So last Friday you had a terrific day, one that demonstrated your talents with positive results. And you were on Cloud 9! You entered the weekend on a roll, eager to share the good news with friends, and then something happened. Come Monday morning your alarm clock went off and you gave the typical response. You buried your head and then dragged your tired butt to the alarm to shut it off before plopping back onto the mattress and into the cool sheets.
Your mind fell into its typical scenario - questioning how much energy your body needs to invest into the day. You slumped into a pile on the floor, waited until the cat licked your face before you ascended into your hallway, making your way toward the coffee pot.
It's time to get moving, yet you're fighting it.You justify your actions by telling yourself last Friday's results have given you a comfort level. Maybe you can take the day off or even call in sick. What's going on? You've shifted from on a high on your roller coaster to on a low. This pattern has been going on for quite some time, so by now you should have realized that the dramatic shifts need to become moderate.
One thing needed is accountability. And there are two ways to get it. One is with self-discipline. Journaling your goals and steps in achieving them while tracking the results on a daily basis. This gets methodical, yet when it comes to accountability, it must be methodical. Tracking the good and the bad helps us see the average, the patterns and the results from the behaviors we tweak.
It requires motivation to see results, to learn from the underachievements as well as from the achievements. This continual focus helps us moderate the emotion. It gives us objectivity so our behavior can level out. When that alarm goes off, it means nothing more than, I am now awake and on my way.
If we can't personally give an account for ourselves, find others to do so with us. Find someone objective, honest and focused on what we have determined is important.
Define first, what is the ultimate objective you're working to accomplish?
Who will benefit from this, and how?
Next, what will it take in the next year to get there?
What will it take in the next 90 days to get the first year's results?
How do we focus on a weekly basis to accomplish this?
Finally, has this week's efforts brought about your 5-day desired results?
If so, take a day off. If not, work.
Write out each of the above so you can continually check your daily/weekly/90-day results against your overall objective. Otherwise, you don't know what's important. And if that is unknown, you also don't know what it will take to create success around your career/professional activities.
Accountability helps us develop discipline which helps us become routine around behaviors that drive results. Put all 5 of these actions into your routine.
1. Get up
2. Get moving
3. Make decisions
4. Act on them
5. Assess results
With this strategy in mind, every day we must REMEMBER what's important. Not our comfort, not our whims, not our pain, our whining or complaining. What's important we have already written down.
How we spend today is important. For our peace of mind. For our ability to feel purposeful, for us to feel we've done what we intended. That we resisted temptation. That we stayed strong. And finally, that we deserve a reward.
Remembering what's important becomes so much easier that once we've hit the mark a few times, we can recall the details of our day with ease. Because it's on our mind. Because it's our focus. Because it drives us out of bed, into action, even when complicated.
