Most of us know what the most important things are we have to do. The trouble is because they are so important, they seldom can be finished in a single session or even by working all day on them. What we end up doing is working on all the less important things that give us the reward of getting finished, and procrastinate on the big stuff. Many of us will remember the story of the tortoise and the hare, where the tortoise won the race by just plodding along while the hare at first raced ahead, but then got distracted and took long breaks and so lost the race. Getting the really important things done involves daily discipline. It is about planning to so something every day towards that big goal.
I find that by setting aside 15 minutes at the start of each work day to plan my day, I can focus on the most urgent and most important. I then ask myself: “What key activity will I do today towards achieving my most important goal.” I then schedule time in my diary to do it, as though it were a dedicated meeting. I can then closet myself away for that time period to work in a focussed manner on that next step towards my goal, without interruptions. In isolation, it may appear that little progress is made, depending on the size of the task to finish, but day by day and week by week, I then notice how my big goal is closer to being achieved. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "One step at a time is good walking". Jim Collins (Good to Great author) in his latest book, talks about the 20 mile walk. Steady, planned progress, day by day.... All great achievements are done by having a clear goal, and then getting on with it, one (aligned and focused) step at a time.
Dreaming big on its own will not achieve anything. A dream without a plan is just a wish. By setting aside time daily to plan, and then actually doing what we planned, we can achieve great things.
I find that by setting aside 15 minutes at the start of each work day to plan my day, I can focus on the most urgent and most important. I then ask myself: “What key activity will I do today towards achieving my most important goal.” I then schedule time in my diary to do it, as though it were a dedicated meeting. I can then closet myself away for that time period to work in a focussed manner on that next step towards my goal, without interruptions. In isolation, it may appear that little progress is made, depending on the size of the task to finish, but day by day and week by week, I then notice how my big goal is closer to being achieved. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "One step at a time is good walking". Jim Collins (Good to Great author) in his latest book, talks about the 20 mile walk. Steady, planned progress, day by day.... All great achievements are done by having a clear goal, and then getting on with it, one (aligned and focused) step at a time.
Dreaming big on its own will not achieve anything. A dream without a plan is just a wish. By setting aside time daily to plan, and then actually doing what we planned, we can achieve great things.
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