Clarification of the Goal
You have to go to work every day. You have to spend at least 40 hours a week in this spot. So…you can go into work and just dial it in or try to improve it. You can just attend or you can try to build something that you love. However, what is the direction you are heading if you want to improve it? What is the GOAL? If you have no idea what direction you are going, you are a squirrel just grabbing at acorns. And a blind one right??
- Just take a moment and write it out. THE GOAL!
- If you don’t know where you want to go, you can’t create a goal to get to that direction. So, paint out the ideal!
- What does the ideal sow unit look like? What is your ideal team? What does the ideal day look like? How is your ideal day structure? What do the sows look like? What do the piglets look like?
- No holding back on what is “reasonable”. Go for perfect at this point!
Now you have to create a path to get there. THE ACTION PLAN!
- Now that we have the ideal situation, we have to create the path to get there. These action plans have to be actions that you can control and not something that is in someone else’s control.
- What do you need to know? What equipment do you need? Who do you need on your team? How do you make it happen?
- No BS, will it work and is it worth it.
- Options… all the options to get to the goal. Write them down. Everything that could get you from ‘point A’ to ‘point B’.
- Identify the hinge goals. For example, what is the one goal that will make others unnecessary or easier.
- Hinge Goal: Is it learning Spanish?
- Will this help better communication? Will it help with better connection with the team?
- Hinge Goal: Is it consistent group meetings?
- Will this improve communications? Will this help educate the team? Will it help with the day’s plan or flow?
- Is it something else?
- Hinge Goal: Is it learning Spanish?
Now pick THE ONE THING!*
Tackle one adjustment at a time. It is tempting to grab more when you are looking at your list. This is because I bet more than one is going to help but resist that!
Goals can take awhile to adapt 7-240 days depending on the complexity of the goal, but the average is 60 days. Dedicate yourself to this one goal consistently for 60 days and see what happens, what moves the needle and will it become a habit. Then you re-evaluate from your ideal and start over and pick a new hinge goal. KEEP GOING!! Rome wasn’t built in a day but it was built!
*The following ideas were in Gary Keller’s The One Thing. I highly recommend reading it!
Pigs and People 