Just Seven Things

Exploring why and how we do what we do, and how we can do it better

21 May 2008
3 Comments

The ‘Why’ of Goal Setting

I was struck yesterday that I had maybe missed something after a few years of light investigation in the area of vision and goal setting. The ‘why’. It had always been there in the books and articles I had read. It was always the simple and understandable bit. But it was in looking at the Wikipedia entry on goal-setting that it really struck me.

A guy called Douglas Vermeeren, is quoted as explaining this important principle clearly, “When people talk of clarity it often gets described as just writing down your goals. The most important element is often left out. That is finding your motivation. If you want to get to your goals quickly you have got to clarity on why you want it. What does it mean to you? Why do you need it in your life? And the stronger and more important they why – the more power you will have to pursue that goal.”

Posted in Vision and Goal Setting and tagged
20 May 2008
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Why is Time Management so hard?

This was the question that first made me want to start blogging. It felt like the unanswerable question. It felt like the question that lots of people would think they could answer, but none truly could.

It’s probably about a year since I was thinking those thoughts. I’ve done a lot of reading, given a lot of presentations, had a lot of conversations and done a lot of thinking since then.

A number of times I think I’ve got the answer. Someone has told me on paper why it is so hard. I love Mark Forster’s view in Do It Tomorrow:

‘Imagine the Reactive Brain as a lizard sitting on a rock in the sun. If it sees a threat, such as a predator, it scuttles under the rock and freezes. If it sees a juicy bug which has strayed to close, it will snap it up. It doesn’t have to think about it. It acts as a pre-programmed reaction. It really doesn’t care that much at all about the Rational Brain’s plans. The only thing it cares about is whether they constitute a threat or a nice juicy bug.’

I accept Brian Tracy’s admonishments in Eat That Frog

But I feel like I am possessed. Don’t get me wrong. I’m good. I’m efficient. I am incredibly mindful. But sometimes (a lot of the time) I (imagine) I feel like I have Tourette’s. I can’t help no focussing. I feel like there’re two little children inside of me goading each other on to be naughty and not focus on the Frog.

Posted in Mindfulness, Time Management and tagged ,
17 May 2008
1 Comment

Start as I Should End. My Vision.

These conversations with myself will need a beginning, middle and end. I suspect the end will be when my light has gleamed an instant and it is night once more.

That sounds morbid. But it’s not meant to be. And I’m definitely not that way inclined. When I was seventeen I studied Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. It wasn’t that it had one of those teenage profound effects on me. My interpretation just set me off on adulthood with what I appreciate now as being a relatively unlimiting set of beliefs. Read more…

Posted in Vision and Goal Setting and tagged , ,

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