As part of the Professional Women of McLean County, we put on an annual workshop as an educational event for attendees, and a fundraiser for scholarships. This year’s theme was Rising Above the Status Quo. It was an amazing discussion.
One tip that jumped out at me was setting a goal to do one thing better today that you did yesterday.
A few of the examples were:
- If you are a chef, slice the vegetables a little better today than you did yesterday.
- If you are a janitor, clean one area a little bit better today than you did yesterday.
- If you are a computer programmer, use less lines of code to get the job done than you did yesterday.
How powerful is that?
It made me stop and think of all the big goals we set that we strive for over long periods of time. While big goals definitely serve their purpose and have their place in our lives; what about just looking at yesterday? I had never looked at just trying to do one thing better.
Let’s look at People Skills. What’s one thing you could do a little better today than yesterday? Regardless of how well you did the activity, there’s always room for improvement, right? I decided to look at myself and come up with a list I could pull from every day and make my one little goal for the day.
Here is my list:
- Reread an email to make sure it conveys the message I intended before clicking send.
- Listen for one more minute while someone else is talking before thinking of my next question or comment.
- Say thank you for a job well done.
- Pick up the phone to connect with someone instead of relying on text and emails.
- Ask for help on something I am stuck on.
- Stick to my to do list to manage my time.
- Finish my projects completely before moving on (aka put my stuff away).
- Set realistic expectations for myself or others on how long it will take to get something done.
- Don’t assume.
- Slow down and stay focused on the task at hand.
After feeling so inspired from the conference and coming up with this list I decided that I will pick one of these 10 and work on it every day for the next 30 days. That means each of them will get my attention 3 times. I have a hunch in 30 days I will be reporting back to you at the difference it made! What do you think?
Again, I am just so thrilled at the simplicity of it. It’s not overwhelming at all. We all know we need to break down big goals into baby steps. But how cool is it to just look at each day as an opportunity to take a baby step on what we already do (and probably do well)? I’m excited!
How about you? Would your top 10 look the same? What would you change? Let me know below or on Facebook!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Emilie!
I was delivering a workshop the other day and I asked them how long it would take for them to improve 100%. They were blank. It takes only 0.3% per day (one thing) so that in under a year you can achieve that.
Einstein said “When the solution is simple God is answering”. God told me this year to focus on one thing each day. It has helped immensely.
That is so cool! I’d never heard it in percentages before! Thanks for letting me know!
I loved this article. Being at the same conference this is one of my take aways also. Do one thing better each day. For me my goals are to:
1. Work the plan ( Stay focused on to-do list each day)
2. Stop multi-tasking– when making dinner– enjoy the process of making dinner– don’t answer email and clean the kitchen at the same time.
I love your ideas and will incorporate more into my life.
Thanks for the recap
You’re welcome Cindy! And yes that multi-tasking is a killer! It’s so easy to do all the time.
If you’d like a tool for setting your goals, you can use this web application:
Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote and Google Calendar, and also comes with mobile version, and Android and iPhone apps.
Dan, that’s a neat tool I had not seen before. I will be checking it out!
The one thing that I woke up to and decided to do is to just have enjoyment and it be so full that others will recognize it! I seek enjoyment in my life and wish the same for everyone around me.
Amen to that! Happiness is contagious, so spread it around Cranston! I’ll be right there with you.
Love simple too
You have inspired me and you are so right we often forget about the small things.
Woot woot!