If you have found yourself in the habit of breaking commitments you make to yourself, or not completing tasks you assign yourself, then you may want to take a look at whether the specific commitment or task may not be specific enough.
Huh?
Okay, let me put that another way. There are tasks and then there are projects. There are commitments and then there are goals. When my clients commit to do a certain task, I support them and hold them accountable to keep that commitment. For example: I will make ten prospecting calls on Thursday. But when they say something like, “I will get ten new clients on Thursday,” I will not accept that as a commitment. That is a goal. In order to achieve that goal, the client will need to determine how many calls would likely be necessary in order to get ten new clients, and how long it would take to make all those calls, and when they would have the time to do it.
When a client tells me, “I will get my office organized on Thursday,” I will not accept that as a commitment. That is a project. It requires many different action steps in order to be completed, and the client must first determine what those actions are and how much time each action is likely to take before he or she can commit to doing them, and by when.
With myself, I have noticed that the things on my list that I continually put off and procrastinate are usually things that are not well defined. If I want to get started on something, I need to first determine what the action steps are, and what I will need in order to take those actions. Once I chunk it down, it becomes much easier to take the first step, and then all I ever need to do is to take the very next step that is in front of me.
What have you been putting off?
What action steps will it take to do it?
What will you need in order to take those actions (how much time, what location, what tools or resources, what support, etc.)?
What is your first action step?
When will you take it?
Many Blessings,
Coach Maura