5 Step Formula for Getting Things Done

A Framework for Goals and Moving Forward in Life – Part 1

As someone who had a big laundry list of things that I wanted in life I had to figure out how to get things done in a way that would deliver the results I wanted to see.

With over 20 years’ experience as a Project Manager in the logistics space, I thought the processes and skills were interchangeable between a commercial project and a personal goal.  Define the objective, identify resources, risks, create tasks and timeline, then act and manage the process to successful conclusion.  It turns out that there is more to it than just the process.

But when it came to personal goals, I have often wondered why some people can make things happen for themselves, and why others struggle.  Some are easily able to set themselves a clear vision of what they want to do, then get on with doing it while others really struggle, and either make slow, painful progress or worse, none.

It’s hard to believe but 90% of your progress in your goals will happen as a result overcoming internal resistance.  That being always good to have a framework to guide you forward when planning and implementing a personal project or goal.  The framework should also serve to clarify your objective and identify problems areas that may need addressing for you to progress successfully.

Goals should push you.  They should stretch your boundaries, so you are learning something new about yourself while creating something you have not had or experienced before.  If it is not a stretch, then there is no need to set a goal, you should just get on with doing it.

It’s natural when you are pushing your known limits to feel resistance.  Your job is to learn from this and develop a new set points and new understanding of your own capabilities, both physical and mental.

Setting Goals for Growth

Setting yourself goals is a logical step in the renewal process, more of the same will lead to just that, more of the same.  If your aim is to create a life with greater possibilities, then something is going to need to shift.  Unfortunately for me, I had to learn this the hard way and it took me a longer than I expected, and I’m still learning.  It’s obvious to me now, but the results you or anyone for that matter can achieve are commensurate with the level of clarity you bring to the game.  That’s in the form of both vision and capability.

I’m going to break this framework into a series of articles to get the information out while making it digestible.  As mentioned, mindset and capability go hand in hand, so that will big part of what I’ll continue to focus on.  This leads to the clarity that will enable you to tackle larger and larger goals as you develop a greater understanding of yourself and build new capabilities.

With that said, here is a Pillar 1 of the frame I aim to use when approaching any project or personal goal.

Pillar 1: Own It

“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. ~ from ‘Invinctus’ by William Ernest Henley”

You cannot solve a problem you don’t own.  If you want the result, you need to be the one that takes ownership and is responsible for the outcome.  This doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself, but you need to be the driving force behind getting it done.  This includes owning your personal shortcomings, whether these are skills, habits or beliefs.

Very rarely does a solution fall into your lap without you doing anything.  For most of us we have to find a way to turn wishing into planning, into action.

If I’ve learned anything from project management in business, it’s that waiting for someone else, deferring to someone else, or hoping for them to make your thing a priority will not get you what you want.  Most people are too busy focusing on themselves to worry about you.

As the saying goes, ‘hope isn’t a strategy’, so you better have your own plan.

A big part of ownership is to own your shortcomings, whether that is a belief, habit, or skill.

Of these three, skills are the easiest to overcome.  You either find someone else to do whatever it is you need done, or you learn how to do it.

Beliefs are the hardest because they’re mostly invisible to us.  Without really realising it, we operate in a world of thought.  Beliefs shape our perceptions our capabilities and possibilities.  If you changed your “I cant’s” to “I can”, or the overwhelm of “I don’t know how” to taking the very first step you need to take, followed by the next one, then you might start to see that beliefs are permeable and changeable.

Change Beliefs and Change Your World

For an example of beliefs changing over time, take the example of how you viewed the world as a child.  I suspect your world view has evolved.  From my childhood Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are all things that I’m no longer tied to.  And I probably have seen through a hundred ‘Dad Truths’ that I was told, only to find out later that they were made up.

But they’re not the ones that concern me so much, it’s the ones I can’t see operating, these are the beliefs that are so ingrained they make my ‘normal’ seem normal to me.  These beliefs give a framework for my thinking to operate within.

Thoughts arise within us, and because they come from within us, and are spoken in what seems to be our own voice, we naturally identify with them, they become familiar, a living truth for us, and part of the landscape of our internal dialogue.  This leads to a belief they mean something about us, our qualities as a person and what we’re capable of and we live our lives accordingly.

If you want to find freedom and more capability in your life, start questioning whether the thoughts you have about yourself are true, hold them up to the light and ask if they’re fact, or just something you assumed was true.  Keep holding them up to the light, because eventually, only truth can survive this sort of scrutiny.

This is the first step in shaking them up and building a new foundation of possibility and capability.

Where Do You Want to Go?

In the next part of this series I will dive into defining your vision.  Each of the steps in this framework as just as important as the next and each play a supporting role to the others.  Without taking time to define a compelling vision of where you want to go and who you want to be you won’t have anything to draw you forward.

Conversely, if it’s a weak goal and doesn’t spark excitement and a little fear, then you’re unlikely to stick with it.  The biggest mistake most people make is to compromise what they want based on what they think they can have, based on previous experience of what they’ve been able to do.

But before you get to planning your goals the first step is to take inventory of your life, where are you not seeing the results you hope for?  Where aren’t you performing below your best, where are you praying for a miracle to see you through?

These just might be in these area’s in your life where you need to shine a light, do a little digging so you can own the fear, own any resistance and hesitation so you can begin to move through it.