Episode Transcript
How Can I Be More Productive?
It Starts with Not Giving Up
A goal is the result or achievement of something to which effort is directed. It is the outcome that is wanted. It may be a one and done result, or it may be a series of successes leading to a larger goal.
Most of us have a picture in our heads of what our dream life would be. It can be frustrating and depressing when things don’t turn out as planned. Looking back over the past three quarters of this year, some of my goals have not been accomplished yet. This can be frustrating when our expectations exceed our accomplishments.
If I’m not careful, I start believing that I can’t really do those things anyway. Who am I kidding? It’s just an unrealistic dream. It’s easy to set goals, but hard to stay the course for the long game. This can lead to giving up.
Giving up is like dying while you’re still alive. Don’t give up!
Last week we talked about how the responsibility of accomplishing our goals is up to us. So, how do we do that?
First and foremost, we have to choose to accomplish our goals. We’re the only ones who can do it. The best way is to break big things down into small steps. We’ve all heard the saying, “Eat an elephant one bite at a time.” At first glance, this phrase seems a little far out there. It’s not like eating elephants is high on our to-do lists.
Breaking this down a little more, a normal serving size of meat is between half and three quarters of a pound. It’s hard to know exactly how many bites are in a serving, but 10-15 bites are considered a good serving. Elephants are normally between 5,000 – 6,000 pounds of meat. This means to eat an average-sized elephant it will take around…154,000 bites. You had better have a big freezer!
A different way of eating that elephant is to Break Big Things Down into Smaller Pieces. It’s like constructing a building. Start with DREAMS, turn those dreams into VISIONS, turn those visions into GOALS. A goal is a bite-sized vision. And a vision that is ready to go to work is a goal.
Starting with DREAMS – Dreams are big, vague things. We can see them in our head. This is where great things start. It is important to align these dreams with God, the Architect of our lives.
VISION is the next step – This is where the big picture of the dream begins to take shape. It’s like a blueprint. It’s where things can be tested to see if the dream is possible and how the pieces will fit together.
Now we need to set some GOALS – It’s been determined that the dream can be built. Now we need to set some goals. When do we want to have it completed? How long will it take? Based on this, when do we need to start?
Nothing gets done without ACTION – This is where the rubber meets the road. Dreams are not accomplished without taking action. If anything is going to get done … we have to DO SOMETHING.
RESULTS are the dream becoming reality – This is where the hard work and planning come together. This doesn’t mean that the result is exactly what the original dream was, but that we accomplished our goal.
Big dreams can be overwhelming, but if we do nothing … nothing is what we have.
The other thing to remember is that we won’t always accomplish everything that we plan to do. It can be frustrating to work hard and at the appointed time we didn’t get everything done.
One of our greatest enemies is ourselves. Every mistake, every miscalculation, every stumble is replayed over and over in our minds. Every broken promise, every day wasted, every goal not reached compounds the disgust we feel for the lack of achievement. This dismay develops a paralyzing grip. When we disappoint ourselves we often respond with inaction and become more disappointed.
The Traveler’s Gift – The 6th Decision
We need to remember to give ourselves grace.
Finding the balance of setting big lofty goals and forgiving ourselves is the key to being productive. This doesn’t mean you can quit.
Get up, dust yourself off, and get back at it.
If you have a construction business and struggle to achieve your goals, let me help you be more productive. I offer a free 30-minute consultation to help you get clarity on your next steps and build accountability into your business.
