"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."
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"Action is the foundational key to all success."
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"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."
The businessman quoted above died in 1973 worth over $250 million (about $1.5 Billion today). He was a salesman and an excellent negotiator and a great networker.
Pablo Picasso.
His prolific output generated more than 50,000 pieces from paintings, ceramics, and sculptures. Talk about getting stuff done!
Let’s come back to his quote:
"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."
As leaders we often talk about goals and plans.
But many times, our plans do not actually fulfill our goals.
We can have both good plans and good goals and still miss the mark in our execution.
However, if we bring fervent belief and vigorous action to those plans, we have now joined up all three elements of success. What we call the universal pattern of success: VIM. This is vision, intention, and means. A recurring theme in the GSD way.
To get stuff done, we must have a vision and willful action of what we will do and won’t do (intention) with our time, talent, tools, and resources (means).
When we find ourselves aimless, or stuck or missing expectations, we may be missing one, two, or three of the required elements of success.
So we have to ask ourselves:
Do I know the vision?
Am I acting with intention (and focus and deliberate action)?
Am I applying all the means I can (time, talent, tools etc)?
Why do we do this?
We do this to create the change we seek. We do this to be the kind of person who gets stuff done. We do this to elevate our teams and collective output. We do this to calm the chaos and still the storm of ambiguity and confusion. We do this because we are the kind of people who others look to for help. We are map makers. We are guides. We are leaders.
As leaders, we must supply the vision to galvanize belief and action.
We must define the mountaintop we seek to climb. And we must instill the drive within our teams to do the hard work together.
Of course, this vision charts a course that includes areas of uncertainty and moments that require unexpected levels of effort.
Obstacles are a part of all meaningful work. We must meet the challenges head on and move through them. Not be surprised by them.
This friction and tension between vision, intention and means coming face to face with real challenges, blockers and problems is what fuels innovation and reveals new solutions. Progress accelerates. Novel ideas emerge. New ways of working or adopting new tools become obvious answers.
Through this, what we saw as our singular vision will in fact enable a wide variety of new growth, new creation, and new leverage.
We are problem solvers. We are pattern finders. We are the kind of people that figure things out. Aren’t we?
So, keep your sight fixed on your vision and continue to align around it. Do not fear obstacles and setbacks, expect them and continue through them. There are rewards on the other side if we chose to act.
I hope you’ll be encouraged and walk away with these points:
Inspiration alone is not enough - you must combine it with relentless action and hard work.
Action is the essential ingredient for all success and achievement. No action, no progress.
To realize a goal, you need a plan infused with fervent belief and vigorous action.
Vision provides purpose and direction to apply vigorous action and belief.
Obstacles and challenges are inevitable - meet them head on with resilience.
Friction between vision and reality sparks innovation and reveals new solutions.
Progress requires focusing on the vision while working through problems that arise.
As leaders, we must supply an inspiring vision and instill belief and a drive to act within our teams.
The universal pattern of success is all three must be working together; vision, intention, means
I know you.
You are incredibly talented and capable.
When you take a moment to reflect and consider this, where are you stuck? What problem or obstacle do you face that you need to lean into and get through it instead of being blocked by it? Looking at your current approach, where is the gap?
This is the GSD way.
Make every day count.
#GSD
I appreciate you,
Justin
"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." - Pablo Picasso