success tips: What to Do When You Hit a Wall
Throughout our lives, we strive to achieve worthy goals at work and at home. Some where along the road, we will hit a wall. We'll know this because we have stopped moving forward. Sometimes, we hit the wall slowly. It almost sneaks up on us. It takes a while, but we eventually stop moving altogether.
Sometimes, we hit the wall quickly. There's a resounding "smack." We stop immediately.
When we hit the wall, we have to evaluate our options. We must make a hard choice:
A. Give up. Stop moving. Accept what you have, and decide that it's good enough. Besides, any further effort might be risky, painful or embarrassing. It just isn't worth the trouble.
B. Break through the wall that's holding you back. Don't let anything stop you. Keep trying, even if you fail on the way.
For a richer life, choose Option B. To make the world a better place, choose Option B.
Here are the five steps I've used to break through countless walls:
- State your goal. What are you striving to achieve?
- Define the wall that stands in your way. What is its essence? What is it made of? Where are its weak spots? Now that you understand the wall, it's not as imposing and frightening as it once was. Now, you're ready to...
- Make your plan to break through the wall. List the activities necessary to achieve your goal. List the resources and time you need for each activity. Each activity has a deliverable, a due date and an accountable person. Now, put the activities together in a schedule. It's your schedule to success.
- Execute your plan. You know what must be done, when it must be done, and who's responsible for accomplishing it.
- Celebrate your success! Hold a party. You deserve it.
If this looks a little like Project Management, it is. Goals, activities, schedules, execution and partying are characteristics of a formal project. The reason I know this is that I teach project managers how to pass the rigorous Project Management Professional certification exam.
For more information, I wrote a novel titled "Breaking Through Walls." The story describes the way the hero, Joe Wilson uses these five steps to achieve uncommon success.
Click Here to learn about Breaking Through Walls.
Break through your walls, for a richer life.
Mike
