Ready...Set...

“Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.”

— Hesiod

Have you ever had a good idea, rushed to implement it, and found that somehow it fell flat for reasons you didn’t understand?  This can happen for many reasons, of course, including unforeseen issues arising at the last minute.  However, this week we’ll focus on a factor I don’t often hear discussed that can be hugely important—timing.  There are several different components to timing I want to touch on that I think are helpful considerations when planning toward a goal.  If you at least think through these before taking action, in my experience, you have better chances of success in your final product, whether you’re planning the launch of a book or other product, taking a vacation, or planning a party.

·      Time needed to complete your proposed task list.  Every task should be given as realistic a time frame for completion as it’s possible to estimate.  If you’ve never done something like this before, it’s crucial that you consult someone who has.  Otherwise, your guess could be drastically off and endanger the completion of your project if there are dependencies involved—in other words, things that need to be done before, during, or after that task that depend on it.  It’s always surprising to me how many people don’t bother to even attempt to think through how much work is involved in any project or step in one, and so much can go wrong when you don’t.

·      Preparation.  What needs to happen before you can begin?  Do you need to find other team members or brush up on some skills of your own before you set the wheels in motion?  Are there fears or other resistance you’re feeling that it would be better to deal with before you get started so they don’t wreak havoc on your project once it’s in motion?

·      Context.  This is a tough one because the factors you could consider may be practically infinite depending on your project, but you should do the very best you can with what you have.  What is going on in your life and in the lives of others who will participate in or be the consumers of your project? Is someone on your team getting married this year?  What holidays, religious and secular, will fall within important periods of your project?  (There are some excellent calendars online that include a wide variety of religious holidays.)  What time of year will the project end—in January, when many are trying to turn over a new leaf with New Year’s resolutions, or during the height of summer vacation season?  What are people generally interested in or concerned about at that time?  Is there a political cycle you need to consider or other projects you need to work around?  What’s trendy and cool right now, and how does your project relate to that—for instance is there a popular festival in your vacation destination that you’d like to participate in or avoid?  This is a broad area that deserves research and brainstorming with others so you can turn up as many factors for consideration as possible and wisely choose your end date.

·      Contingencies.  What would you do if you had some bad luck, causing delays, at any point in the project?  If the end date got delayed, what would happen, and is there a time when you’d be better able to deal with this?  Is there a step in the process that absolutely can’t move?

·      Preference.  When would you rather be working on the project and when would you prefer that it be finished?  If it works to do that, go ahead so as to best preserve your enthusiasm and enjoyment of the experience.

·      Cost.  Is there a time when doing what’s necessary will cost you less, or when the end product can earn you greater benefits?

·      Intuition.  This is a wild card category, but considering it can bring important factors to your attention.  Putting aside what’s logical, is there any timing that just feels particularly right or wrong to you?  You can choose to think of this as your subconscious mind indicating knowledge you have that your conscious mind doesn’t remember.  If you have an established relationship with your intuition, you may also know this as a place of intersection with the spiritual part of yourself.  Consult your own and ask others to consult theirs and just see what you come up with. 

·      Summation.  When you put all of these together, does any particular timing become the clear winner?  If not, don’t be afraid to talk it out with someone you trust to be supportive and to have good ideas when they hear about your choices.  Maybe several people.  If nothing stands out, sometimes you have to just pick a choice and go.  That’s fine, and you probably learned some helpful things in going through this process.  Who knows when they’ll come in handy along the way.

If you take the time to look at all of these factors before taking on your next project, you’ll be able to feel more confident that you’ve avoided some pitfalls and chosen the best timing for your efforts.  Nothing ever goes perfectly as planned, but when you do your best to strategize intelligently in your initial choices, you’ll have removed every roadblock you could, and that’s better than the alternative!  You’ll learn through experience what you might have missed, but at least you won’t be kicking yourself for not trying.

Onward and Upward

“The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favor. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist, the more likely your success.”

— Jack Canfield

Just keep going.  This is one of the most important principles I know of in the grand scheme of creating a successful life.  You don’t have to always be running—you can walk, skip, hop or dance—and it’s ok to take a breather now and then when you need it.  But if you can build the habit of just doing what you can to move forward a little bit every day, your progress toward what you want will be much faster than if you tend to exhaust yourself and drop out, or reconsider everything when you don’t get immediate results. 

In such a fast-paced world, one in which we’ve been shown that everyone can become an “overnight” success by just getting on a reality T.V. show, our expectations may have become a bit unrealistic.  For most people, success is the result of years of effort, which invariable include lots of ups and downs.  Even those who seem to have gotten a big, lucky break have usually spent plenty of unglamorous time preparing and wondering at times if they’d ever get anywhere.  Just like the rest of us!

I would suggest that this time of uncertainty and constant application yields precious abilities, even when it seems like nothing is happening.  When we keep going despite resistance, worry, boredom, and annoyance, we’re building a habit of focus and healthy stubbornness that can serve us throughout life.  Of course, I’m not implying that we should be so stubborn that we never consider our results and adjust course, or listen to the constructive feedback of others.  I am in favor or each person dancing to their own drummer, though; you must ultimately be the one who decides what is right for you, and sometimes even the most well-intentioned advice must be ignored if it doesn’t seem right to you and for you.  Some of the people who have invented the most astonishing things throughout history have been told over and over that creating what they saw in their mind’s eye was impossible. They kept going and perfected those things anyway.  Healthy stubbornness in action!

There are many ways to keep yourself going when it’s difficult and uncomfortable to do so.  I suggest broadening your tool set so that you have a better chance of staying in the game when the going gets frustrating.  For example:

·      Figure out what motivates you and roll with it.  Are you someone whose abilities wake up when you’re moving toward something good, or working to outrun something you fear?  Most of us respond somewhat to both, but you may find that one or the other is more effective for you.  If you like to imagine moving toward something you want, remind yourself at least once a day what you’re working toward by imagining it vividly—preferably numerous times per day.  This will bring you little surges of energy and the ability to recommit to your task every time you do it.  You can also give yourself a little pep talk here and there and remind yourself of the progress you’ve made.  If you get fired up when you imagine moving away from something bad, you can imagine something like that instead—see, hear, and feel people talking about how you failed and they knew you’d never amount to anything, etc.  For most people, far more repetitions of the positive style of motivation is best, but throwing in a vision of what you definitely don’t want can sometimes add some spice to the mix.

·      Take care of your physical needs without fail.  Don’t skip meals, but keep them healthy.  Get regular exercise, which builds energy and helps manage stress and lift your moods, and stretch your muscles to stay limber.  Get at least seven hours of sleep per night.  Brush and floss.  You get the picture.

·      Tell only the people you know you can trust to be supportive about your big goals.  The last thing you need is a lot of negativity from people who think small, or are threatened by your unique vision. 

·      Commit to being a lifelong learner.  No one starts off as an expert.  We all build expertise in the areas we choose over time, and it never happens overnight.  You don’t have to keep up with all information all the time, but you do need to keep up with your chosen field of interest, and again, it’s a fast-paced world out there.  This will take some time and attention always if you want to be good at what you do, but it will also keep exposing you to the brilliance of others, which is inspiring.

·      Find ways to blow off steam when you hit road blocks.  Do or watch something that makes you laugh yourself silly.  Spend time with friends.  Volunteer for a worthy cause and get your mind off your own troubles.  Spend some time on a hobby that just makes you feel good.  Read biographies of successful people, who I guarantee went through hard times before they became famous and respected for their contributions.  Write out your woes in a journal.  Go outside and enjoy the natural world.

·      Be willing to rethink your strategy as you try things and learn from your experiences.  Consult others who have done something similar for advice and a change of perspective.

·      If you crash and burn or fall off the wagon in some way, know that everyone experiences failure sometimes, and we often learn far more from these episodes than from we do from smooth sailing.  Failures and mistakes may feel terrible when they’re happening, but they are not the end unless we decide they are.  If you’re still alive, there’s still more left within you.

·      Remind yourself that what you have to give is unique and important.  Even if it’s not yet ready or not yet connecting with an audience or customers, someone out there needs and is waiting for what you have to offer.

For some people, succeeding to a level that feels satisfying takes far longer than they ever hoped or imagined.  If this is you, it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong—this is a very common human experience.  We can’t always know beforehand exactly what will get us to our destination.  Just keep taking a step forward every time you can, keep learning, and above all, just keep going.