Thoughts

How to Get Past the 95%

Look at this:
95_tree
I had one job to do today and it was to take down the Christmas decorations. I worked for hours taking down light, putting away garland, and taking down ornaments and yet this thing remains. As you can see it is not even a full Christmas tree, it’s 2/3rds of a tree. The problem is more than the fact that I cannot get the 2 remaining parts of my artificial tree to come apart. The problem is that my goal is 95% complete.

Many times we start projects or set goals only to get stalled for one reason or another with just a little bit left to go. In the case of my 2/3rds tree, it is a blatant reminder (standing in the middle of my living room) that my goal is not completed. But I imagine, like most uncompleted tasks, that after a while of it standing there clear as day, it’s eyesore will start lessening. This is because eventually I will be tempted to be resigned to the fact that it will be standing there uncompleted. I will start to just incorporate it into my living room decor. People will ask me about it and I will make excuses to why it’s still standing there. I will be lying to myself.

The issue is not in the 5% of my job that is yet to be completed. The problem is not obsessing over its completion.

So how can I get this project done? Here are 3 ways you can avoid the dreaded stall at the 95% and finish your project or achieve your goals in 2013.

1. Find someone to hold you accountable

I would be a whole lot lazier if it weren’t for my wife who holds me accountable to things. This would be no exception. She will constantly remind me to figure out a solution and when I come up blank (I routinely do) she will advise me on her solutions. Last week, as I stated my 2013 goals I offered a contest prize to meet with someone quarterly to hold each other accountable. The winner was Morgan Siem and I am looking forward to meeting with her throughout the year. This is something that resonated with a lot of people and for good reason. Goals are more easily achievable when you answer to someone else than just yourself.

2. Identify the hurdle. Then jump over it.

Identify what exactly is the reason for the stall in your progress. In my case it is 2 fold: the pieces don’t easily come apart and I don’t know exactly where the 2 pieces come together. I have researched online the problem and have read other examples of this happening and read the solutions. We have also contacted the manufacturer and have asked for specific measurements of the length of the pieces so we may focus our efforts int he right place. Once you force yourself to identify the real specific hurdle you can make plans to jump over it.

3. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.

George Santyana famously wrote in 1905: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Once I fix my issue this year I’ll be damned if my pieces stick next year. I plan to mark the edges of the pieces and to WD-40 these suckers before sticking them together again.

Don’t let your progress get stalled. And don’t settle for 95%. Has this happened to you? How have you pushed through and achieved your goals?

Gregory Ng

GOAL: Visit 100 National Parks as a family by 2020. Favorite Parks: Zion National Park, Mt Rainier National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park

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