Continued from page 1
W stands for ‘What’ and ‘When’
Check out
ideas from above and choose five ‘quick wins’ and five longer term projects.
Make a decision to do
five quick wins within one week, starting today (you might be surprised to find you do them all today!). Then when finished do five more till all are completed (mind you, once you get into
swing of it, you’ll start uncovering a lot more!).
For
longer term ideas to achieve your goals, a sense check is important first. Will action (remember
‘A’ in SMART) on this idea, deliver
outcome you really want towards your goal – or is it a nice to do, or even off track. For either of these be ruthless and ditch
ones that are off track. Get five focused ideas in place ready for Action.
Create a timeline from your goal and working back from there, decided milestones on each of your five key ideas. Use say quarterly, monthly, or weekly reviews. Be decisive and flexible as
actions will go at different speeds. In some sort of visual planner, record where you will be with each one of your actions towards your goal at
regular reviews you have. Some people prefer to have weekly ‘action steps’ in each project – even daily.
The key is to be able to say., ‘This week (Tuesday is my best day), I will visit three new potential customers, as a step towards visiting 50 this year’. Put it in your diary, Outlook or whatever as if it is an appointment with yourself. Ring-fence that time as
most important thing you are going to do and it cannot be shifted. You will need to be disciplined – if you are, it will work.
The key here is to create actionable steps in bite-sized chunks which you believe you can do.
As someone once said (with apologies to elephant lovers), ‘You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time!’
…and finally
Remember that in life and business, you personally have
choices to make. No-one else. It is your responsibility how you act and challenge yourself. Take
responsibility and give it a go. Life is not a dress rehearsal – Grasp
opportunities you have today and every day.
Further reading on
GROW model (should be available from libraries)"Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Performance and Purpose", Sir John Witmore.

© 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com. (Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - with a live link if you can).