Being spontaneous and seizing opportunities can be hard. Between opening a new business and trying to maintain some semblance of a life–no one can blame business owners for wanting a detailed, structured plan to their business and potentially, their life.

Ed DeCosta, global speaker and executive coach for leadership, an acclaimed author and owner of Catalyst Associates, has been helping thought leaders and business owners instill practices that will make a bottom-line impact now and in the future.

DeCosta discussed with Jim Matuga, the host of The Positively West Virginia Podcast, his advice and tips for how business owners can maintain a healthy balancing act.

Below, there are three pieces of advice from executive coach for leadership, Ed DeCosta. Feel free to share yours with us, as well!

Learn what you can and can not control.

As a budding entrepreneur, DeCosta worked with a business to develop a leadership program. During this time, he was roped into a war between departments, which was not what he signed up for.

“I was told you can’t win here because person A and person B hate each other. No matter what you do, the other person won’t like it,” DeCosta explained. “I ended up having to terminate the program.”

“Unfortunately, sometimes the circumstances that you are in are independent of what you have said or done. You can choose to panic or be a martyr. You can be the person your parents raised you to be.”

Harness your priorities. Be intentional. Control your calendar.

Ed DeCosta and Presenter at an event

“I help very busy leaders harness the power of their priorities, the power of their intentionality and then leverage that power to control their calendars and the things they do with their time in order to be their best possible selves,” DeCosta explained.

Catalyst Associates is composed of experienced senior level consultants who are some of the most skilled practice experts in business today.

Their accomplished representatives utilize their knowledge to positively impact every organization they work with. With Kaizen (continuous improvement) teams and proven diagnostic tools, they focus on instilling practices that will make a bottom-line impact now and in the future.

Use a planner.

A planner can be an essential tool to help you plan as much as you need to.

“One resource that I can’t live without is my daily planner,” DeCosta said. “It’s called ‘The Daily Edge.’”

A planner can help you keep track of meetings, personal plans and deadlines days to months to a year in advance.

Write down your most important dates so that you know that is what you have to do. Once you’ve started using a planner, you may find it easier to be more spontaneous as you know when you have to plan events and when you have free time.

Maintaining a delicate balance between planning your business and life and still being spontaneous is important. If you are too strict with planning every detail, you will miss out on life.

DeCosta was a guest on The Positively West Virginia Podcast, Listen to his full podcast here.

PWV QUICK BITS | EXECUTIVE COACH FOR LEADERSHIP RECOMMENDATIONS

• RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: Planner | Daily Scheduler “The Daily Edge” 
  
• RECOMMENDED BOOK: Psycho-Cybernetics by: Maxwell Maltz
• PERSON DECOSTA WANTS TO MEET: Superintendent of schools in McDowell County and the 4th grade teachers