Success - Is There A Recipe?
We pulled out a time-honored family recipe recently, which got me contemplating such a recipe for achievement the total amount of the year could be. I tried to follow along with the standards for the majority of good recipes: they should be relatively simple and clear, employ what's ideally at our disposal, enable some flexibility or minor errors, and yield the specified outcomes. Some tips about what I developed:
Start with the conclusion at heart. Do you know the outcomes that people want? Where do we see ourselves ideally next season? What's new; what's different? Can you explain that important - how will the final results advance our longer-range vision and goals?
Take inventory. What resources will we currently have available that people can employ - friends, contacts, materials, assets...? That can we need to acquire? This step is sort of a basic navigational principle: before we are able to get to where you want to go, we need to first know where we are - and it's really essential to be accurate. If we take on a complicated recipe from your renowned chef, and it is in a language, the likelihood of failure are high. Stretch goals are excellent, but we have to be sensible. Before we set out we must see things for what they may be, not what we should wish these folks were.
Consume a plan, but be flexible. Consider which steps, as to what order, gives us the very best chances of success. For example, just like I know that the chocolate chips get added last when creating chocolate cookies, it's better to research a prospect prior to making a marketing call. If I'm away from chocolate chips, maybe I will use chocolate shavings or peanut butter chips; easily haven't done the investigation yet, maybe I'm able to reschedule.
Ask for help. I tried a recipe once that called for white sauce, coupled with no idea what which was. As opposed to wasting lots of butter and flour or scratching the project, Gurus my partner Carley for help. If the associate knows some section of a few things i need to deliver better than I really do, I might rather buy the exact help than jeopardize project quality.
Monitor progress and request feedback. A good good cook is smart to get others' opinions about whether to add any spices or serve something again. Likewise, we're not always the best judge of our work or efforts; take advantage of others' ideas or suggestions of ways to approach things differently.
Stir in equal quantities of courage and discipline. Just about anything that's new or hard requires courage. We need courage to adhere to our own path, try new things or untested or commit when rewards are uncertain. Discipline essentially means replacing old habits or routines with a new one, and sticking to them; without one we are probably be among the 80% approximately who drop their year resolutions by the end of January. As Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, isn't an act, however a habit."
Hang in there, and be good to yourself. Challenging goals (or recipes) may be discouraging; sometimes we're tempted to just chuck everything and dine out. Keep at it, and "keep your eye around the prize." When we carry on doing our best, something positive will develop; basically we will learn something. Stay focused, but remember "all work with no play..." Put on some music, have a drop of vino, visit with company (or even the equivalent at the job) and things in perspective. Even when all seems lost, it is not.