Week 4 of the New Year. You made a resolution based on what is important to you and what has not been urgent enough to deal with in the past. Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People breaks time management into 4 quadrants. Time used for Important and non-urgent matters is time which leads to the greatest likelihood of long-term achievement of success. This requires both self-discipline and the strong sense of purpose which you identified early in the process of making your commitment to change or bring in a new behavior.
Busy lives in healthcare and beyond work can lead to constant dealing with what is urgent and right before you. The phone, the beeper, the interruptions from your children and the day to day responsibilities are all pulling on. Even so, you took the time to think about and set a goal, make a resolution or think about a new achievement for this year. Maintaining the time to follow through is challenging given the harried nature of life and many pressures you may be facing. That being said, here is a review of some of what has worked for others.
- Write down your goal and what makes it important – do this weekly to keep it fresh, reconnect with it and keep it present in your mind.
- Schedule time in your calendar to be involved with the achievement of the goal. This important and probably non-urgent activity deserves your attention and time to be allocated to it. When you do this you are taking charge of your life and becoming the director of your time, even if it is only for 10 minutes to start out.
- Support, communicate your goal to those who will cheer you on. Humans have a basic need to connect with one another and we receive a lot of benefit from supportive relationships, especially at times of change. Achieving your goal or mastering a resolution may involve new behaviors of thought or action. Change is challenging, recognize this and seek support as needed.
What do you want to achieve in 2018? There is still plenty of time left in the year.
For individual support for achievement of success with your goal, contact me.
Dina
Improving well-being for professionals through coaching.
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