Start Where You Are

"Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was."
- Richard L. Evans

If you are not a world beater right now, today, don't worry about it.

Take the time to assess yourself and your organization. Answer the following questions:
- What's going well, what isn't, why?
- What would things look like if they were exactly the way you want?
- What needs to change to make it that way?
- Who are the key people to making those changes?
- Are the key roles filled with the right people?
- What needs to happen first, second, third...?
- How can we chart our progress?

Now, just do it!

In other words,

1. Start where you are,
2. Know where you want to go,
3. Get a map (develop a plan) that shows how to get there and
4. Take the first step from where you are to where you want to go.

Be Wise,

--Charles

Train to Nowheresville

Still on my quote kick. Here are some of my thoughts on this one:

"You've got to think about 'big things' while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction."
--Alvin Toffler, renowned futurist and author of "Future Shock" and "The Third Wave"


Ever get caught up in what appears to be the mundane, every day "stuff"? You feel like a "damsel in distress," tied to the railroad tracks just moments from being run over by the express train to "Nowheresville." You feel like you just can't ever seem to get past the urgent to get to the important. This quote explains why. If you don't take the time to think about how the small things you do are taking you to or away from accomplishing the big things (your vision, purpose, mission, goals) then each day you are leaving it to chance that you are moving in the right direction.

So how do you stay focused on the big picture when there are so many fires to put out on a daily (hourly) basis? There really is only one way to do it -- set aside time to think about the big picture and how it relates to your daily activities. It's that simple and that hard. If you find you just can't discipline yourself to do it then I suggest you find a business coach that can help. Many of my clients have said that they just needed someone outside of their company to hold them accountable as well as to bounce big picture ideas off of. Of course, all the big picture planning sessions in the world come to nothing without connecting it to what needs to be done on a daily basis.

Be Wise,

--Charles