What’s important at the grocery store is just as important in engines or medical systems.
If the customer isn’t satisfied, if the stuff is getting stale,
if the shelf isn’t right, or if the offerings aren’t right, it’s the same thing.
You manage it like a small organization.
You don’t get hung up on zeros.
– Jack Welch
Today we continued to transform you from just being results-oriented to also being systems-oriented. (As a reminder, you will still focus on being results-oriented once you wrap your head around a system-for-success-type of focus so you can ensure the attainment of whatever goal you have.)
STARTING OUT: THINKING ABOUT THE PROCESS RATHER THAN THE PRODUCT
Let’s begin with an important concept that you’ve probably not really considered before – without YOU you can’t have success. YOU are the one who determines what success means at any given time. And YOU are the one who has to do something to make that success happen.
That means what YOU do is the foundational element to all success.
If you’re ever going to have consistent and sustainable achievement, you have to develop a system for success that works for YOU.
And here’s the real profound secret to all this . . . because it’s all about YOU, there isn’t a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all approach to a system for success. Rather, this is all about finding out what works for you and how you do that success. From there it’s simply a matter of being mindful to the system you need to adhere to and following the steps.
SYSTEMS WILL GET YOU THE SUCCESS YOU WANT
This quote from Michael Basch, a founding officer of FedEx, says it well: “Ordinary people working with extraordinary systems deliver extraordinary results.” I like to paraphrase it like this, though: “Extraordinary systems used with extraordinary purpose will make anyone extraordinary. The results will follow.”
What does this all mean for you? If you want to change your results, change the way you get them.
If I could sit down with you and immerse you in the reprogramming for your success, most of the time we would essentially be creating and embedding “if-then” commands. There would be a whole bunch of conditional constructs that go like this: “IF this [whatever event you might imagine] happens, THEN I will do this [whatever action you want to happen] or ELSE I will do this [whatever alternative action you will take if the imagined event does not happen].”
With this simplistic system, you quickly learn that you can program yourself to respond to challenges in a way that furthers your bigger goal. This subtle program takes you from being re-active to pro-active. I wonder how many of you have ever actually done this: sitting down and actually programming now you will specifically and powerfully and meaningfully respond in a variety of situations. I can tell you that most of the people I encounter simply react to what they view as the uncertainty and whims of Life. That makes them – and perhaps you – the pawns of those who know what they want. I don’t think this latter scenario is the way you really want to go through life.
YOUR JOB IS TO FIND THE RIGHT SYSTEM THAT WILL GUARANTEE YOU THE OUTCOMES YOU WANT
Then, and only then, is it time to actually implement your master plan.
The formula is easy: ENVISION. PROCESS. EXECUTE.
I promise you that, if you will just obsessively follow this formula, you will FEEL BETTER. And . . . you’ll start seeing the results and impact and significance that you desire.
But you have to take the time to fathom out what the right system is for you. So, again, look back over your life and make a list of those things you do that bring you the best results or the best returns on your investment of time, energy, and money. Then, deconstruct what you did in the past and turn that into your own personal success system.
SIX SIMPLE STEPS TO SYSTEMATIZE YOUR LIFE (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SANITY OR BEING TOO RIGID)
If you still need a little help figuring out what the right system for you might be, here’s a possible outline for you to expand upon:
1. Write down what you want to achieve. Not the little day-to-day victories. What’s your one Big Hairy Audacious Goal (from James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1994 book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies)
2. Compare where you are with where you want to be. Be brutally honest. Really dig and find the gap that exists between now (where you are) and then (what you wrote down in Step 1). This is the gap that exists for you.
3. Give your monster a name. Ask yourself: What’s keeping me from having what I want right now? There’s something (or someone) keeping you from having what you want most in life. What is it? Until you give a name to your monster, it will control you.
4. Fill in the blank. If I could be, do, and have anything I want to destroy what’s keeping me from having what I want, this is what it would be: ______________________________
5. Brainstorm ways to destroy your obstacles. Again, take careful and complete notes of the system you need to put in place (the strategy and tacts you must follow) to eliminate your nemesis.
6. Fix the gap by implementing your system. Don’t just mind the gap. Don’t just give your gap lip service. And certainly don’t ignore it (if you do that, it will eventually gain on you and bite you in the butt on the way). You’re going to ACT. You have to carry out the plan you have devised step-by-step.
7. Reassess where you are and what you want. Every time you make a decision or achieve a smaller goal, your bigger goal (what you want to achieve) might change. Be ready to start with Step 1 every step of the way.
As Ian Malcom said, “Life finds a way.” Now you can, too!
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SCOTT GROSSBERG thinkingmagically.com 
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