result, you’ll maximize your ROE and get better at dodging distractions.