Lack of Follow Through Kills Success

Have you ever went back and scored your projects for effectiveness? Or reviewed your personal goals to see how well you had done? Did you miss any of them? I would bet that you missed some… I asked a bunch of folks the other day, “how well are you doing on your New Years Resolutions?” Of course, it is now November… Well, 100% of them have not met their goals. Many of them did not remember what they were. Others knew them, but did not keep up on them. I look at follow through as the many reason for when goals are missed (either personal or professional). Do you agree?

What makes Following Through Happen?

1. Setting goals that are obtainable. Most folks set goals that they want to achieve, but it is impossible to achieve them when you have doubts or mix emotions toward that goal. You have to be certain that you can obtain your goal. I like to set a goal and add a stretch goal to help me achieve my goals. Anything above the goal is the icing on the cake.
2. Make sure to only focus on the important few. How many times have you missed some goals due to having too many to focus on? Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can do everything. There is only a limited amount of time – make sure you are focusing on the important ones.
3. Reminders – we all need them. Look we all have a tendency to stray off course from time to time. It happens. What do you do to get back on course is key. Reviewing your goals is necessary. I like to keep a list of the important ones handy. Visual reminder of what really needs to happen! Also setting up reminders in your productivity tool of choice can help. Anything that keeps you honest, so to speak.
4. Staying consistent. I would really focus for a short period of time on a goal. Maybe it is trying to get ahead. Maybe it was something that I liked to do at that particular time. Then I would stop for awhile. We need to develop a habit of planning our day/week around our goals. Making that habit becoming the focus on staying on course.
5. Support. Some of our goals need support. I would say that all goals need support, even the personal ones. I like to communicate my goals to my team, family and friends that I know I will need their help from time to time. They may help will keeping on course or they may actually help accomplish them. Either way – having support keeps us going when we may want to give up.

I truly believe that if we review our failures in the past, we will see that follow through was the main reason for the miss. It happens, but what you learn and apply will help you succeed the next time. Making success in failure!

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