RISK is a board game where the players set out to conquer the
world, and the successful players carefully calculate their moves. Change is a process that is much the
same. Successful people who adopt change
make plans in advance. Both require strategy.
Dictionary.com defines strategy as “a plan, method, or series of
maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result.” You may have heard the phrase before, “plan
of attack.” Both the definition and the military
phrase sum up in broad terms what we have been talking about over that past two
months: vision, assessment, prioritizing, overcoming obstacles, etc. So let’s tie it all up.
What usually happens to most people who dream, is that they get
this idea in their head and just as they get ready to pull it down out of the
clouds and give it feet, they freeze. “I
can’t actually do this! What I am
thinking?” Then they just pop the bubble
and forget about it. The most commonly
used analogy to express this phenomenon is that of an elephant in the
room. Someone takes you into a room with
an elephant and then tells you to eat.
How do you start eating an elephant?
One bite at a time.
That’s what a strategy is.
If you are anything like me though, you are asking yourself,
“How am I going to get that elephant to let me eat it,” and “Man
that’s some tough skin!” Answering these
questions is all part of building a strategy to eat your elephant vision one
bite at a time.
I must say though, all the strategizing in the world with no
action is pointless. Napolean said it
well when he stated to “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action
comes, stop thinking and go in.”
One of my clients suffered from what he called “analysis
paralysis.” He would make crazy to do
lists, research something to death, talk about it to others, and then go back
and think some more. Eventually, he
would talk himself out of the task or keep on thinking about it. One and a half Life Coaching sessions set him
up for success. He learned to stop
analyzing too much and take small bites.
He was so amazed with my Wheel of Life Balance, and how I showed him to
self-evaluate and move forward, that he went around sharing it with
others!
One last tip and this one is inspired. Seek out more than one person to bounce ideas
off of. “Where there is no guidance, a
people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs
11:14, ESV). Break out a strategy. Break out of inaction. And by all means, Break your Nature!
Nick
Massey is a Life Coach, Speaker, and Writer.
To read more from Nick Massey, or to schedule him for a Life Coaching
session, or book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our
website at http://www.coachmassey.com. ©
2014 Nick Massey
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