Success Planning – 10 Steps to Success – 8. Execution, Execution, Execution
Right then, now we get to the crunch time. Until now we have spoken and done a lot of thinking about visions, goals and various areas that will assist you and support you in your achievement of them. However, your vision and goals are still thoughts in your head, transferred as pictures or words onto a piece of paper. Without action, that is what they will remain. Vision and goals in themselves never fail but lack of action and implementation will.
Therefore, if you are serious and committed to achievement now is the time to act. No more excuses, no more delaying, do it now! They are your vision and goals, your future; it is up to you to take responsibility for achieving them and to hold yourself accountable for making things happen. There is really nothing else to say, actions speak louder than words.
While there is not a lot else to be said about getting on with things, there are some tips and ideas I would like to share with you to keep you going:
- Start fast: the quicker you start to take action and successfully complete tasks that progress you towards your goals the better. That will build momentum and confidence
- Make wise choices: all the time you make decisions and choices and may not necessarily be concious of them. Every decision you make on how to spend your time, on what you are going to do will move you towards or away from the achievement of your goals
- Say NO!: turn down and ignore distractions and time bandits
- Expect Inconvenience: no one said it was going to be easy. You may experience discomfort and uncomfortable situations as you stretch yourself and do new things, act with courage. Fortune favours the brave!
- Be resilient & perservere: There is a quote that I have seen attributed to Field Marshall Lord Montgomery that goes something like “No plan survives the first bullet of war”. You may come up against obstacles and difficulties, never give in. Look for ways to overcome them, try different approaches but keep on going!
- Focus on the detail: I am sure you have seen this for yourself, the finest works of art stand out from the average because of the attention to detail; the best customer service you get is separated from the average by small actions, attention to detail. It is often the small things, the minutea that trip us up. “Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves”.
- Remember there are no free tickets: success and achievement do not come for free, they require you to take action, to put in the effort and to expend energy to make them a reality
- Do it now!: if you can do something now, do it now; avoid procrastination. “Do not put of until tomorrow, what you can do today”
There is no time like the present!
photo credit: Marcin Wichary