Don’t Let Distractions Keep You from Success

We all make plans in life. Whether it’s a long-term business strategy or planning a menu for a family dinner, it is but natural for individuals to sit down, think something over and come up with a plan.  People with solid leadership skills always plan; it is part of who they are. Depending on the scope of your plans, the thinking,  planning could take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of months, even years for long-term goals. It is the excitement of attaining the desired results that keep people excited when planning.

You make plans to save up for a year to buy a new car. You set your mind on surfing the internet for a dessert recipe for your mother’s birthday. You plan to venture into a home-based business with dreams of expanding in a few months.

The problem is no matter how great your plans are there is always that risk of being side-tracked. While it’s totally impossible to remove all distractions, prior preparation can help you stay on track.

Here’s what to do to prevent yourself from getting sidetracked. 

Accept that other people’s ideas may be as good as, or even better than yours. Others around you have skills or experience you may not have that could give you insights you couldn’t have known.

• Never make decisions when you are angry or anxious. People tend to think and react differently when faced with stress. Give yourself a chance to relax and calm down when creating a plan, or when things don’t pan out as expected. Making hasty decisions will make things worse and prevent you from thinking clearly, or from getting back on track.
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• Don’t get stuck stressing out on the nitty-gritty details of a situation that happened, that could influence your planning process.  Look past the mundane details and determine what is the heart of the problem.  Then you can focus your goals on the right outcomes.
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• Keep your personal ethical standards above all else. Great decisions are always founded on honesty and integrity.  This is what will guide you as you create goals, and prevent you from the distraction of creating goals that other people want, that don’t align with your values and ethics.
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It is so easy to lose sight of your goals and dreams. It can happen to anyone, even to successful leaders and entrepreneurs. Leaders who have the ability to keep themselves and their teams on track and focused on accomplishments are valued in any organization.  It’s also true that as the leader, being able to rise above unexpected situations that may otherwise sidetrack you and your team will pave the road to success.

Planning is challenging for most people.  While we can’t do the plan for you, we can help make it easier to create a plan.  

Download The Dos and Don’ts of Planning and find out how to make planning less challenging.