How is that helpful?

This morning after sticking my foot in my mouth again, I asked myself why did I just do that?
 What did I gain by doing that? 
How was that helpful?
When I first presented the word "HELPFUL" as the word of the month, the context was completely different. It was this positive attribute that somehow I should add to my bag of tricks. I should walk around spreading helpfulness where ever I go! I never thought about the word in this other context. Helpful is not always about assisting,. Helpful can be a a measuring stick.
How is this helpful?
So I tried it.
Sarcasm......how is this helpful?
Offering my opinion.....how is this helpful?
Calling someone out on something.....how is this helpful?
Getting angry,yelling,complaining,arguing....how are any of these things helpful?
I spent the better part of my day today testing this out. Before I spoke, I asked myself "how will this help?"
Before I answered an email ....how will this help?
Before I chose what to do next,I asked.....how will this help?
By the end of the day, each and every move I made came at the end of the question....how will this help?
If it wouldn't help, I didn't do it. 
Simple!!
During a webinar I attended earlier this week, my mentor Darren Hardy suggested that if an item on my to do list did not serve to assist in achieving one of my 3 major goals for the week,put it in the miscellaneous column. Once on the miscellaneous list....ignore it! It's not important in my quest of my most important objectives so why bother with it.
How does it help?
I incorporated this litmus test throughout the day today. Incredibly, my day was significantly more productive .Around 4:30, as my wok week was winding down, I started to look for what else I could accomplish before running out of week. As I sifted through papers and sorted through my to do list, I stopped to ask myself one more time....how is this helping?
It wasn't. So I decided to shut it down for the day, head out to the gym for an end of the day training session, and then head home for yet another wonderful Shabbat experience with the flock of Spiegels.
 That helped a lot!
Shabbat Shalom!