What stops you, or your team, from achieving your goals?

You might be surprised by the answer.

Sometimes the biggest reason you’re blocked from achieving success is…you.

Do you scoff at the mere possibility that this is true?

First, think back on difficult times and experiences. Perhaps these were times when:

- You became overwhelmed

- Your work – or life – became excessively complex

- You fell short of your goals and expectations

Now, consider how, and why these things happened. These were probably some of the reasons:

1. Your priorities weren’t clear.

2. You didn’t make decisions based on your priorities.

3. Others whose support you needed didn’t take your priorities seriously.

4. Something changed, but you didn’t change your priorities.

5. You hit a big setback, became discouraged and retreated.

If these sound familiar to you, you need to be able to address them the next time they occur.

Let’s look at each of these issues more carefully:

1 Your priorities weren’t clear.

If you don’t know what you’re driving toward, anything can move in to tap your money, time, energy and attention.

To solve this problem, take the time to clarify your vision of success.

Then create a vision statement or graphic representation of it.

Post it prominently, and check it regularly.

Once you know your main goals and priorities, competing demands can be easier to sort out.

2. You didn’t make decisions based on your priorities.

Maybe you knew what your priorities were, but you didn’t really follow them.

If this was – or is – the case, ask yourself: are your “priorities” really YOUR priorities?

If you’re not sure, take the time to figure out what you really want.

Goals you are really committed to make a huge difference in your motivation, plans and actions, and of course, your results.

3. Others whose support you needed didn’t take your priorities seriously.

Maybe other people didn’t believe you meant what you said. Maybe they were making assumptions based on times in the past when you said one thing and did another.

Or perhaps they were afraid that in changing your life, you were changing their lives too, and they hoped you’d change your mind.

Whatever the case, they’ll believe you mean what you say when they see what you do, and continue to do.

4. Something changed, but you didn’t change your priorities.

It’s easy for this to happen.

When big changes happen in your work or life, it’s easy to get busy with what’s new, without making adequate time and space to be successful.

What’s the way to solve this problem?

Take the time to get clear about what you really want NOW…not in the past.

Then figure out what you can, and will let go so that you can make your current goals happen.

You may have to free up time, money, energy and attention to be able to focus and get the results you want now.

5. You hit a big setback, became discouraged and retreated.

Things happen.

Even the best vision, strategy and action plan can’t forsee all possible barriers, burdens and surprises.

Be prepared that not everything will be known, or controllable, when you hit the road that leads to achieving a new goal.

Commit to yourself.

Be in your own corner.

If you don’t have your own back, really, who will?

So don’t pretend. Take the time to face the discouragement.

Feel it.

And then let it go.

Get back to your compelling vision (you do have one, don’t you?).

Adjust your action plan, based on what you know now.

And get going again.

There are great things ahead for you.

If you found this post valuable, share it with friends and colleagues who can use this information, too. You’ll also like the free weekly newsletter I publish every Tuesday. Sign up for the newsletter here.

---

Prioritizing.

It’s one of the issues I’m asked about most often, in all types of organizations.

Prioritization is a hot button issue for managers and employees, both. They want to know:

– How to decide what’s most important (and what’s not).

– How to reprioritize on the fly, in the face of daily pressures, urgencies and emergencies that seem that sometimes show up.

– How to stay the course through when trying to complete a major project or achieve a long-term goal.

One colleague described it this way, “I know what’s important at any given time by who’s screaming the loudest, and by who’s doing the screaming.”

She wasn’t laughing when she said it.

These are a few of the reasons that prioritization is difficult:

– Prioritizing means making decisions and that’s not easy for everyone.

– There may be many people to keep happy, some with competing interests.

– Resources are almost always limited, far more than are hopes, plans and dreams.

– Conditions turn out to be different from what was expected when the plan that was written is actually being implemented.

– Prioritization decisions may occur in the face of lots of emotion, but little good information.

– Most people don’t want to seem to be the “bad guy.” Yet that’s part of the job of being a leader: making tough calls, and then being the bearer of bad news for someone.

There are a few key steps involved in prioritizing. Start by answering the questions below.

This may take some research or information-gathering. As your answers become clear, your priorities will start to become clear, too:

1. What are your goals?

Know the target you’re shooting for.

2. Who are the customers for this decision, and the action that will follow it?

Know who has to be most satisfied with the outcome of the decision, and why.

3. What would these customers consider success to be with this decision and the action that follows it?

Know what their target is and, again, know why.

4. What resources will be available to implement the decision?

Decide in the context of what you’ll really have to work with, rather than the resources you wish you had.

5. Which things are important, but just not now?

You’re screening some things in when you’re prioritizing, and putting them at the front of the queue. You’re screening some things out, perhaps permanently, perhaps temporarily.

6. How will you explain the way the decision was made, if it is challenged by the people who lost in this prioritization process?

You may have to defend your work as a leader, which includes the work of making the decision, then communicating it, and ensuring that it is implemented well.

Make sure your decision can stand the test of time, that heat or glare of inspection, and changes that may occur when the decision that is being implemented.

I’ll go into each of these points in future blog posts.

If you found this post valuable, share it with friends and colleagues who can use this information, too. You’ll also like the free weekly newsletter I publish every Tuesday. Sign up for the newsletter here.

---