Today’s guest blogger is Mary Kay Inc.’s Chief Marketing Officer, Sheryl Adkins-Green. Sheryl shares her thoughts with us about losing ‘wait’ for 2012.
Like many others, I waited until January 1st to put my New Year resolutions into effect. On New Year’s Day, however, I had an "aha moment" and asked myself, “Why did I feel the need to wait until January to take action? Why am I postponing progress?”
Just like athletes crave the perfect weather and playing conditions to play their best game, it’s human nature to feel that we do our best under the best conditions. So often we wait for a good time, better time or even the best time to pursue a goal, change a habit, or perhaps resolve an issue. The problem is that if we wait long enough, we realize that we’ve waited too long. Did you ever notice the time frame between “It’s not the right time” and “Hmmm, I’ve waited too long” is incredibly short?
How ironic that we wait for time, yet as we know, time waits for no one. And as Benjamin Franklin said, “Lost time is never found again.” Like many of you, there have been times in my life when it seemed like a great idea to wait for the right time. In actuality, we often do our best or achieve the most under less than ideal conditions or even, at times, adverse conditions.
So my New Year’s resolution became “Lose the wait!” It dawned on me that I don’t need to hear my favorite song on the radio or find a four-leaf clover in order for it to be a good day to pursue a goal that’s important to me. What I do need is to just get started. Instead of thinking “I’ll wait and see,” my motto is now, “Just start and see how far I go!” So, I’m losing WAIT, and replacing it with S.T.A.R.T.:
• S= Start smaller to achieve bigger. In other words, I break my goal down into manageable and achievable segments, instead of a big chunk that will overwhelm me.
• T= Target a specific time each day to work on my goal, even if it’s only 30 minutes. I literally schedule it. I make an appointment with me and I keep it!
• A= Ask for help and accept help. So often, we’re so busy doing for others that we feel that we can’t or shouldn’t ask for help. Yet we all have at least one friend or family member who is willing and able to support our goal. We just need to ask!
• R= Reward my progress. It’s important to celebrate each success along the way, no matter how small. Plus, who doesn’t love a reason to get a new pair of shoes?
• T= Treat time as my most precious resource and make every minute count.
I’m also starting each day with a motivational quote regarding the value of time and losing “wait.” So with tomorrow being Leap Day tell me what you are going to do with the extra day you have this year? How are you losing "wait?"