When you put your ideas on paper they look real,
they look like they could be accomplished. You feel positive, like you have
already tackled the problems because you have addressed them. They problems and
how to overcome them are now right there on paper. Whew; time to step away; watch
a Netflix program for the reward. You tell yourself, that paper, or the
document on your computer needs to sit there for a while. You need to feel good
about just getting this on the paper.
You walk by it, you maybe look at the folder
sitting there just being itself. You go on with your life, occasionally
thinking about the things you wrote down on that list. Now you are days and
weeks into the New Year, maybe even a month, the list is unchanged. It is time
to pick that New Year’s baby up and start nurturing it. Right now, find the
list. It’s in the notebook you left on the far corner of the desk. How does it
feel now? Are you as excited today as you were last week when you wrote those
down? If not maybe we should cross a few things off that list, or move them to
a dream list or what I call my list the dump list.
What’s jumping out on the page to you. Just what
is it that you think you really WANT to work on? I will contend that that is
the thing that led you to commit these to paper. That is the real deal, the one
thing you need to get started on now.
I want you to start a new document, computer
paper, I don’t care. Get your coffee and let’s get started. What needs to be
done to get that piece moving? Set your timer for 10 minutes. Start typing or
writing, everything you need to do to get that goal needs to show up on the
piece of paper. Who do you need to call? Who can help you? What barriers might
you run into? Get it all down.
Drink your coffee.
You now are going to put that project into
action. Grab your google calendar, your planner, whatever it is that you are
using and start setting tasks for you for the next 30 days. Most of these
should be 10 minute tasks, some may require more work. You want to find days
that you have time to complete those longer pieces of the project.
Now set a weekly review, after carefully
selecting the first 7 things you are going to do, add them to your daily to
do’s as the one of the A items you are going to do. If you have not heard me
talk about it before, my days are set up in A, B and C items. The A’s must be
done and there are no more than 3. B’s are the things I would like to do and
the C’s are just that dump list or a moving target of to do’s I want on my
radar. If I have time I will probably grab one to get it crossed off.
During you weekly review, set the timer to 10
minutes. You are going to focus on the next 7 things. When will you do them. Do
you need to break it down even further so you know you will get it done? Get
them on the calendar for the next week. This process is going to happen for the
next 30 days.
A month in, you will be surprised just how much
you have accomplished on this one goal. You may want to pull the next project,
or you might want to just stay with this one. This is a personal decision. You
might find that you need to spend another 30 days with this one.
One clarification here, this doesn’t mean you
don’t tick off a few other things that are on that list. But I want you to have
a focus every 30 days. At the end of the 12 months you will be able to look at
your work, you should have completed, or have 12 months of new things happening
for you. You depending on how difficult your goals are you might have 12 works
in progress, or 12 new habits. The goal is to get working now on the piece of
paper you spent so much time putting together. The thought needs to move to
action and this is one way to get it moving.
Sounds like too much? It’s not, just set a time
each day to spend with these goals. Give them 10 minutes; it’s worth it for the
lifetime of change isn’t it?
Happy Middle of the first month of the year! Ok,
made that up...just have a Happy Day.
