“Begin with the end in mind.”This is from the bestselling book by Stephen Covey, 7 habits of Highly Effective People.Covey said you should start by envisioning what you intend to accomplish. This is called your purpose. This is a powerful tool to use that brings focus to all you set out to do.
What do you do after you begin and you’re in the middle of a something that is not going well? People don’t always deliver on their responsibilities. Plans don’t always deliver the short-term results. Projects don’t always deliver on the goals. If you want to still deliver the purpose you set out to achieve, then you need to end with the beginning in mind – refocus on your purpose and what brought you where you are today so you can finish what you started.
“Dance with the one who brought you.” Early in my career I was on a tough project and got this advice from a war-torn mentor. He knew that what was coming wouldn’t be easy and was telling me I needed to be prepared to keep my focus on the end goal. Don’t get distracted, discouraged or disheartened. Remain strong through tough times.
In the 2018 US Open golf tournament, Brooks Koepka came out the winner because he ended with the beginning in mind. On the 18th hole of the final day of play he hit a great tee shot. He only needed a bogey to win. His 2ndshot to the green was not what he had wanted. It went far left towards the bleachers into tricky grass. Koepka relied on his abilities that brought him this far to keep his focus on the next shot alone. He hit a marvelous pitch on the green and two putted to win the 2018 US Open
Distracted. See that what you are doing is finished to the end before you move on. Every shot counts, every step in the plan counts. All the small successes add up to the original purpose.
“I laugh and joke, but don’t get distracted very easily.”– Lebron James
Discouraged. It doesn’t matter if the last ten attempts didn’t work. You can’t change those, but you can impact the outcome of the next attempt. Don’t give up trying. Remembering the purpose will give you strength to persevere.
“Don’t get discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.”– John Wooden
Disheartened. Don’t lose confidence. Something went wrong, fix it and move on. What is important is the outcome, the success, not if everything was done perfectly to get you there.
“You make mistakes, mistakes don’t make you.”– Maxwell Maltz
