Practical Tools for Overcoming Momentum and Effectuating Actual Change

{3:03 minutes to read}

Aimee B Davis

March, 16 2016

Attention entrepreneurs and service providers:

In January’s blog post, I asked whether you’ve set your 2016 business resolutions. This month, I’ve been thinking about practical tools for overcoming momentum and how to effectuate actual change.

People tend to get “stuck” from time to time in the quest to achieve their goals and lead a meaningful life. As an entrepreneur, you alone set the agenda. Admittedly, it’s hard to maintain a consistent level of motivation and productivity. Your ability to focus on current business matters (let alone developing new business prospects) tends to ebb and flow, as we try to remain focused on the present moment.

Peter Bregman, a strategic advisor to CEOs and their leadership teams, addressed this challenge in his blog article entitled Three Questions that Help Me Live a Fulfilling Life. They are:

1. What is this year about? This question requires us to focus on our long-term goals. A year provides a reasonable amount of time to make real progress without becoming overwhelmed and getting stuck. Bregman suggests breaking this question down into 5 areas of focus, constituted by our own personal and business goals. In creating these 5 areas of focus, particular attention should be paid to embracing our individual strengths and weaknesses, and emphasizing our differences and passions.

2. What is this day about? How will this day bring me one day closer to what I want to achieve for the year? On a daily basis, people tend to focus first on snuffing out the hottest fires. But, while this reactive approach may seem efficient in “getting it all done,” it doesn’t necessarily advance your long-term goals.

Bregman’s antidote to this disconnectedness is to create a 6-box to-do list. One box for each of the 5 areas of focus established above, and a 6th box for everything else. That way, our daily tasks are linked directly to the things we most want to achieve for the year, and we can establish a schedule focused on what is most important to accomplish each day.

But he doesn’t stop there. He sets a timer to beep every hour to ask himself 2 questions:

Am I doing what I most need to be doing right now?
Am I being who I most want to be right now?

At the end of each day, he’ll pause for a few moments to reconnect with the long-term purpose and determine whether meaningful movement was made throughout the course of that day.

3. What is this moment about?

Once you’ve answered the first 2 questions, you can take a moment to breathe. Having established a daily schedule targeted toward your long-term goals, you can release yourself from the worry that you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere. You can feel confident that you’ve based your day on what you most want to focus on for the year, and are moving in a direction towards achieving your goals.

The reward comes from the ability to focus fully on each moment. Creating boundaries and working within them pretty much guarantees that you will achieve a meaningful life.

Aimee B. Davis Law P.C. is committed to advising its clients and resolving issues relating to the legal and business matters that are important to them. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at (917) 617-2243 or email aimee@aimeebdavis.com.