I love the readers right now who are opening this post with a slight grin on their face and thinking that I have a rather large typo in the title. Don’t we all secretly like to “catch” a mistake (especially others)?? Ok…back on track…what I am referencing today is the need to see a project, a goal, a task, all the way through to the last mile.
It would give me great pleasure to say that I know from experience what it is like to cross the finish line of a marathon. Unfortunately my marathon ends at about 3.2 miles. I can imagine what it must be like those last few miles, all you can do is picture the finish. But what if you suddenly needed to stop for a drink or help someone who fell. Would it change your focus? My guess is that it would, and my guess is that this same principle applies to many of us in the business world.
Think about a project you have led, a meeting that required intense preparation, or a client request that needed research. You envision the outcome and you can see the steps to get there. When all falls in place, the result and your attitude is amazing. Yet things can change quickly if someone throws a “wrench” into your plan, especially if it is going to make your task more difficult. How do you respond to this? Are you open to adjustments? I think we would like to believe we are, but in many cases, it can cause us to feel defeated or worse yet disinterested in the outcome. It is then we begin to settle for a little less than the best and our goal becomes just to get it over with, and here lies the problem.
We can all relate to this scenario, we have all been there. The real challenge lies in our ability to be truthful about how we feel. My personal solution is to talk with someone, admit that I am at the end of my tether, and ask for help. I know that I have to rely on others to get the end of the line, because sometimes I just can’t do it on my own.
Perhaps we should build our plan around a 27 mile marathon and more often than not, we'll reach the finish line early.
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