Start, Stop, Continue
If I was to ask you about your day, I might say "what went well? what do you need to do more of?" This is my "what do you need to continue?" question. It is really important to focus on what we are doing well, what are the things that we are doing that are creating the results that we would want them to, and that we want to continue doing to create optimal results for ourselves. There are the things that that we need to do more of.
How would you identify these? You might decide that you will go for a walk each morning. You have done this for a couple of days and you are finding that:
- you enjoy the feeling of being out in the early morning fresh air
- you enjoy the clarity of thought you experience during the day
- you particularly notice that you don't feel like having a nap in the afternoon because your energy sustains all day.
One of the greatest mistakes that I observe in business, in lifestyle, in relationships, in exercise, in families, is the mistaken belief that "the more I try, the better the outcome". This is not the case. Cut your losses, as they say.
Knowing when to "STOP" is a vital skill, develop this for yourself.
Continue is the magic !! When you know something is working for you - keep doing it. Ensure that you stay focused on the outcome so that you stay current. If it is working, don't fix it. If it is broken, then fix it. There is a clear difference in these two statements.
If you honestly know things are working, stick with it. We used to have a great advert on TV "when you are on a good thing, stick with it". For my money, this still applies; while things are working. If things are not working - STOP
I was in a meeting in a Corporate client that I have been working with recently and one of the people asked "can you give us a guarantee that things won't change?" No-one can give this assurance.
Who would have thought a week ago that the world would have been brought to a standstill as European flights were brought to a halt?
There are no guarantees. It is important that each of us monitor ourselves and our business practices daily, weekly, monthly.
Ask yourself - what do I want to Stop doing?? what do I want to Continue doing? what do I need to Start doing??
Let's be Healthy Wealthy together !!
I love this article Ingrid, and agree with your thoughts. In my world of finance, it's called assessing the ROI (Return On Investment). Recently I assessed my ROI on a new business venture, the results of which indciated and supported my gut feel to 'stop'. So, I pulled the pin. I am also assessing the ROI of my marketing efforts - and the results thus far are good, and I'm comfortable and sure that continuing will be worth while. From a personal aspect, I definitely need to do a whole lot more to look after my body, so I'm going to make an effort to 'start' a regular routine of swimming, walking, yoga, and rest whilst reading (sounds like I'm going to finally get to read all those magazines which are stacking up on my desk!).
Thanks Ingrid.
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Thanks Kathryn, and I'm sure you will find that you will gain a Huge ROI on any swimming, walking and yoga that you Start doing !!
and resting is just as important as doing. YAY for YOU
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