Inch By Inch: The Fastest Way To Your Best Year Yet

A month ago, we began the process of making 2009 your best year yet. If you are just joining us, you may find it useful to read some earlier posts where we introduced the Wheel of Life, the role of imagination in creating significant improvement, how inner visualization supports the process, and last week we touched on being directionally correct rather than trying to be "perfectionally" correct.

Your assignment for this week was:

1. Choose an area from the "Wheel" that you would like to see improve next year
2. Imagine that the improvement has already taken place and create an inner "film" of your success
3. Create a list of activities that you could choose if you were so inclined, activities that would be "directionally correct" were you to enact them

Now that you have an area of focus, some idea of what it would look like and how you would feel when you get there, what comes next?

The tricky part, of course! Now we need to do what it takes to get there.

The even trickier part is that it doesn't have to be terribly difficult.

Why people fail to achieve many of their goals

One of the principle reasons people come up short is the combination of overstating a goal, making the object of improvement so big as to be demoralizing before you even start. Another is the absence of a compelling, exciting "vision" of what success would look and feel like when you get there. (If it doesn't get your juices going imagining your own success, why would you even bother?)

If you have these two out of the way, the next big obstacle, and one that knocks most people off the path, has to do with expectations and demands around perfection. I used to be a distance runner, capable of running several miles averaging under six minutes per mile. It's been 30 years since that was true.

If I were to suddenly decide that I wanted to be "good" runner again, and started out trying to run even one six minute mile, I would quickly run into the difference between current reality (a 12 minute mile might be doable) and some kind of internal expectation or demand that I run as I once did.

It wouldn't take too many trips to the track before I gave up.

The problem? Expecting "perfection" rather than "direction." Whether a six minute mile is realistic or not given my age and assorted body issues, getting there all at once is clearly not going to happen. However, I can make progress toward the goal simply by doing something, just about anything, that moves me in the direction of the goal.

The notion here is one of finding "microscopic" steps or "microscopic" changes that are within my ability to both imagine and to execute.

So, if I want to get in better shape and become a "good" runner again, perhaps a good place to start is to begin walking! That could be a walk around the block or any other distance that gets me moving.

The first micro goal is to simply get moving in the direction I want to go. I get to set a micro goal (walk around the block), do what it takes to complete the goal (go for the walk), and then check off the activity in my mind, or on a checklist. The last part is pretty darn important.

If you set a goal, break it down into a micro step or two, and take the micro step, you then have the opportunity to "celebrate" your success. Now this is where the cynical will jump in with their criticism: "Walking around the block doesn't make you a runner, Russell."

Yeah, you're right, Cynic. However, it does get me moving in a direction and I want to acknowledge myself for at least taking the first step.

A funny thing then starts to take place. Every time I take a micro step, some part of me notices that I gave myself a target, moved on it, and accomplished something I set out to do. The more I move in the direction I'm heading, the more likely it is that I will get there.

Now how amazing is that! If I manage to take a second walk, it becomes more likely that I will take a third. And pretty soon I might start jogging part of the way. And once I try jogging part of the way, I might change my micro goal from walking around the block to jogging around the block.

You get the drift - any step toward the overall goal is better than doing nothing. Sure, the first walk around the block doesn't make me a runner, just a prospective runner in "training,"

How to put it all together

Whatever your goal might be, whether it is about health, or finance, or getting a new job, there's always something you can do at a "micro" level. There's an old cliché I heard many years ago that applies here: "It's a cinch by the inch, and it's hard by the yard."

So take an area of the wheel where you would like to improve, imagine how you would feel if that area were to improve, visualize yourself already there, and then create a list of micro steps you can take. From there, all you have to do is take one of those micro steps, acknowledge yourself for having done so, and stay with the combination of visualization and micro steps.

This is just time worn wisdom. What's your next "inch?"

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You can find out more about Russell Bishop at http://www.lessonsinthekeyoflife.com. Contact Russell at: [e-mail]
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The author of Lessons in the Key of Life, Russell is an Educational Psychologist, professional life coach and management consultant, based in Santa Barbara California.

Comments

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Russell, This is an important year for me. You should know because you are part of it.

Deb and I are nearly finished writing our latest book that will be published in October 2009. It is our publishers lead book. We did interviews with amazing people such as you, Michael Beckwith, Dean Ornish, Marianne Williamson, Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks, Robert Thurman, Ellen Burstyn, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Susan Smalley, Jane Fonda, Ed Begley, Jack Kornfield, Byron Katie, Joan Borysenko and others. It is called:
BE THE CHANGE- How meditation Can Transform You And The World
with Voices Of Remarkable Spiritual People
My goal is to do my best and be of service.
Thank you for being you, Ed

[lewes17266]

Half of the chore for me is just getting started! Once I make up my mind to start, the rest usually goes fine and the momentum builds.

[Dr. Cara Barker - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Russell,

Your contribution is so important. I love the reminder that this process is not about perfection, but direction. It is so easy, as you point out, to self-sabatage by setting demands and expectations that will not get the job done.

Let me also thank you for two more things. First, the idea of micro steps. I have found one of the most undervalued approaches to creating results is the notion of baby steps. We fall victim to 'but they are not good enough' mentality. The fact is, your approach works.

Second, yes, dear Russell, let's hear it for the importance of a juicy goal! My old professor, Michael Pattison, who taught doctoral 'research and statistics' (groan) turned out to be one of the best teachers I've ever had. I remember him saying: 'If what you want to do in your research doesn't keep you excited during your 2am and 3am long days, then find another topic. Whatever you choose, make sure it keeps your fire stoked! You are putting your life into it, after all." Great advise. Since then, I've found it applies to pretty much everything.

Thanks, again, Russell, for reminding us of this important foundational work.

Love,
Cara

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, Russell, I appreciate your reminder about those micro steps. I could also use a hefty dose of patience along with them. I do know better - I am still learning to do better! The blessings of the journey...

Greetings to you,
Anne