The best laid plans….
The method that I use for setting my weekly actions has been mostly successful, and I have been moving forward towards my goals faster than ever before. Recently, I found myself getting extremely caught up in the process and was pushing myself harder and harder to achieve my weekly actions. By setting and trying to complete ten actions a week I was starting to over-focus on the process and forget the purpose.
Then one of the instructors at the International Coach Academy got me thinking when he suggested “there is a big difference in letting actions RUN your life and setting actions to enthuse your life.”
I was definitely at risk of letting my action setting run my life. I needed to make a change. In the end I decided that the main issue was trying to achieve too many actions each week. Why were ten actions a week causing such a problem?
Should help build momentum
The purpose of weekly action setting, other than to get things done, is to build momentum that will move you towards achieving your goals, and, eventually, your vision. Momentum is created by successfully setting and completing your actions each week: as you move through the week you are able to tick each action off of your list, and with each tick, you feel success, and with each success you build up a desire to complete more actions and achieve even more.
If action setting is written in stone each week, with a set number of actions to achieve you are setting yourself up for failure, and failure destroys the momentum you are trying to build. Originally I would set ten actions for myself and my expectation for success each week was to complete all ten actions. When I didn’t, there was a sense of failure, and I would get upset with myself. I had set myself up to fail and I was ruining my momentum.
Helpful not obsessive
Action setting is meant to help you move towards the larger goals you have set for yourself, it is not meant to take over your life. However, when I started achieving all ten of my actions each week I found myself starting to focus more on the process of setting and achieving the actions than I was on what my overall purpose was. I started setting actions that were easier to achieve so that I could quickly tick them off my list and feel successful. I lost sight of the overall ideas I was working towards and was focusing only on my list and getting it done.
I was manipulating the overall process so I could FEEL successful instead of using the process to actually BE successful
Actions should be a part of your week, not your entire week
The ten actions I set each week are certain tasks, or smaller steps in much larger goals, I am going to focus on that week. On top of these actions I need to spend time on other tasks that need to be done, events that need to be attended, and with my family having fun. What I found was my weekly action list was starting to interfere with me accomplishing all of the other important things. My over-focus had allowed my action list to take over my week instead of being a healthy part of the week.
What to do?
I needed to change my approach. After reflecting on the process I realized that one way I can prevent my action setting from running my life is by making the process open for flexibility. Next post I will explain some of the methods I have started to use to make my action setting flexible and much more functional.
Check last weeks post on making action setting sustainable for more help if your weekly actions are running your life.
Well, your site is really clean and very easy to read. I like that. Nice job.
But I am not too sure about your premises on action setting. You push hard to complete your goals, that is great. But what is the rush all about?
In the end, will more goals accomplished mean greater happiest? Perhaps, if I can suggest, you move your attention to the center of the body, the mind will never be satisfied no matter how many goals you complete during your week.
But thanks for the honest read and good luck with it all. See at the beach I hope, relaxing and enjoying your time here.
Ashley
Ashley,
Thanks for the comment. I guess the answer is that, yes, I do believe accomplishing everything I accomplish in a given week is moving me towards happiness. I have created an overall vision that I am seeking out in my life, and it does not match where I currently am in my life. That vision is filled with the feelings I want to have in my life and how I want to live my life. Maybe this is the “center of the body, the mind” that you are talking about.
I believe that my mind will be satisfied if I am fulfilling actions, and goals that are moving me towards the place my mind wants to be.
The rush is what this post and my last post are all about, setting enough actions each week to move forward, but not setting so many that I am losing sight of the important things in my life. Rushing isn’t helpful, but neither, in my opinion, is staying in one place. My actions move me forward, if they don’t work, or I find a better way, then I change them. While moving forward I also take lots of time to enjoy my current reality, I am not where I want to be, but I am still having fun.
If you haven’t, you may want to take a look at “My Manifesto” which is a rough copy of the larger process I am working on for myself. Maybe there you will see that I also focus on my values, my vision, and my mind.
I look forward to continuing this conversation, thanks for the post
Jeremie
[...] Why have I made my weekly action setting adaptable? Check out last week’s post for the answer. [...]
[...] Here is a previous post on Sunday Night Success that also has some great ideas on goal setting. Link [...]