Gollum said crazy things to himself often.
I’ve picked up this treasure trove of crazy things we say to ourselves (I suppose I’m in that group too) when things don’t work out.
The 10 crazy things we say to ourselves.
1. How did we get into this mess? This statement is a direct result of not spending the time to work out plans sufficiently. Imagine a big league coach not planning the recruiting process. He simply wouldn’t do it. Why is it okay to do this in business?
2. I’m too busy to plan. Okay now. A football coach wouldn’t last long without a well thought out game plan, especially in the big leagues. Isn’t business the big leagues?
3. I’ve got a to-do list. That’s great! To what end? What’s the expected outcome and what are the measurables? A to-do list without a plan is playtime.
4. What happened that got us here? All those little opportunities to plan that you didn’t take. All those shortcuts you took. Remember those situations? “Well, yes, as a matter of fact I do remember some.”
5. Who’s at fault? You. Me. No one else. And besides, who really cares? What matters is what you are going to do about it.
6. It is what it is. Okay there is a bit of realism in this statement. It depends on when it’s said. If you’re talking about the past and ready to move on, then yes, you can’t change the past. If you’re in the moment and say it, then you haven’t turned on the creative juices enough.
7. I didn’t see that coming. Why not? Didn’t you lay out all the obstacles in the planning process and work through the solutions. This might just fall into the sloppy column.
8. I don’t have time for this BS, I need to get stuff done. There’s a certain laziness in this attitude. Too lazy to do the hard work of thinking through the steps to succeed. It’s true, it does feel like your making progress to get busy. Is your busywork getting you to where you want to be?
9. We’ll get to the goals after we get the activities in place. This is just plain screwed up priorities and values. The priority is activity over effectiveness. It’s true, it does feel good to be busy and it can be a good thing when you’re down. This is also a sure way to eventually feel out of control.
10. I can’t do anything about it. Really? My friend Tim, felt frustrated working for company. He did okay but wasn’t happy. He decided he wanted to buy a company. He took his 401K and all his savings and bought a company. After several rough years he has a multi-million dollar operation and has built all new aspirations of where to go next.
We all have choices to stop crazy things we say to ourselves.
Does Gollum creep into your day? That cannot be good.
The worst of the crazy things we say to ourselves is that none of these statements include personal responsibility for our projects, programs, products, careers, jobs, professional development, lives.
Just because you plan doesn’t mean it will flow easily. So, plan it out carefully, keep at it and be persistent. And stop the crazy things we say to ourselves.
Watch the excitement and focused execution as you start nailing down the plans and get the activities well aligned.
It can be just plain fun!
“Dominate your life with Focus, Decision and Execution.”
