Reviewing the old

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Today's daily dose: Reviewing the old
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Yesterday I asked you to complete a personal writing assignment, I hope you managed to set aside some time and complete the task. As you all know by now, the only way to overcome the procrastination habit is by doing "stuff". But it's also important to remember to do the right stuff. We can all get excited about projects and run blindly down the road only to find ourselves at the end of a dark alley with no idea how on earth we ended up there.

That's the problem with planning, actually that's a problem with not planning, and just as importantly, not reviewing your plan on a regular basis. Sounds boring doesn't it. But consider this. You don't just get into your car, turn on the ignition and tell it where you need to go. Well I don't know of a car that can do that just yet. Even cars fitted with Sat Nav still needs you to do something. Namely "drive". And every second you are making minute adjustments to the vehicle as you go along. You have your ultimate goal, and you know what you need to do to get there, but it's never a straight road, and there will be holdups and delays and yes millions of minor course adjustments.

Yesterday's list was not just an idle exercise into remembering how brilliant we were /are. Take one of the bigger items on your list. You choose I don't mind. And remember the steps you took in order to achieve it. If you are anything like me, there was as much sideways movement, a lot of trial and error as I learned what I needed to learn in order to move forwards.

Take the website for instance. MotivateMe has gone through 3 incarnations so far and will go through another one very shortly. Each version has built on previous knowledge and completed work. I certainly could not have created the site you see today without some serious input from other talented people, plus the work that had gone before. Just like the old cliche - you need to learn how to walk before you can run, and crawl before you can walk.

But - with each completed task and achieved goal, your review time is much, much shorter. Once you have looked at a major goal, now of course it is time to get the new goal list out and apply the old learning to the new item and you won't find yourself running headlong into blind alleys - saying "how did I get here?" and having to turn around again. If there is anything that kills productivity dead, it's having to go back over old ground, and take many backwards steps....unless you are any good at wall climbing that is.

Reviewing your past achievements = less time taken to achieve new goals.


With many thoughts
Elle

To add your comments -

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Today's blog entry - On self concept
The concept of self is important. Our self concept is what makes you, you and me - me. It is the core of who and what we are and what we are capable of.
http://www.motivateme.info/through-the-barrier/2008/10/18/on-self-concept.html
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