Evan Renaerts

On Time

January 26, 2008

The past week in Vancouver has been cold, clear and sunny. Today is gray and cold and the weather people are talking of snow. In my neighbours back yard the daffodils are three inches above ground, and so this is a typical winter-into spring transformation process.

I have been noticing that almost all of my clients have started the new year focussing on time-management issues. The two primary components are: looking ahead to see what is possible and what needs to be done yet, and following-through to insure that whatever is initiated is also completed in good order and in good time.

In leadership language these categories are referred to as visioning, planning and execution and all three need to be engaged and balanced. No individual, business or organization is likely to succeed without a vision – the picture, set of goals or dream that pulls them forward.

It can seem to some that they have never had a clear vision and yet still managed to come out on top. When we look closer, however, we see that even these people have some picture or dream that they have been living for and that has unconsciously guided choices and directions.

Where vision is concerned it is sadly true that an unconscious negative dream is equally capable of drawing us toward unpleasant outcomes – we “succeed” at creating what we don’t want (but what we do believe in).

To powerfully enact a vision in life we need to dream it, talk it, write about it and then plan for it. Many of the creative people I meet resist the planning part because it feels to them as though they will be limiting their creativity. The exact opposite is true, as long as they can remember that the plan they make is intended to serve them and not the other way around.

Creating a plan that serves us means that we always know where we are in relation to all those details that make up our busy lives. We know where we are, we have a clear sense of where we are going and the steps needed to take us there, and when we get there we will know that we have arrived – succeeded.

The knowledge that we are managing all the various aspects of our lives and businesses frees us from anxiety about what we have forgotten to do. Many people I meet live with a constant sense that some critical thing they have forgotten to do is about to overwhelm them. It’s easy to see how exhausting that way of living is and how thoroughly it can choke creativity.

When we finally understand how important and how liberating it is to live plan-ful lives we are still left with the issue of follow-through. To “get the job done” we have to stay on top of the tasks and take them to each next logical step all the way through to completion.

Establishing a habit pattern of execution (follow-through) in our lives and in our businesses is the single most potent way of guaranteeing our successes and our peace of mind. Convert this behaviour to a motto and it might read: Think it, Say it, Do it.

The other important piece of this is the principles and motivations underlying all our visions and plans and actions – but that’s another story.

Evan Renaerts
604 314 0835
evan@evanrenaerts.com