How to course correct
We are more than halfway through the year.
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Are you closer to achieving your goals?
It is common for people to feel bad about this, but I encourage you to not be too hard on yourself if you haven’t done everything you’ve set out to do.
You’re not a failure! There is still an opportunity to change your course!
Course correct
You’ve probably heard the phrase:
A pilot is off-course 90% of the time.
I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but it helps to illustrate that we can still get there if we allow ourselves to course-correct back on track.
Once you start to course correct you begin to realise the importance of something most of us overlook…
Measure progress
My own New Year’s resolutions centred around Chris Brogan’s concept of three words.
I chose:
- Start
- Observe
- Adapt
Oops, there is a slight problem! Starting, observing and adapting to what exactly?
In retrospect, the idea was to become a more mindful and courageous person, who dares to experiment and have fun trying new things. Good goals, just hard to track.
Okay, that’s the bad news, but the good news is that I can fix this and I HAVE made progress. In fact, I started my new job at Spoon Publishing, and started and completed my master’s thesis (although it drove me slightly crazy).
Overall, I think my three words are useful, but I’ve put too much emphasis on getting started on new projects, not so much on observing and adapting to see what I’ve learned from them. Through my new mindfulness and writing practice, I hope to change that.
With this in mind, I am switching tracks and am going to set the intention to:
- Meditate every morning (and evening as a stretch goal)
- Write in my journal once a week (twice a week as a stretch goal)
- Blog at least once a week here (bi-weekly as a stretch goal)
- Guest post once per month (bi-monthly as a stretch goal)
- Jog twice per week (three times as a strech goal)
What are your goals and what measurable tasks do you need to implement to achieve them?
Focus your efforts and track your progress. You will get where you work towards.
Bonus tip: Set the deadline for all your goals to December 15. After that date, there is usually too much going on and we want to spend our time and energy on other things.
Accelerate
Once you are course-correcting and measuring progress, then you can put effort into acceleration.
This is the correct order and a place where a lot of people go wrong.
We look at super productive people and all we see is energy and action. But what you see is not always what you get. What happens if you tread on the gas pedal with your eyes closed and your hands off the wheel? Are you heading towards a finishing line or a brick wall?
In business and in life, acceleration comes from three places:
- Doing more of what works. To do more of what works you need to know what is working. That means measurement, and it means experimenting.
- Using systems. Systems don’t come naturally to me, but I can see the benefits and usefulness that they provide in everyday life. This is why it’s so important to reflect on your workflows and processes. Making everyday tasks into routines and systems can save you a lot of mental energy and frustration.
- Overcoming fears and constraints. Discover what’s holding you back, and either remove or work around these obstacles.
Bottom line
The most successful people I know (regardless of how you define success) have worked hard to get where they are today, and work hard to stay there. Luck plays a part, but being prepared, knowing where you want to go, and working deliberately every day all play a major role.
Don’t rely on lucky accidents to get you where you want to go. This mindset often leads to passivity, remorse, and regret rather than boosting your willingness to act and make mistakes. Decide what you are working towards and find a way to get there!
Most of all, don’t fear failure.
Everything is a work in progress, and we learn best by doing. Some things work out as we have planned and some things don’t. That’s just part of being human. We all make mistakes, every single one of us (me more than most I expect). Not getting the desired results is an education not a failure.
So what are your half-year resolutions going to be now? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Need help to course correct?
Check out my coaching services to see how I can help you make progress on the goals that matter most to you. Look forward to working with you!