{"id":2330,"date":"2016-04-28T15:17:16","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T19:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=2330"},"modified":"2016-04-28T15:17:16","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T19:17:16","slug":"keep-your-eye-on-the-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=2330","title":{"rendered":"Keep Your Eye on The Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The Need For Consistency<\/h2>\n<p>The theme of consistency has emerged in the last month with several clients.\u00a0 The need for consistent execution of leadership competencies; the need for consistent focus on operational practices; the benefits of consistent sales activities; the importance of consistency and reliability as part of one\u2019s personal brand.<\/p>\n<p>Being consistent and disciplined in your actions whatever they may be; from starting a new fitness regime to becoming a great mentor; yields results. It\u2019s through the regular execution of desired behaviours that we make progress towards our goals.\u00a0 We need to keep our eye on the prize and take steps to achieve it on a consistent basis.\u00a0 There is no point of committing to something that you can\u2019t deliver on consistently over time.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m reminded of the important of staying committed to the plan as we manage our busy Spring schedule. When things get hectic and we are thrown a curve ball, it\u2019s easy to abandon our commitments (to ourselves and others). When my travel schedule gets busy, I drop some of my personal and professional commitments such as going to the gym and writing my blogs. The trick is to get back on track as soon as possible and recognize how \u201csticking to the knitting\u201d will help you achieve your goal, faster and more efficiently.<\/p>\n<h3>How To Be Consistently Consistent<\/h3>\n<p>Be consistent requires that we do 5 things very well:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li value=\"1\">Focus on your goal and <strong>WHY<\/strong> you want to achieve it<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>If you remind yourself of why you are committed to the goal and what you will achieve it helps to focus your efforts on the tasks \/ actions that will get you there. Tap into your intrinsic motivation around the purpose of your commitment and how it will help you achieve mastery in your role as leader, employee, parent, friend etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li value=\"2\">Pick 1 thing to focus on and stick with it \u2013 too many changes at once can be overwhelming<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t introduce a number of new actions all at once. The risk of failure increases and you are more likely to become demotivated if you can\u2019t consistently execute on your commitments. Start small, introduce 1 new action every 4-6 weeks and once you have created a new habit around that action, build upon it by adding in a new area of focus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li value=\"3\">Schedule your priorities<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>As Stephen Covey said \u201c the key is not to prioritize what is on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities\u201d.\u00a0 Identify what your non-negotiable actions are and schedule them with the same rigor and discipline as you do other priority activities.\u00a0 Leaders need to schedule one-on-one time with their teams otherwise it won\u2019t happen when everyone is swamped with work. Employees need to schedule time for learning and development so that their individual development plans can be achieved. Block off the time to do the things you know you need to do, and want to do, to achieve your goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li value=\"4\">Ignore the negative voice that says \u201cI don\u2019t want to\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Being consistent means taking action even if you don\u2019t want to. It means ignoring the desire to hit the snooze button for your early morning workout or turning down the invite to go for lunch in order to finish up a quarter-end report. We need to be able to execute even when we don\u2019t feel 100% because we have made a commitment, and being consistent is the only way to achieve the end goal. \u00a0\u201cMuch of the stress that people feel doesn\u2019t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started\u201d (David Allen)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li value=\"5\">Rebound quickly<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>When you veer off track, lose your momentum and stop doing what you know you need to do, don\u2019t beat yourself up. It\u2019s okay. We have all done\u2026and will do it again.\u00a0 The key is to rebound quickly.\u00a0 Don\u2019t allow one day or one week or one month of missed opportunities turn into the \u201cnew normal\u201d. Refocus on what you want to achieve and why. Focus on how achieving your goals will make you feel. The sense of accomplishment you will gain and the power in being consistent with your actions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Great Leaders &amp; Great Organizations Execute Consistently<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jim Collins in his book <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jimcollins.com\/books\/great-by-choice.html\" target=\"_blank\">Great by Choice<\/a> <\/em>reveals how being consistent and focused is one of the core traits required to be a great company \u2013 defined as a 10xer because they outperform their industry index by 10 times. What these leading companies demonstrate incredibly well is:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fanatic discipline<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Consistency of action<\/li>\n<li>Unwavering in their focus on their goals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Discipline through a \u201820 mile\u2019 march <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This approach is about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Achieving performance markers with great consistency over a long period of time<\/li>\n<li>Having concrete, clear, intelligent and rigorously pursued performance mechanisms that keep you on track<\/li>\n<li>2 types of self-imposed constraints:\n<ul>\n<li>Unwavering commitment to high performance in difficult conditions<\/li>\n<li>Holding back in good conditions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The WHY for taking such a consistent and rigors approach to achieving goals is that several benefits are gained that support your success. You will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Build confidence that you can achieve results in adverse circumstances<\/li>\n<li>Reduce the likelihood of catastrophic results when you are hit with turbulent times<\/li>\n<li>Be able to exert self-control in an out-of-control situation<\/li>\n<li>Take ultimate responsibility for the outcomes regardless of circumstances<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Need For Consistency The theme of consistency has emerged in the last month with several clients.\u00a0 The need for consistent execution of leadership competencies; the need for consistent focus on operational practices; the benefits of consistent sales activities; the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=2330\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[205,203,16,204],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2330"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2335,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330\/revisions\/2335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}