Formula
noun
1. a method or procedure for achieving something.
My Formula for getting things done and achieving my goals is:
C before D especially when E
… which means Commitment before Doing, especially when Excuses
So, when I find myself not doing something that I “know I should”, I check my Commitment on it. What did I commit to doing, being or achieving? What did I say I would do? What is my goal? How did I define what I wanted to achieve or to do?
To me, Commitment precedes Doing. Always!
This comes into powerful focus especially when we create excuses to not Do whatever we have said that we would do. How easy is it to just back out, saying things like “I don’t feel like it today”, “I don’t have time for it”, “I’m tired”, etc, etc, excuses, excuses, excuses. How often do we make excuses and not follow through? Why is that?
Well I believe it is because we haven’t truly defined what we are Committing to in order to achieve what we want to (i.e. what our goals are). When excuses pop up, we must return to our formula, i.e. our “method for achieving something” as the dictionary definition says above. This means returning to our Commitment and re-engaging there in the first instance. It is our Commitment that will anchor us back into the task of Doing. And especially when we create Excuses!
Here are two live examples of this at play:
A client of mine, who is a senior manager and is working in a global organisation. He is a Father of two young children and has a busy life – both at work and personally. One of his goals was to get fit and healthy in order to positively impact his performance in both his work and personal life. So, in order to achieve that I encouraged him to define what he was going to Commit to doing. He defined his Commitment as running three times a week. He aims to do his three runs during the working week but when that doesn’t happen, he makes sure that he completes his runs at the weekend. Why? Because that is what he Committed to Doing for his health and well being. So, when Excuses come up with family or travel or needing to work longer hours (as they invariably do and have), he goes back to his Commitment to keep him on track with his Doing and so figures out a way to ensure that he can also complete his three runs a week.
Now let’s take Katie Taylor, as another example of this. (In case you are not aware of Katie, she is the current Irish, European, World and Olympic Female Boxing Champion in the 60kg division). Katie has a Commitment to training twice a week, six days a week. I’ll just repeat that for emphasis – training twice a day, six days a week. Wow!!! Now, she knows that this is what she has Committed to Do in service of her goal of being a Champion. I was at a talk with her last year and someone asked her the following question:
“Katie, surely there are days when you don’t feel like getting out of bed to train”.
Do you know what she replied..?
“I do have days like that, but those are the days that count the most.”
This has inspired me time and time in my life to re-Commit to my goals when I am going off track or when I feel like not doing what I said I would in order to achieve my goals.
So, no excuses!
What are your goals and what did you Commit to Doing in order to achieve them? Then when excuses pop up, no matter what, you must follow the formula and ground yourself back into your Commitment. Then go Do, in service of your goal and your own potential.
Try it (especially when Excuses) and let me know how you go …
Be the Best You Can Be!
Nadine