All words and no action
Say what you do? Do what you say? Do your actions line up with your words?
It pays to be wary of getting caught in the trap of perpetual planning and no actual doing.
A brutal truth is that the only alternative to a successful outcome is an unsuccessful one. No matter how much you thought about it or what you intended it is only what you ended up doing that really counts.
Worse still if you said you would do it and you don’t your personal and professional credibility tarnishes.
The same can be said for the reputation of your business. Did you deliver what was written on the box? Did your service do what the salesman promised the customer it would? When you know what you need to do, make it happen.
If you commit to more then you deliver you will be perceived as someone who “over promises and under delivers”.
Don’t be that person
Getting caught up in your own head
You experience your life in your head. Everyone else experiences your life in the real world. Other people can only measure you by what they see. Your time is finite and you can only really do so much in the hours in your day. This is even before the abundant distractions paw at your attention.
There are many reasons you can end up paralysed on the actual business of getting stuff done. Where do I start? When will I have time? Who’s request is more important? While all valid questions these are really just excuses.
“It’s not what we say is a priority, but what we actually DO that’s a priority.”
- J.D. Roth
Unravel the knot
Every minute you spend talking about something you could be doing you rob yourself of the opportunity to progress. Fortunately the discipline of actions over words is easy. The problem is that it is a discipline. Discipline is hard.
Some things to keep you on track include
Schedule. Block out time in your calendar to commit to the things that need to be done and stick to it. Keep a “to-done” list. Record the stuff you get done so that you can draw motivation for the next problem. Set realistic expectations. You can’t do it all and that is ok if the other people around you know when they are going to get some love. Be specific in your realistic expectations. People are often happy to wait if you have a track record of delivering when exactly when you say you will. Break down the action items even further. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. If you get to a point in a conversation or meeting where you are just talking and not taking meaningful notes, end it. Tending to your inbox to excess? Schedule your email time in your day like any other task. Wake up. Go do something now.
Have you been all talk and action ? How did you get productive again ?
