“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not words.”—Alfred Adler
We’ve all heard the expressions “actions speak louder than words” and “practice what you preach.” It’s about professing to hold certain values, principles or beliefs and living your life in a consistent manner.
These sayings hold true for our business goals as well. It is, in fact, your actions—not your words—that speak loudest about what you really intend to achieve.
• If you SAY you want to be more thoughtful and calm in your decision-making, where would I see you making an effort to do that?
• If you SAY you want your team to be more creative and innovative, how would I see that reflected in your workplace?
• If you SAY you want to improve team productivity, would I see you working to make that possible for your people?
When individuals or teams are struggling to achieve specific goals that they’ve set for themselves, there’s typically a disconnect between what they say they want and the actions that follow.
You can probably think of many occasions where you’ve set a goal with the best of intentions, but fallen short when the “real work” takes over again. When setting a new goal for yourself or your team, honestly assess your willingness to put time into making that goal happen.
In today’s time-pressed world, there are very few people sitting around just waiting for something to do. Chances are good that when you set a new goal, there’s something else in your life or your business that you’ll need to release.
The question that I ask almost every client up-front when they talk about what they want is, “Do you have space in your life right now to make this happen?” If the answer is “No, not really,” then the absolute FIRST step is figuring out how to make that space. If they can’t or won’t do that, then I know that achieving their ultimate goal is highly unlikely.
The good news is that releasing an activity that’s no longer serving you well can have tremendous pay-off, giving you the intellectual and emotional space that you need to tackle your new goal.
As you move into the week ahead, do a quick assessment of your own values and time commitments. How well are your actions aligning with what you say you want? Are there some things that you can release in order to create a better fit between the two? Just keep in mind, the closer the alignment, the more powerful your results. iBi