In my last column I discussed three challenges that every successful CEO and entrepreneur has faced when it comes to personal mastery: Procrastination, fear of visibility, running out of steam or giving up before you see the results you’re looking for, and how to overcome them. This idea came about from a recent conversation I had with my fellow leadership coach, Dawn Grossart, when we compared our experiences with leaders we’ve coached and came to the same conclusion: Most people are trying to achieve personal mastery, but most just lack the framework.
When it comes to creating a framework for how to achieve personal mastery, try this exercise that you can do right now.
The path forward can often be found by laying on a framework – a road map toward your goal. Maybe you know where you are, and you know where you want to go, but you don’t know how to get there. The way to fill in that crucial middle step is to create a frame work so you can be methodical about how to actually move forward.
Identify what you want. And this is the time which you call this revision but in your personal life it’s just being able to answer the question: “What do you want?”
Focus on that. Prioritizing what you want is a practice compared to just wanting it but being really busy and stressed in the rest of your life, and so you never get to it.
Take action. If you have those first two items, vision and focus, now you can put pen to paper and identify your action plan. That can take the form of the good old fashion to-do list, or a more sophisticated version of an action plan that helps to prioritize your action.
From there you suddenly shift into moving forward. Those three pieces I call a “cycle of action.” Once you have a solid framework together from the three steps above you can start layering in the pieces that are going to help you accelerate progress.
Identify your strengths, and think about how can you use your strength to achieve your goal. Revisit your values and think about how you can tackle the three steps above in a way that is right for you – this will make you feel like you’ve succeeded long before you’ve even achieved all of your goal. It will be a fulfilling and exciting process for you because it’s aligned to who you are and what you want.
When you know how to identify where you want to go, you can develop a plan to get there. That’s personal mastery, and it’s how you get to be a better leader while also leading a better life.
For everyone reading this, know that you are exactly where you need to be right now, today, and reading this is going to be offer you your next step. So, before you do anything further today, I would encourage you to pause, think about one strategy mentioned above that you feel you can tackle, and then make an action step for yourself. From there you will be on your way to achieving personal leadership and personal mastery.
For more ways to create a framework tailored to your personal needs, see my services page.
The previous article appeared on Inc.com as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!