Do The Research

No matter what type of project or goal you are tackling, you will always be better served if you do the research that is required to understand everything involved.  Whether it is a trip, a landscaping project, a presentation, a performance evaluation, or your own goals - both personal and professional, you can set yourself up for success by having a solid foundation created with research.

Research can take many forms -
-surfing the internet for information
-reviewing past metrics, numbers, results
-interviewing others
-taking surveys
-reading
- and many more I am sure that you can add to the list.

Once you have everything at your fingertips, you can start to formulate your plan.  What you will do when and how, including how long each step will take and what the intended/expected results will be.

You can do this with your goals as well.

Take each goal that you have for 2011 and create your plan - research first what you will need to do/get/have/work on to reach your goal and the milestones on your way to success....then build your outline.  You will see that your process will be much clearer and you may find a few obstacles that you would not have anticipated without the research.

Click the underlined words to learn more about Goals & Goalsetting and successful plan implementation.

Lead, Follow or....

Having trouble deciding how to handle a situation?  Whether it is at work or at home, even in your community life, there is always one way to handle a situation -

Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way!

You need to decide what role you will take.  Will you be the leader?  Make the decisions and focus the group on execution?  Or will you follow - be the support to another, putting action to the plan?  Or lastly, will you get out of the way - let things happen around you without participating, being involved? 

There will be times when you need to be in each role. Sometimes the role of the leader is to just 'get out of the way' and let the team do what they need to do.  There can even be times when other leaders step up and you get to follow - like it or not - and while that can be a humbling experience, it can also be a space in time that you can observe others, and learn from their leadership and team dynamics.

So consciously decide everyday what you will do - Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way.