“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”_Sun Tzu
How can we follow-through on our meaningful long-term goals even when we are tired, low in energy or just having a bad day?
This is the one question I intend to address in today’s article.
Staying on track and taking consistent actions towards our vision is such a challenging thing for most of us that it warrants special examination.
With a strategy that the psychologists have named as ‘Implementation Intention’ you can make the most of your day or make something out of a very negative day by deciding in advance how you will perform a certain action no matter what your inner mood happens to be.
For example: You can think ahead of something you need to do by next week, and decide that if you happen to lack the energy to do the task, instead of leaving it off completely, you can just take the minimum possible steps of progress even if it is for a few minutes.
As trivial as this might sound, cumulatively, it may be the difference between what could amount to meaningful achievement at the end of the year or vice versa.
Researchers discover that someone who plans with this mentality is far more likely to do better in achieving a goal compared to another who doesn’t care to make such a plan.
Forethought is an essential element of strategy. And strategy is the foremost factor in successful planning as the Canadian Professor of management, Henry Mintzberg does observe:
“Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point.”
So, I dare you to plan ahead to ensure your follow-through because prevention of avoidable lapses in judgment begins with a forethought.
As the saying goes, proper prior preparation prevents poor performances.
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