The Power to Get Things Done

1. Follow-through is crucial for success in business and life

Without the ability to follow through, failure is pretty much a sure thing.

Follow-through determines success. The ability to consistently do what you intend, even when you don't feel like it, is a critical skill for achieving goals in business and life. Many people have great ideas and intentions but struggle to execute them. This gap between intention and action often leads to missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential.

Consequences of poor follow-through:

• Unfinished projects and unrealized goals
• Decreased productivity and effectiveness
• Damaged reputation and lost credibility
• Missed business opportunities and revenue
• Increased stress and frustration

Developing strong follow-through skills allows you to turn your good intentions into concrete results, positioning you for greater success in your career and personal endeavors.

2. Motivation alone isn't enough to overcome resistance to tasks

Your intentions—including the ones that have the greatest potential to make you successful—don't automatically stay at the top of your mind.

Motivation is fleeting. While feeling motivated can provide an initial burst of energy, it's often not enough to sustain long-term action, especially for tasks we find unpleasant or boring. Our minds are not wired to automatically prioritize important but unappealing tasks, even when we logically know they're crucial for our success.

Challenges of relying on motivation:

• Fluctuating energy and enthusiasm
• Competing priorities and distractions
• Natural tendency to avoid discomfort
• Difficulty maintaining focus on long-term goals

Instead of depending solely on willpower or motivation, successful individuals develop systems and strategies to consistently take action, regardless of how they feel in the moment. This might involve creating routines, using external reminders, or implementing accountability measures to ensure important tasks get done.

3. Create a compelling reason to act that you can feel, not just think

Make it feel necessary to do the same thing you've decided you should do.

Emotional drivers trump logic. While we may intellectually understand why a task is important, that knowledge alone often isn't enough to spur us into action. To overcome resistance, we need to create reasons to act that we can viscerally feel, tapping into our emotions and immediate desires.

Strategies to create compelling reasons:

• Set up meaningful rewards or consequences
• Visualize the positive outcomes of taking action
• Connect the task to deeply held values or goals
• Create artificial deadlines or commitments to others

For example, rather than just thinking "I should make sales calls," you might set up a system where you donate money to a cause you dislike if you don't meet your daily call quota. This creates an immediate, emotional reason to follow through that's more powerful than abstract long-term benefits.

4. Make it harder to violate your intentions and easier to follow through

Make it harder to violate your intention and easier to do what you intend to do.

Leverage environmental design. By strategically altering your environment and routines, you can reduce the willpower required to follow through on intentions. This approach recognizes that humans naturally gravitate towards the path of least resistance, so making desired behaviors easier and undesired behaviors harder can significantly impact your actions.

Techniques to shape your environment:

• Remove temptations and distractions
• Place necessary tools and reminders in plain sight
• Use technology to automate or prompt desired actions
• Create physical barriers to undesired behaviors

For instance, if you want to avoid snacking, keep unhealthy foods out of the house and stock up on healthy alternatives. If you want to exercise more, lay out your workout clothes the night before. These small changes can make a big difference in your ability to follow through consistently.

5. Use strategic pressure and urgency to drive action

Sometimes the best way to get yourself to go forward is by removing the opportunity to go backward.

Harness productive pressure. While excessive stress can be paralyzing, a strategic amount of pressure can be highly motivating. By creating situations that make it feel necessary to act, you can overcome procrastination and push through resistance to important tasks.

Methods to create productive pressure:

• Make public commitments or announcements
• Set non-negotiable deadlines with consequences
• Use accountability partners or groups
• Create situations where backing out is difficult or embarrassing

For example, you might schedule an important presentation to force yourself to complete a project, or pay for a non-refundable training session to ensure you follow through on learning a new skill. These self-imposed pressures can provide the extra push needed to take action.

6. Break down dreaded tasks into non-threatening steps

Avoidance prevents you from building the routine or habit that would eventually make it easier for you to do what you intend to do.

Start small to build momentum. When facing tasks that feel overwhelming or unpleasant, breaking them down into tiny, non-threatening steps can help overcome initial resistance. By committing to just the easiest part of a task, you often build enough momentum to continue, making the overall job feel more manageable.

Strategies for breaking down tasks:

• Identify the smallest possible first step
• Commit only to starting, not finishing
• Remove all pressure to achieve a specific outcome
• Gradually increase the scope of your commitment

For instance, instead of committing to "organize the entire office," you might start with "spend two minutes sorting one desk drawer." This approach helps build positive habits and routines around dreaded tasks, making them easier to tackle over time.

7. Leverage external accountability and support to boost follow-through

It may feel good to get unconditional support, but unconditional support probably won't help you follow through.

Enlist outside help. While internal motivation is important, external accountability can provide a powerful boost to follow-through. By involving others in your goals and commitments, you create additional pressure and support to take action, even when your internal motivation wavers.

Ways to create external accountability:

• Join mastermind or accountability groups
• Hire a coach or mentor
• Use apps or services that track and report progress
• Partner with a friend or colleague for mutual support

When choosing accountability partners or methods, look for those that will actually hold you to your commitments, rather than just offering unconditional encouragement. The most effective support combines empathy with firm expectations and consequences for not following through.

8. Develop and actively manage a portfolio of intentions

Every good intention deserves its own follow-through plan.

Treat intentions like valuable assets. Just as you would manage a portfolio of financial investments, it's crucial to actively track and manage your intentions. This involves regularly reviewing your commitments, assessing their importance and feasibility, and developing specific strategies to ensure follow-through on each one.

Components of intention management:

• Regularly catalogue and prioritize your intentions
• Develop tailored follow-through plans for each intention
• Periodically review and adjust strategies as needed
• Celebrate successes and learn from failures

By treating your intentions as valuable assets worthy of careful management, you increase the likelihood of turning them into concrete actions and results. This systematic approach helps ensure that your most important goals and commitments don't get lost in the shuffle of daily life and competing priorities.

Last updated: November 3, 2024