Last time, I asked you to think about how you wanted to invest your time this year. I also asked you with whom you wanted to spend your time.
The reason I asked you to think about those things is to help you define your priorities. Of course I could have just come right out and asked “What are your 2024 priorities?” The issue is, the direct approach doesn’t typically yield very useful results.
In my experience as a coach, it’s incredibly easy for people to come up with a list of priorities if you simply ask them. Following through on those priorities however… well, that’s why people work with coaches!
There’s a good reason why planning is easier than executing.
I’ll use myself as an example. When I get into “planning mode”, I find it very easy to aim high, believing in the vast potential of my untapped resources. The challenge comes when its time to start translating priorities into goals, goals into plans and plans into action. As I begin to encounter resistance or obstacles, rather than simply adjusting my plans, I can find my goals and priorities beginning to subtly shift or morph. Once I become aware of those priority shifts, my willpower and enthusiasm often suffer.
Sound familiar? If so, don’t worry - there’s another way to approach this.
Action
Perhaps you feel stuck. We all do from time to time, but let’s suppose that you’re feeling particularly stuck about an important aspect of your life. This sense of “stuckness” is also known as inertia. In physics, the principle of inertia boils down to the fact that “things like to continue doing what they’re already doing”. In other words, change isn’t easy. This comes from Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion.
But the second part of the law says that things remain as they are, unless acted upon by an outside force. This is why action is so important.
Here’s another way to look at it.
Have you noticed when you’re parallel parking a car, it’s much easier to turn the steering wheel when the car is moving than when it isn’t? There’s much less resistance to changing direction when the wheels are moving. Action beats inertia!
The other thing parallel parking can teach us about action is the benefit of a slower, measured, multi-step approach. If you’re lucky enough to see two open spaces, you might be able to drive straight in. However, most of the time, parallel parking is more of a dance. Forward - turn - reverse - turn - reverse - turn - forward - cha-cha-cha!
Of course, there are always exceptions…🙄
And I’ll use one more vehicle-based analogy to illustrate the importance of taking action in your life. Have you ever been in a parking lot, about to set off to an unfamiliar destination so you decide to plug the address into your GPS? When you ask the GPS to start navigating, it can often be a little confused. Sure, it knows where you are, but it doesn’t always know which direction you’re facing until you start moving.
In summary
The bottom line: it’s rarely as simple as “Ready? Aim. Go!” and it’s often much better to think of it as “Ready? Go! Aim.”
Ready? = Decide on your priorities, but don’t worry about the plan just yet.
Go! = Start taking action. Small and measured action at first - just to help you be clear about exactly where you are and which direction you’re facing.
Aim = Making adjustments and improvements to the plan will be easier once you’re taking action.