Commitment Archives - Successful Blog

Perceived Productivity

Working with senior managers and social media practitioners I’m hearing on complaint all too frequently “I’m too busy to think.” It seems that just keeping up with what we need to do has become more than even deciding whether we should be doing it.

Do you see the irony in that?

It’s time to reset and start thinking again.

We need time to decide when a Yes and a No come calling.

Stop Being Overwhelmed, Directionless, Too Busy To Think

When we’re feeling too busy to think, we’ve lost direction. It starts a cycle that will unravel any good thinking we might have done in the past. We’ve got energy and productivity, but lost sight of the strategy or outcome that guide our decision making. Without the end goal, we can’t accurately decide what’s moving us forward and what is not.

Catch yourself. Stop. Set a destination, a driving aspiration, something you won’t quit or call success until you reach it.

Make a commitment.

If you’re new at this, start small, but make a personal and professional commitment to a future destination and hold yourself and your team accountable. Get clear agreement on what that means.

I (we) will be ___ in the next ___ (days, months, or years)?

That clarified goal will let you know …

why you’re doing what you’re doing.
which relationships and offers align with your goals and which pull you off course.
how to separate the signal from the noise on your desk, in your work relationships, in your life online and offline.
where to spend your time in social media spaces. .
how to tweak opportunities to move you forward more quickly and efficiently.

Clarity comes from looking forward far enough that the noise of now doesn’t confuse us. Don’t think of defining your purpose in terms of now. Define a future destination worth investing in — even a small one — and get there with clear determination.

That determination will lead you to build the strategy, gather the right team, build the systems, and get out the message about what you’re doing.

Once you make that first decision, you’ll be setting your direction with more power and certainty.

What small commitment will make to yourself, your team, your business today?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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You Decide

Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Do you have a dream waiting for someday? What are you doing to make it happen?

You decide whether your dream will happen.

You can wonder. You can wish. You can wait for help. Say that you will, or say that you can’t right now. The most important key to a dream come true is personal investment.

Dreams that come true need commitment and action.

Wonders, wishes, and waiting without commitment are a whole lot of nothing happening. Folks who might help us won’t show up for “what ifs” and “could bes.” Their lack of support can be a convenient excuse. That’s the wrong reaction. If we want a dream to come true, we have to be able to explain it how it can be turned from a dream into a reality. That takes thought, strategy, and action.

How to Make Your Dream Come True

A dream needs more than a wish. Wishes dissolve in the mist. To come true, a dream needs a foundation of concrete not sand. When you offer a solid foundation, people listen. They pay attention because you’ve moved the dream into the realm of possibility.

Here’s how to get to the concrete foundation you need.

Define the dream. Take the idea out of your head. Put it in front of you to look critically at it. How does the “dream come true” look? How does it work? Do you see a living example in the world? Describe it in the smallest details.

Define where you sit. Is the dream a good fit to who you are, what you know, and what you can do? What seeds for the dream are in your life already? How might you nurture them?

Plot your strategy. What’s the path from here to the “dream come true”? Start with the finished dream and work backwards until you’re where you sit.

Detail your needs. What work have you already done? What can you do on your own? What sort of help and resources can you hire, borrow, or dig up? Sort them into three lists.

Determine your commitment. What will it take to make the dream come true? Why this dream not another? What arguments will you face? How will you answer them? What will you be willing to give up and invest? Would you do it alone if you had to? Will you give yourself permission to go after the dream — even when the world says you should not?

Enlist support and advocates. Who sees the same dream? Who wants your success? Who helps you think? Who can help you meet the needs you’ve outlines above?

Write the story. Name the dream come true. Write one sentence about what the dream will do. Write three points that explain how other folks benefit from helping this dream become reality.

Know how you’ll ask. Visualize yourself asking for help. Choose the words you will use. Write several kinds of requests based on benefits folks will get from helping the dream into reality.

Define yourself by the dream. When people ask what you do, tell them about the dream you’re making come true. Think of your “day job” as support and supplemental to the dream. I’m an actor who works here now, not I’m a waiter who working to be an actor.

It’s willingness and determination to give ourselves over to our dreams that makes them happen. What’s the difference between me and the guy who got what I wanted when I didn’t? He wanted it enough to stick when it got difficult. I decided somewhere that something else was more important.

The dream is there. It’s not magic. It’s not the big break. It’s giving ourselves permission to pull out all stops. Surely you’ve known someone you would defend at any cost. Find a dream like that — one you’ll single-mindedly protect — and you’ll make that dream happen.

Got the dream? When will you make the investment?

— ME “Liz” Strauss

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