Part II – Progress is a temptation.

Some endeavors do lend themselves to counting, to progression. Yesterday, I was talking about the pursuit of mastery where measurement is the enemy. What about production type jobs? I can’t pay the bills without profits, and I can’t wait to see what happens at the end of each month. I must know where I stand and be able to adjust early and often.

What about starting a new job? Would I have 30, 60, 90-day goals? I will also have paths I’ll choose toward mastery of the new job, and these paths will not track progress. Paths like daily practice of successful habits or continual learning. What about my short-term goals? Do I abandon the idea? Of course not. On the contrary, I’ll have aggressive short-term goals that will lead to successful long-term goals. I believe in a flywheel effect of momentum. A great daily production model creates a great week that creates a great month and so on.

The tough part of answering 30, 60, 90-day question is the lines blur. I don’t get to demarcate clearly between each month, but I can emphasis different agendas. I like to use the What, Why, How sequence. First 30 days, I’ll focus on the ‘what’. What is the job, product, company, prospect profile, client list. Second 30 days, I switch to ‘why’. What’s the why behind the brand and product? What’s my why? What’s my story. I’m just like everyone else, I buy into a great story. I get motivated watching a story unfold. I need to know why. And for the 90-day mark, I’ll focus on ‘how’. How am I going to get the job done? How do I create the machine to produce reliable results? I haven’t waited two months before wondering about ‘how’ of course, but I did have other foundational questions to answer. By day 60, I should be ready to double down on the ‘how’. A constant theme is to have an impact from day 1. Find ways to make a difference, even when I am new.

Somewhere during the 3rdmonth, I’ll be able to create a new set of 30, 60, 90-day goals and even visualize 1, 3 and 5-year goals. These goals will change over time, but I’ll refresh the goal list every 6 months using Peter Drucker’s 5 questions:

1. What do I want to be remembered for?

2. Who do I want to be remembered by?

3. What do those people find important?

4. How am I going to measure the value I bring?

5. What’s my plan?

The answer to Drucker’s 5 questions will influence my goals, especially the 3 and 5-year goal.

I will also keep in mind what Drucker’s said about efficiency. “Nothing is worse than efficiently doing what didn’t need to be done in the first place.” These efficient tasks are the slack in the system. Slack cost money, and I can keep that money if I can cut out the slack.

Ask yourself a few questions before taking on a project or task:

· Am I the right person for this task?

· Can I contribute?

· Do I need help?

· Should this be done by me?

I am not talking about being lazy or avoiding work you don’t want to do. I’m talking about focusing your time and energy where it makes the most good and the greatest impact. The days are short, and time will run out. Focus on what matters. All you have to give is your attention and energy. Don’t waste it.