Maybe, you just have to start and keep going long enough to know, for sure, where you want to go?
At the start of the New Year
So, the year is well begun and we are almost half way through the first month. I’ve been watching this time of year for a while now and, often observe the struggles of folks who really want to get things done in the coming year that they couldn’t get done in previous years.
I watch and hear from people of all walks of life, including my leaders and first-time managers. They start something new with a ton of energy and promise, and then stop. Maybe not quite a full stop, all of a sudden but, a gradual slowing of action, loss of enthusiasm, maybe an excuse or two and then nothing at all. They have fall off track. They have stopped moving forward.
Others I watch and hear appear to have stuck with it long enough to have committed and are making great progress. Then they hit a bump and go in another direction which is all good if that other direction moves them closer to what they want!
Has this ever happened to you? How do you handle it.
Getting started
Me, I make my plan, at least in my head. I know, I know, I haven’t written it down... yet!
Do you write your goals and plans down on paper?
I know where I want to get to. I really do. I talk about it. I think about it. I plan steps - at least the next couple. The steps are real and they take me towards where I want to go. Sometimes I hit a bump and get off track. Sometimes it’s because something else important came up. Sometimes it takes longer than other times to get back on track - that’s fair right?
I had a guiding principle - get started. No matter what it is I want to get done, I start. Sometimes that means I don’t write it down ahead of time. Today I have the same guiding principle. It is core to my life and to my goals - I get started.
On-track, off-track
Over the last year, I got started, I followed a track and gave it a shot. It didn’t work out. I still believe in it. And, it got me moving in the right direction. However, it’s time to give it up and move it to the back burner and, get back on track. And I am.
Now it took me a year - enough time to “know”. I could have made the decision faster, I suppose. I learned a lot while on that parallel track and met some awesome people. So, I don’t believe I wasted my time.
Being back on my right track is growing my business. Being back on my right track means I get to work with people to move them, their careers and their businesses forward.
Back on track
So, what could I have done differently. I could have “known” where I was going. However, the journey I took to get here, I believe, was precisely because I didn’t know exactly where I was going and how I was going to get here. Now I have a much better idea. Now is the time to make my plan and make this business rock.
So, sometimes, I believe you have to start the journey to know where you want to go! And, once you know where you want to go, you can set the right goals, focus, commit and execute! Happy New Year. May your journey this year show you where you really want to go!