OK, it’s time to dig pretty deep as a Leafs fan.
They looked horrible on Tuesday night.
Absolutely horrendous. LOL!
Carol and I were at the game and the best part was the tribute to Darryl Sittler honouring the 50-year anniversary of his 10-point game against Boston.
(You can see Darryl being interviewed on the screen in the picture above).
Here we are in 2026 and one of the best moments of Leafs hockey is from 50 years ago.
Ahhh!! It’s so tough being a Leafs fan.
OK, on to much more positive things!!
One of the biggest changes in my life occurred when I decided to block out noise and focus on what was important.
Each day for over 5 years, from the age of 33 to 38, I would get up and review my Eisenhower Matrix.
After doing this for 5 years straight my life changed from working in the corporate world to having two different businesses generating over 7-figures in revenues.
And 5 years may sound like a long time but it went by in a flash.
And those 5 years set up the next 15 years of my life quite beautifully.
The momentum generated from daily focus on “the important stuff” compounded into incredible results.
To this day I credit Stephen Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” with introducing me to this powerful life hack.
Here’s how an Eisenhower Matrix works…The idea is that every task fits into one of four buckets, based on two questions: Is it urgent? and Is it important?
1) Urgent + Important
These are the fires: deadlines, emergencies, problems that can’t wait. They need attention now.
2) Not Urgent + Important
This is the “high-leverage” zone: planning, learning, health, relationship-building, strategic thinking, building systems, working on the business instead of just in it. This is where you want to spend your time! This is where the projects that will change your life get listed.
3) Urgent + Not Important
These feel pressing, but don’t actually matter much. Interruptions and “quick asks” go in this category. These should be delegated or tightly limited.
4) Not Urgent + Not Important
This is distraction: busywork, doom scrolling, and random tasks that create motion without progress.
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Here’s why using this works so well…
Most people spend their days reacting to urgency.
The matrix helps you separate noise from value. The real magic is consistently investing time in Not Urgent + Important — because that’s where you prevent future fires, create momentum, and build the kind of life and business you actually want.
To try it yourself right now…
….take today’s to-do list and sort it into these four boxes.
And then tackle one item from the Not Urgent + Important category today.
Do this for a week.
But there can be no exceptions.
You must tackle one item from the Not Urgent + Important category each day.
Here was the daily routine that worked for me:
1. Get up before the family and look at my matrix. Spend 90 minutes on one of the Not Urgent + Important tasks.
Set a time for 90 minutes. When that time ran out I was done.
2. Have breakfast, coffee with the family. Get the kids to school, etc.
3. Back home from 9am or so and spend another 90 minutes on a second task from that category.
Set a time for 90 minutes. Once that time ran out, I was done.
4. Now it’s 10:30am or so and I’ve accomplished so much that I can spend the rest of my day crossing off things from the other categories…and not feel guilty about it! I can read about my cherished Toronto Maple Leafs, doom scroll about gold (this was back in 2007 or so), turn on CNBC to watch the financial crisis unfold (what a time, LOL!), answer text messages, emails, and phone calls.
The rest of the day was going to be a win because I had already won the day by 10:30am.
Doing that for 5 straight years, with my brother’s help, allowed me to build two seven-figure businesses from scratch (one of which became an eight-figure business).
One last thing…
I used to buy packs of index cards from Dollarama and each card would be a fresh day’s matrix.
I would then carry that index card in my pocket all day and look at it regularly to ensure I focused on getting things off the list in the proper order.
If you’re ready to take the next step in life but are feeling stuck, try this out, who knows…it may change your entire life.
And if you know anyone in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, maybe share this with them too. They could use any help they can get! LOL!
Enjoy the snow, everyone!!
Tom & Nick
p.s. Yes, we’re still Leafs fans! Go Leafs Go!!
