What Needs to Get Done (WNTGD)

[urlwolf]

http://www.lifehack....y-wntgd-instead.html

I think this post was very good. We try to clear out as may items as possible from our lists without considering what are the really important ones.

[mouser]

yes this is a big issue that is missing from many of these systems.

[brownstudy]

yes this is a big issue that is missing from many of these systems.

-mouser (September 17, 2006, 01:33 PM)

I think Forster or Allen would say that their systems will help you get the stuff done that you want to get done, but the person implementing the system has the responsibility for monitoring and knowing if they're doing the right tasks. I think precisely because it's a big issue, that it's tackled in tons of other goal-setting books and articles.

mike

[nudone]

sounds good, brownstudy.

care to share the names of the books?

[brownstudy]

Well, here's a tinyurl link to Amazon, with "goal-setting" as the search term:

http://tinyurl.com/orrdc (hope that works)

I think Barbara Sher's book WISHCRAFT is cited quite often, and just Google "setting goals" and you'll see the basic SMART framework pop up all over the place. After you've read about 4 or 5 of these articles in a row, you see the same things repeated: set measurable objectives, set deadlines, make sure the goal is achievable, etc. The basic concepts become the vocabulary other writers use when writing on the same topic.

The value to me of Forster's second book is that he doesn't focus on SMART to begin with; instead, he uses methods from Robert Fritz's book THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE to help one create the initial vision of what you want to achieve. In Mark's latest newsletter, he does talk about the value of using measures to monitor where you are and where you're going, but it's not the focus of his second book, which I think is more about giving the reader some basic tools to get them started.

HTH -- meb

[momonan]

The book I have used for many years (although have sagged for some of the time) is Stephen Covey's "First Things First."  I highly value his ideas of making sure we are headed in the right direction before we take off.  He has you make out a mission statement (which takes hours) and then define areas of your life that are important to you.  No matter what else you put on your TO DO list, he reminds you not to forget those aspects of your life.

Since I'm really familiar with the ideas, I can do a review for week 4 or 5, if people think it would be helpful -- along with ways I think it could tie in with the other methods we have been trying.

[tomos]

Since I'm really familiar with the ideas, I can do a review for week 4 or 5, if people think it would be helpful -- along with ways I think it could tie in with the other methods we have been trying.

that sounds good to me.
I'm amazed so far how much what I've read (& the little I've implemented) have influenced/affected ... my awareness, I guess, of how I am & what I'm doing, what I want to do, etc.

I would like to take that a step further so would love to hear more about these ideas

[mouser]

Since I'm really familiar with the ideas, I can do a review for week 4 or 5, if people think it would be helpful

Sounds good to me too (we're talking about Stephen Covey's ideas, right?)

[momonan]

Yes.  He's also the author of the classic "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," in which I read this comment from one successful executive (upon being asked his method for taking important action):  My motto is "ready, fire, aim."

I really liked being reminded that you don't have to be entirely ready before you fire off that action.  I have seen people who spend enormous time getting ready, then can't get that "aim" exactly right, so never "fire."  It's a good reminder that you don't have to get your aim exactly right before you fire -- both because you can fine-tune the aim after you fire and because you might actually hit something unexpected that is even better than what you were aiming for.

Anyway, I'm aiming a review of these ideas for the 4th or 5th week of our experiment.  Just let me know when is the best time to fire it off so I can put it on my TODO list to finish up.