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Three Ways to Respond to the Progress
You’ve looked at forward data. You’ve studied backward data, too, but what if
the numbers aren’t where you’d like them to be?
This is what I call a “perfectionism pause” moment. Perfectionism loves to
stop you midway through a goal. Why do 92 percent of resolutions fail? Because
after doing something like gathering data, all those goal setters thought they
were done. But data you collect and don’t use is useless.
What if you collected data and the results aren’t what you were hoping for?
That’s why a lot of people quit. They give in to disappointment and unmet
expectations.
If you’re unhappy with your progress, you have three different dials you can
adjust.
1. The goal
2. The timeline
3. The actions
The goal is your finish line, what you set out to accomplish when you started
this project. For Jason, the dieter who wanted to lose weight because an elderly
relative made a crack about him, the goal was the forty pounds. If you find out
you’re nowhere near hitting your goal, you might need to turn that dial down.
Perhaps the problem was that Jason wanted to lose an unreasonable forty pounds
and was better off shooting for twenty. We have already discussed in length the
value of cutting your goal in half.
The second dial Jason, and you, have access to is the timeline. Instead of
giving himself eight weeks to see progress, he could increase that to sixteen
weeks. If his goal was stretched out over time, he could greatly increase his
chance of seeing the progress he wanted. We’ve covered that one already, too.
The third dial represents the actions you’re taking to get to the finish line.
When faced with disappointing results, Jason had the option to turn that dial. He
could increase his actions. In addition to working with a personal trainer, he
could hire a dietitian to come up with an eating plan. He could swear off caloric
rich beer and wine. He could increase the number of days he was exercising each

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rich beer and wine. He could increase the number of days he was exercising each
month.
It’s good to note that in work-related finish projects, you sometimes don’t
have access to those first two dials. When you review the results and realize
you’re not going to hit your goal, you might not have the freedom to tell your
boss, “I’m going to decrease the sales I promised to get and double my timeline!
I know we need to launch that project for the client in time for the opening of
their new hospital wing, but I’ve been messing around some with the timeline
dial, so it’s not going to happen.”
In situations like that, all of your focus and energy need to be placed on the
actions dial. You’ll have to dramatically increase your actions if you have a
finish line you must cross. Just make sure that an increase in action doesn’t come
with an increase in perfection.
In personal projects it’s easier to deal with all three dials because you’re the
one in charge.
Instead of beating yourself up, instead of misremembering how easy it was
in the past, instead of quitting, look at the three dials. Do you need to tweak your
goal, your timeline, or your actions?