I have always been a “big picture” person, focusing more on the macro rather than the micro aspects of life. Early in my career I heard a speaker talk about the need for strategic thinking and it really resonated with me. The biggest takeaway I got from this session was the need to think big and create your future to accomplish your vision and goals, both personally and professionally. This made me realize that preferred futures are designed, not discovered. One must think strategically and be proactive, not reactive, to make this happen.
I recently received a message from Steve Gutzler, a well-known speaker and executive leadership coach.[i] Gutzler related a story about how years ago a colleague of his had given him a similar message about creating the future by turning dreams into daily actions. Here is his framework for making that happen:
This is a useful framework for translating your long-term goals into what you can specifically do each day to make them not just possible, but real. It can be hard to do this in the context of the hurly-burly of daily life, though. There undoubtedly will be days when you cannot achieve your preferred daily actions. The danger is when those days begin to outnumber the days devoted to reaching the overall strategic goals, leading to the deferral of what is really important. It takes deep personal commitment and initiative to not let this happen.
Take the time today to sketch out your long-term dreams and your most important goal for the next five years. Then determine: what is the one thing you must do in the next year to achieve that goal, what you will do in the next month to foster success, and finally, what actions are going to do now and every day forward to kickstart your creative journey. When it comes down to it, don’t you owe it to yourself to apply this framework and create your preferred future?
[i] Steve Gutzler Leadership Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach
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