When I asked the participants in our leadership class today what their big takeaway was, one attendee answered, “To slow down.” He said that his daughter, who recently went off to college, sent him a letter telling him the same thing. Class became a big “aha” for him because that idea was reinforced.
How often do we need to hear the same message before we really hear it and work to make change?
Whether at work or at home, changing ourselves is very difficult. It can seem overwhelming and, in some cases, impossible. My husband has a saying: “Baby steps to euphoria.” This has become a motto for me. It reminds me to calm down and take things one at a time, breaking the problem into smaller tasks.
For example, let’s say you want to change how you procrastinate on big projects.
1. Lay out the goal of the project.
2. Write down a list of all the things you need to do to complete the project, breaking it down into smaller pieces.
3. Count back from the deadline and commit to completing a few tasks on the list each day until completion. If you have 10 days to complete a project with 20 items on the list, you’ll need to tackle a couple items on the list each day. It seems possible, and even obvious, but we don’t do it.
How many times do you need to hear a message to make change?
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2 comments:
Funny--if you hang around me much you'll hear me saying frequently to others: "you need to slow down to speed up." Taking the time to clarify purpose/vision/goals properly makes all the difference in your speed and quality of goal achievement. Good stuff!
Interesting!I'm very impressed upon your efforts.Thanks for sharing.
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