If you have not noticed, there are small changes in format and functionality made to this website every few weeks. Not only do I try to come up with valuable and creative content, I also learn how to make this website easier to navigate and increase its functionality. For example, this week, I fixed the iPhone/iPad interface bug that now allows comments from those devices. The previous week I added the search box that works. Whenever I am about to make a code or layout change to the website, I go through a backup procedure and keep a copy of all of the files and code offline, just in case I did something stupid and can quickly go back to the functional version. After the change, I test everything I possibly can and have the patience for it. This week’s task was to stress test the search box, and just for fun, I typed the word “Goals” and learned there are ten articles that reference goals.
One of the common underlying themes in articles about goals is that most touch on systematic methods to set goals, a system. Developing systems and workflows is a professional approach to establishing habits. Changing or adapting new habits requires a behavior change. Changing behavior is difficult if one does not recognize that a particular behavior needs to be changed, especially if it is identified as a possible root cause. Let’s look at an example of changing behavior.
There are a couple of blogs that were written to help the reader observe and identify behaviors. One, in particular, was the post on tracking your spending for a week on food, transportation, and entertainment for one week. How many of you made the effort to collect receipts every time you made a purchase? Collecting receipts is one step of a simple system. How many of you summarized the purchases using a notepad or the Excel sheet that was provided? Not many, based on the comments and conversations I’ve had with a few readers, and here’s the reason why. There is a saying in sales that applies to behavior changes.
“A customer won’t purchase until the cost of the problem outweighs the cost of the solution.”
The same principle applies to breakthroughs that create behavior changes. No amount of “would of, should of, could of” will change a behavior until a level of discomfort is more unbearable than implementing a system and creating an action plan to solve a problem or achieve a goal. Even if blog writers or coaches provide tools, techniques, and systems and lay them out and explain how to use them, no one ever will use tools and techniques until a necessary reactive response comes into play, like a decision to change a circumstance or a habit. Developing systematic methods to set and achieve goals creates a more proactive environment, which to me, is certainly more enjoyable than constantly reacting to things. Much worse, solving the same problem over and over again and expecting a different result.
Like many skills that one develops, the secrets, reveal themselves when you know where to look and recognize their significance as they are applied to you. So let’s get back to the headline that brought you into this post and down to this week’s bottom line: How to Develop Your System. Easy, you don’t have to develop your system, you merely borrow it from someone else, implement it, and begin to make subtle changes to make it work for you. This blog contains quite a few systems that started with an idea from my mentors, coaches, authors, leaders, and other bloggers, and took best practices and made them my own. I merely took them to the next level by applying them to the circumstances that I created to achieve the results. You wouldn’t build your hammer or saw to build a birdhouse, would you? Of course not. You would buy a hammer and a saw and look on YouTube to see how someone else did it. You now have the tool and the knowledge, there’s your system. You only need some basic materials and the desire and time to get it done with your own hands, focus, and creative style. Like anything, once you have the system, execution is your own hurdle. Taking those first steps builds momentum. The only way to take those first steps is to make the decision to action and yes, I have a system for that too.
That’s All From The Bach Row.
