November 1, 2010
Those Pesky Failure Patterns!
You know what I mean. That waiting till the last minute to get things done, saying yes when you need to say no, underestimating what it takes to accomplish something, etc, etc. Failure patterns. Those habits that have been with you for longer than you can remember and seem harder and harder to disrupt.
Here's the thing you need to understand about failure patterns. They developed for a good reason. Somewhere along the line that failure pattern was a survival pattern. It worked for you in some way and that's why you did it. Waiting till the last minute provided the necessary pressure for creativity or motivation to kick in. Always saying yes resulted in approval and accolades. Doing the seemingly impossible was a rush unto itself, so the bar kept rising to provide the next great rush!
Survival strategies overused become failure patterns. As some point in your career it no longer works. Maybe you can't pull it off any longer because the challenges are more complex and involve more players. Or suppose a competitor has a better strategy than yours and beats you out. Regardless of why the failure pattern emerged, it is now getting in your way, stressing you out and you need to do something about it.
And you can. By following a simple four step problems solving process. Are you familiar with Plan, Do, Check, Act? Let me introduce you to a five step habit breaking process: 1. Aware, 2. Act 3. Assess, 4 Adjust.
It's about waking up, taking action, paying attention and making adjustments. It's simple and will dramatically improve your productivity, decrease your stress levels and create moe space for the things you really want to spend your energy on.
Stay tuned as we explore these four steps over the next four weeks.
Posted by Nancy Ballinger at 6:27 pmPermalink Add Comment (0 Comments)
