Have you ever been part of a project team where you felt like you spent the first few meetings talking a lot but not really making much progress?
(Yeah, me too).
As it turns out, that’s not only normal – it’s science.
We’re a few weeks into January. It’s that point where you’ve probably already encountered a few hurdles to the goals you set yourself at the start of the year.
Don’t beat yourself up. Life will throw an excess of demands and distractions at us as we pursue our goals. We must relentlessly say ‘Yes’ to our goals if we are to hope to be able to say ’No’ to everything that isn’t of equal importance.
To do that, we need a way to ensure that even when things get (sometimes unavoidably) in the way or we drift off track, our goals, and the larger purpose driving them, never slip too far from our attention.
A tool I have found incredibly helpful in equipping me to do just that is the Full Focus Planner from Michael Hyatt. That’s why I want to give you the chance to win one!
Here are three simple ways anyone can keep saying ‘Yes’ to their goals, and how the Full Focus Planner helps me do that –
I came to the end of a week recently, and I felt as though, even though I had given it my all, there was still so much not done.
Maybe you know the feeling.
Maybe you’ve recently finished off a week, or even the year, and felt as thought there was so much more you would have liked to have accomplished.
But then I realised something.
You’re probably familiar with the story of the big rocks, the pebbles and the sand in the vase. A teacher stands up in front of the class and fills a glass vase with big rocks. ‘Is it full?’ he asks. ‘Yes’, the class answers. Then he pours in small pebbles, which fill up the cracks between the big rocks. ‘Is it full now?’. ‘Yes’, they answer. Finally, he pours in a bag of sand, the grains making their way into the tiny gaps that remain.
The principle in the story is that if you start with the sand, it will fill the vase completely, leaving no room for the big rocks. Starting with the big rocks and then moving onto smaller things is the only way to get all the elements in. This, of course, is an analogy for starting with the ‘big rocks’ in the way we plan and live out our lives – the things that really matter to us – and then allowing the smaller things that matter less to fit around them.
It’s a classic story that gets used again and again, because the principle is true. Being deliberate about the most important goals and values in our lives is the only way to ensure we give them the time and energy they deserve.
Ultimately, it’s a story about getting what you want. What you really want.
And just like that, it’s already the end of March! Give yourself a few minutes to reflect on the year you had envisioned, and the year so far. What can you see?
Here are some questions I’m asking myself as we close out the first quarter of the year – perhaps they may be helpful for you too:
