Habit 2: Begin With The End in Mind How

How?

When you have tackled what and why the next step is “how.” How will you know when you have arrived? How will you get there? How will you mark the way to seeing your goal realized? How are you going to get it done? How will you empower yourself to achieve your goal? Taking the time to visualize and feel the “how” helps you see some of the necessary steps to take in order to achieve your goal. This is perhaps the most critical step in making that all-important transition: transforming your goals from merely ideas and dreams into concrete reality. The more thoroughly you do this, the easier it will be to make a list of the realistic steps it will take to get you where you’d like to be.

Take a look at this example:

A father decides he’d like to improve his relationship with his son as one of his goals. His son has faced a lot of challenges lately: the boy’s schoolwork is poor, and he’s fallen in with a questionable crowd of friends. The father loves his son and feels their relationship could be stronger. He’s clear about his “what” and his “why.” Now for the big “how.”

How do I intend to improve my relationship with my son? By looking for opportunities.

(But how?) By investing time.

(Okay. How?) By setting aside a specific time.

(How will you go about that?) By making time in my schedule just for him. 

(Sounds good. How?) By finding a day where he and I can go and do something special.

(Cool. How?) By deciding on an event, and taking him with me.

(Great! How?) By going hiking this Saturday.

(Sounds like a great plan! But still, how?) By making sure he is free; by committing to the plan and sticking with it.

(Excellent! Any more “hows”?) By committing to a time each week to find something just for us to do and sticking with it.

(Brilliant. Um, how?) By telling him I would like for this to happen so he knows and can begin to be part of the planning process as well.

(Awesome. How?) By committing to being open to his suggestions for things to do so I can really begin to understand his interests and ideas. (How many kids can say this is “how” their father figures in their lives? Pretty amazing stuff here!)

TELL YOURSELF HOW

Choose one of your long-term goals and play the “how” game. Make a list indicating how you are going to achieve your goal. Every time you write down a “how,” ask yourself exactly how that “how” will manifest itself. Don’t let yourself off the hook so easily! Push yourself. Get specific. Demand your success!