Eliminate the 3 Obstacles Standing Between You and What's Most Important in the New Year

It's a new year, and the holidays provide a break for perspective and assessment of what's important, what we've accomplished in the previous year, and, also perhaps more importantly, what we didn't accomplish and why. When we don't meet our goals, whether they are personal or organizational, it's usually because 1)  they were not ultimately that important, so we let them slide down our lists of priorities, or 2) they were very important, but also difficult (or perhaps even thorny!).  The words of one of our favorite clients have stuck with us over the last year, so we decided to make it the focus of our 2017 New Year's card: "Important work is never easy. If it were easy, it would be done already." True, indeed!

For the important but difficult goals, difficulty can come from not having one or all of the following three factors: 1) time, 2) resources, or 3) knowledge. If one or all of these obstacles kept you from accomplishing your most important goals last year,  you can feel confident in joining nearly every other human on the face of the earth in this dilemma. But it's a new year, and a good time for taking action to reverse the curse. Time-, resource-, and knowledge-constraints are never insurmountable obstacles, even when combined as an unholy trinity. This is where we simply ask others for help.

Need time, so you can start to unpack the thorny issues standing between you and your important goal? Ask your team, or family, or friends for help in protecting the time you set aside. Or, if it can be delegated, hire someone to spend their time helping you unpack the thorny issues.

Need resources, so you can start to test, build, implement, and refine your vision? Share your vision with others. If they find value and importance in what you are doing, they may be willing to contribute or move resources to help. Consider which resources you do have that might be underutilized, or that could be re-purposed or traded.

Need knowledge that you don't currently have? Set aside time to acquire the knowledge (visit your library!), and use your network to solicit knowledge from others. If you don't ultimately need to personally possess the knowledge that stands between you and your goal, hire someone that can give you the answers you need.

Twelve months stretch out before us like blank canvases awaiting our vision and aspirations. What are the most important things you didn't get accomplished last year? If they are still important, but difficult, because of the above constraints, decide to get them done in 2017, and let us know if we can help. We love helping our clients get the important work done!