The Importance of Defining A Successful Outcome
Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it.
-Donald Marquis
I’m what Marcus Buckingham would call an ‘Achiever’.
What gets me jazzed more than anything? Getting stuff done. Ticking stuff off my list. That’s what gives me a sense of accomplishment.
It’s not uncommon. It’s almost a part of the American work ethic. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’re exactly the same way.
I’d wager you have the ability to throw herculean efforts at any given mountain of ’stuff’ and grind through it. Hell or high water — you’ll knock it down to size. Heck, it’s probably a huge reason why you’ve been as successful as you have already.
But have you ever stopped yourself knee deep in drudgery only to as the question…Why? What am I doing here again?
It’s like having an epiphany.
Here’s the thing. You feel compelled to finish it. But have you defined what ‘finished’ means?
Defining the end result you want for every project you’re working on not only improves the end result but makes the process more enjoyable.
If you aren’t articulating the successful outcome of everything you pick up to work on, you’re at risk of wasting the most valuable asset you have — your TIME.
Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
The Small Business Owners Daily Work Plan
We all have emergencies that enter into our world. But if we let ourselves be driven by the latest & loudest, we never make progress towards our long term goals.
If we’re going to ‘advance the ball’, we need to Plan Our Work & Work Our Plan.
Successful business owners wake up each morning, assess their progress towards our goals, and make darn sure they take one step – as small as it may be — towards that goal.
Each day builds on the success of the previous day.
Unfortunately, most of us start our days just by picking up what’s left over from yesterday. We scan our emails, we pick up the latest emergency, and we let ourselves be victims to all the stuff coming at us.
If our work has no context – no meaning – we end up feeling overwhelmed. Worse, we don’t advance the most critical projects to our success and happiness.
It’s what Stephen Covey called putting the ‘Big Rocks First.’
In a famous example from his book, First Things First, Covey tells the story of a teacher in front of a class with a wide-mouth gallon jar. Next to the jar is a pile of fist-sized rocks.
After filling the jar to the top with the rocks, the teacher asks the class if the milk jug is full. The class answers, ‘Yes.’
The teacher then takes out a box of tiny pebbles underneath his desk and then places them into the container, topping it off.
The teacher asks again if the container is full? Tentatively, they answer ‘Yes’ again.
The teacher then takes out a bag of sand and pours it into the container filling it to the top. Then he takes water and pours it into the container.
He says ‘Ok, NOW it’s full?’
