Adjustment – It’s a Good Thing!

Do you get heads down working toward a goal?

Do you plow ahead down the road you have envisioned to reach that goal?

Do you walk into the wind determined to reach that goal in the manner you had envisioned?

Now I am not setting this up to say that is necessarily a bad thing. But here’s the thing…

Change happens.

The real question is do you let change stop you or do you work with it to keep going? It can be quite discouraging to have things not working quite the way you had envisioned it. Do you let it paralyze you? Do you give up because it’s not unfolding the way you thought it would?

One thing to keep in mind is that goals are multi-layered. Often you will need to prioritize those layers. And these priorities may shift as time and circumstances change.

Also, in order to maximize change, you must be flexible. You must be willing to bend and sway. You are not necessarily changing the end goal you have your sites on, but you change the route to get there.

Here is an example:

I have been releasing two blogs a week. My goal is one written (usually on Tuesdays) and one video (usually on Thursdays). Well, as you read in this past Tuesday’s post, I have found myself with a bit of bronchitis. This has rendered my voice with a unique combo of being froggy and a bit squeaky. Plus I have a lovely hacking cough. Neither of these things lends itself well to video!

So I had to prioritize the elements within my goal. Was it more important for me to release two posts a week, or to release a written and a video post each week? Clearly, as you are reading this, my priority was to maintain putting content out into the world. The modality was secondary.

Since my voice and cough is quite distracting in video format, I was flexible to change my envisioned path and go ahead and write the second weekly post.

Note that these tweaks don’t need to be huge. They just need to be enough to navigate the current circumstances to keep moving forward and keep on target. Although it looks different than what I had envisioned or planned, I am still completing my goal of releasing two posts a week.

So remember:

• Accept that change is going to happen. It’s all part of the journey.
• Don’t let change discourage you or rob you of your motivation to working toward goals.
• Remain flexible to create work-arounds for any obstacle change has introduced.
• If you are stuck on what to do next, look at the elements of your goal and prioritize those. This will illuminate a direction for you to follow.

I’d love to hear how you have coped with change in working toward your goals. Please share your thoughts in the comments below!