“There are two constants in this world, one is change other is truth, one is the means and other is the end”.
As a continuation of my previous article on Step 3 of 7: Intensify Quest , which discusses about how extraordinary desires can only be accomplished with extraordinary efforts. There are no shortcuts; you need to prepare your own armour and weapons to travel ahead. Learning lies all along the way, have perseverance, believe that you can do it, and seek no support from without, the best teacher lies within.
Step 4: Take Action is the next step to focus on.
An old saying goes “you know something, it doesn’t make a difference, you don’t know something, it doesn’t make a difference”.
Action makes all the difference. By the end of planning step 3, you should have narrowed down to action items that impact your goal achievement.
If you have reached this step in your journey, I am sure you have groomed yourself to carry a different personality by now. This personality change will come handy to overcome some difficult barriers encountered in step 4.
It is quite likely that action items produced may require other people to involve as much, but see how much you can do yourself, without necessarily involving others. You will have to request and say ‘please’. ‘Do it!’ it is worthwhile. Put yourself to test, if you succeed in this test, you have reached a milestone indeed.
It may involve series of actions, it is important to plan well and know by when you wish to accomplish them, who else needs to be involved, how and where to apply the actions? It will be hard sell sometimes to get others involved in your journey, especially at this stage. Don’t give up! I am sure help will arrive when you give it your best shot to help yourself. Below are some barriers you may face during this stage:
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Changes or actions need approvals.
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Changes or actions not in your span or control.
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Organizational politics.
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Poor working environment.
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Non cooperative boss.
How to tackle these barriers? Difficult to prescribe here, use your ‘people’ skills or know more about how to tackle these situations. First complete all the tasks that fall in your own span of control. Don’t despair, once you are done with them, reach out to others for help and assistance.
Why will anybody help you? – Offer something that will appeal to them. Identify and address ‘what’s in it for me?’ for them, may be give credits, e-mail appreciation, help them with their backlogs if you can!
Simply do what it takes to implement your actions using fair play.