Wow! It's Spring in Colorado! It is beautiful outside AND it's St. Patrick's Day! I'm having a hard time focusing on work. Anyone else? In the last blog, we talked about HAD. This time I want to talk about BADD... because I'm a poet and didn't know it... No, not really. BADD stands for Business ADD... the lack of focus that has us chasing several different thought processes at once and not being able to settle into any of them. We are 75 days into 2010. 21% of the year is over. How do you feel it's going for you? Do you feel like you're in need of some "BADD" medicine? (Sorry, Bon Jovi that was a BADD joke...) What causes BADD, anyway? And how can we cure it? BADD is caused by lack of clarity. Studies show that only 3% of adults have written goals. Are you in that 3%? If you are, do you stick to those goals? If not, why? Often we find that the reason people don't stick to their goals is because the goals aren't compatible with WHO that person is. They don't reflect their values. When trying to find clarity in your business, I think it's helpful to look at the process like a funnel. The funnel has 8 levels.
At the top of the funnel is your purpose. Every truly successful entrepreneur has an overarching purpose to their business - a genuine desire to serve others through their business. What is the purpose of your business and career? You must know your purpose before you can move forward with anything else. The next level down the funnel is values. Understand who you are and what is important to you. Third, is your vision. If your business or career was perfect five years from now, what would it look like? Now, based on what you've learned in the first 3 levels, you determine your mission. Form those thoughts into goals. Determine what knowledge and/or skills are required to accomplish those goals. What habits need to be formed or broken in order for you to accomplish your goals? Then... at the VERY BOTTOM of the funnel is daily activities. What SPECIFIC activities will you have to engage in DAILY in ensure that you become the person you strive to be? Notice that daily activities are not listed at the top of the funnel. They are at the very bottom. They are the RESULT of a specific process of determining what is important. They move us toward our ultimate goals. But we have it backwards, don't we? We jump straight to activities because we have a lot of stuff to accomplish and we don't have time to sit still and think. "I don't have time for this touchy-feely stuff. There's work to be done!" Well, if you start at any level but the top, you are puncturing the funnel. Ever try to use a funnel with holes in it? Doesn't work does it? So, if you try to write goals, but don't really know your purpose and don't have a mission, it won't work. You're putting a hole in the middle of the funnel. That's what we do over and over again. We jump in and out of the process randomly and pretty soon your funnel has holes all over in it and all the important stuff has leaked out before it's gotten to the bottom. Your results are weak at best. It's impossible to focus on your tasks if you aren't really sure what you're purpose is or how you're going to get there. It's much too easy to get distracted when you don't have a process pushing you through to the end. Take the time to start at the top of the funnel. You'll be amazed at how much more you'll accomplish. Now, I'm going out to enjoy the weather. Maybe I'll crank up the stereo in the back yard. For some reason I'm in the mood for Bon Jovi.
