Are you starting to get so much traction on your intentions that you’re feeling overwhelmed? In this week’s episode, we’re going to get a new perspective about multi-tasking in Skill #3—Find the Metric That Matters.
You can purchase Light it Up—7 Skills for Setting Intentions That Work at Amazon or read it for free as part of their Kindle Unlimited program.
Don’t leave your heart’s desire sitting on a shelf. Skill up like a Soul Boss so you can declare, “My year was lit!”
A woman was talking a mile a minute as I tuned into talk radio. She wanted an incredible career. Getting her dream job might mean changing cities, so she probably also needed to organize a move. And, oh, by the way, she hoped to meet and marry the man of her dreams this year.
So, why was she calling for advice? Nothing was working.
We’ve all been like that lady, where we have so many fantastic ideas that we don’t want to choose among them. So, we set a bunch of goals and eagerly dive in. However, even the most meticulous intentions won’t build Rome in a day.
When you’re overburdened, the sequence usually goes like this: You have average results for what you’re able to finish and no results for everything else. You get discouraged jumping from one project to another. Soon you’re in a downward spiral as anxiety kicks in. Your inner critic tells you that you will never reach your goals. At that point, of course, you give up or think that setting intentions is dumb.
Let me give you some good news: You don’t have to choose. Keep every intention on your list. Just shift your tactics from multitasking to doing one thing at a time.
My stomach was in knots on the way to the meeting. The retailers were eager to have their products posted to our website. We were happy to have them—as long as we could get to the right contract terms. However, every stage of the negotiation over what we would do for them on our site had been tense, and emotions on both sides were running high. Closing the deal seemed like a long shot.
I expected the account executive heading our team to dive into the retailers’ contract and work through it line-by-line. But then she made a genius move: She set the paperwork aside and simply listened.
She paid close attention as Representative #1 from the retail company took the floor. “We must have a huge logo. High website traffic is essential to our success.”
“No, no, no,” Rep #2 shouted from the end of the table. “Weekly promotions are critical. Shoppers want to see new products, not the same merchandise.”
Rep #3 cut in, talking over them. “I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned the holiday campaign! We’ve got to be on the homepage the entire week of Thanksgiving,” he insisted. “We turn the corner on Black Friday. So, let’s table the other promotions and talk about what you can do for us during December. Our financial profitability depends on it.”
And what about discussing the contract? Well, we never got around to that. The retail reps spent the rest of the meeting quarreling with each other and pitching their personal agendas.
Our team walked to the parking garage in silence. My mind raced as I wondered, What happens now? How on earth are we going to design a counteroffer for all three scenarios?
The account executive shook her head as we drove away. “Did you hear that laundry list of ‘I want, I want, I want’? They sounded like my kids at Christmas time, with ten things they absolutely have to have.” She grimaced. “I’m going to have to sleep on this because they can’t have THREE top priorities! We need to convince them to quit bickering and find the metric that matters. Then we can figure out what we can deliver.”
The offhanded comment to “find the metric that matters” put everything into perspective. I suddenly realized no one understood the metrics—that’s why three people had argued about the top priority.
Even worse, the metrics that had been presented took us in three completely different directions. Satisfying one of their objectives would have been hard enough. Trying to juggle all three at once would likely have led to disastrous consequences.
Setting competing intentions is a fast way to short-circuit your goals. Instead, you can light up your list by setting priorities. Priorities are like a Ferris wheel—there are many seats, but only one car can be at the top of the wheel at any given time.
Create your list by using a ranking system. All goals will have a place, but you get to decide the order. You don’t abandon the rest of your dreams, you merely stack rank them by importance.
Don’t be intimidated by the concept of stack ranking—you’re probably already a pro. Imagine yourself at a hectic airport charging station with only one available plug. Think how quickly and easily you scan your devices to decide what to charge. What is most important—phone, tablet, or smart watch? Congratulations—you just stack ranked your goals!
Stack ranking isn’t settling for less—it is shrewd and realistic. Your potential is unlimited. However, time, energy, and resources have constraints. Recognizing that you must manage those constraints is applying the skill of smart decision-making.
If you’re looking at a list of big ideas and thinking, But it’s all important! set the list aside for a moment. Now, finish this sentence: “My biggest priority right now is ______.” What pops out may surprise you.
You might think remodeling the kitchen should be the most important because it’s the hardest. However, you could find yourself saying, “My biggest priority right now is finding a carpool buddy. My commute drives me crazy.”
Do what you can on your first priority before going on to the next item. Text a colleague who lives close to you or check online ride-share sites for intention #1. Next, call your kitchen contractor about intention #2 and schedule a meeting to talk about building materials, and then continue so on, down the list.
Working on intentions sequentially is especially effective if you have a short attention span. When you take this approach, all your intentions are in constant motion—they’re just in different stages of development.
Now that you understand how to set priorities, use the What-Why-How framework to sort through your intentions and find the metric that matters. For instance:
What: I will review my intentions list and stack rank the priorities.
Why: I want to take actions that show results. Trying to keep every intention at the same stage of progress is too stressful. I refuse to pressure myself.
How: By the end of the week, I will create a stack rank list. I will define a What-Why-How model for each goal. Then I’ll work the list from top to bottom!
Skill up from the ridiculous myth of I can do everything well and all at once to the new belief of, I can do today’s priority well. Identifying priorities helps you concentrate, making it easier to accomplish many, many goals this year or over a lifetime.
When you separate what is urgent from what can wait until tomorrow, you’re using the Soul Boss® principle of calibrating your behavior to the circumstances. Calibrating is a way to ground yourself. You can quiet your panicked, racing mind and transform it from the “I want, I want, I want,” mentality to “I know what is important for my situation.” Light up your intentions by putting the metric that matters at the top of the list.
1. Use the skill of finding the metric that matters to pursue goals sequentially instead of simultaneously.
2. Setting competing goals short-circuits an intention. Stack ranking priorities lights it up.
3. The Make it fast, Make it deep, Make it real challenge:
4. Intentions work when you set priorities and don’t work when you try to do too much.
Check out Light it Up—7 Skills for Setting Intentions That Work today at Amazon.