Time management is critical to making changes stick. You will need to make the time to set your personal goals, determine what changes need to happen to make this year different from last year. Is good enough, good enough for your self-development plan?
Here are some time management system insights I’ve gathered as I work with clients. Make the time to make changes that are more than just good enough:
Tip #1 – Is it Good Enough
When you are thinking about making a change and find it to be too difficult to start, ask yourself if the situation is “good enough” or are you compromising? I think when you believe you want to make a change then good enough is not good enough. It is an excuse to keep the old way or talking ourselves out of personal growth? In many cases, we don’t have a good set of behaviors as a pattern to keep getting better.
Tip #2 – One Step at a Time
As your time management skills get better, you make time for that extra one step at a time towards positive change. You will start a new behavior pattern of not giving up. It is a behavior pattern of starting it up and keeping it going. It is ok to take two steps forward and one step back – we’re only human and can just do the best we can, at any given moment.
It is ok to take one step forward and two steps back. Just keep taking steps. Eventually you will be walking and then even running. Babies learn to walk this way. They do walk eventually. We congratulate them when they even take one step and we encourage them to keep walking and get excited about it. We deserve the same self -encouragement every step of the way.
Tip #3 – Make it Stick!
Imagine in your mind what your improvement will look like and keep this vision alive. Write it down in many spots on sticky notes and it will remind you to keep your plan going. This is a way of life to keep improving our selves and it feels really good with each improvement. Good enough is not good enough. You deserve the best!
