Does your plan to grow start from where you are standing today?

Seth Godin suggests there are only four reasons you feel stuck:

• You don’t know what to do
• You don’t know how to do it
• You don’t have the authority or the resources to do it
• You’re afraid

Where are you today? With the challenge you are facing, the goal you haven’t achieved yet, which of these four are holding you back? It’s important, when creating a plan or strategy, to know where you are starting from.

Imagine you are planning a trip from New York to Los Angeles. It doesn’t matter how good your plan is if you actually live in Miami. If your plan doesn’t begin with where you are actually standing today, it’s going to be a wasted plan.

If you are setting a new revenue goal for a business, you need to know what you are producing today and how it’s getting done. If you’re an individual trying to run a seven minute mile, it’s important to have an honest assessment of how fast you can do a mile today — or that you can even complete one in the first place. The strategy for both a business and an individual is important, but it has to be based in the reality of where you are starting from today.

Solving the problem of not knowing what to do is very different from solving not knowing how to do it. You next step will look different if it’s “what” versus if it’s “how.” You have to understand what is holding you back and where you are starting from. If you feel stuck, you have to know what is making you feel that way.

Before you can create a plan, before you can lead the way, you need to see clearly. Here a few questions you can ask yourself to start creating clarity today*:

• What do I know about the present picture? What are the facts, the data, the basic information?
• What were the events, decisions, or circumstances that lead me to where I am today?
• When have I been in a similar circumstance or faced a comparable challenge?
• What’s the story I’m telling myself about why I/we aren’t seeing growth or results? Is that story true?
• What do my actions seem to indicate I’m actually aiming for? Ease, comfort, ego…or the actual result you say you want to see?
• Based on all of this information and where I am actually standing today, what’s a possible next step that will move the ball forward?

*Your level of honesty and vulnerability will determine the speed at which you gain clarity on where you are standing and how to move forward. “If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.” — Brené Brown, in Daring Greatly

Want help gaining clarity and making a plan to move forward, for yourself or your team? Adam Bouse Coaching offers personal and organizational development coaching. Emotional intelligence assessments, leadership coaching, and team training are just a few of the tools available. Find more info at www.adambouse.co or send me an email — hello@adambouse.co