Where Do Actions Without Goals Get You
How often have you felt that at the end of the day you’ve done a lot of work but you really don't feel that you've accomplished anything?
The other day I was saying something about 'having all the oars in the water and pulling hard but I couldn't see where the boat was going'. I find myself in this situation way too many times. Beth said, "Well, maybe the boat’s got no rudder." The light bulb went on! Here's another example would be getting into your car and start driving. You’re making really good speed but you don’t know where you’re going. A simple map would change everything.
These feelings of working but not accomplishing anything come up when you don’t know where you’re going. This rudder I mentioned is what we call the end goal.
Focus is the heart of any project. If all the oars are pulling in the same direction and the rudder is steering, the results can be unbelievable. You knew I was going to bring this up. This is a great segue to the success pyramid; thoughts + feelings + actions= results. This formula works for individuals or companies. With a company the formula works backwards and it should for us, too. It’s the project lead or boss’s job to visualize the end results and express it to the team so they can see what success looks like. From this the team works together and takes action in a specific direction. All the oars are in the water and you have a functional rudder. When this works properly, at the end of the day you feel accomplished. You have good feelings and thoughts. You can see yourself or team progressing in the same direction and see measurable results. This creates momentum. If you know where you’re going, not only do you get there faster but you or your team are happier.
Will you have to stop occasionally and re-focus? Of course. Just like a ship has to change course occasionally because of weather and tides. These are simple course corrections that are easily made because you know where you’re going. Your map of success starts with a simple focused formula. Take this algebraic formula and make it yours:
