Here’s a classic case of Good guy vs Bad guy: Intentions vs Behaviors.
Intentions are, of course, the good guy. Behaviors, the bad.
We begin each year, month, day with intentions about how we will spend our time and how we will behave. We end each year, month, day with behaviors that have diverged from those intentions.
That’s because intentions don’t equal behaviors.
We want to do things differently and sometimes – often – we do. If we are attentive, we can catch ourselves quickly when we revert to old patterns. When we are stressed, busy, distracted, it’s harder.
I know you are stars at setting intentions but how can you keep those behaviors on track?
Ensure that the intention is truly important to you and then debrief your actual behaviors frequently. For example, after a meeting, at the end of each day, spend just a few minutes on “How did I do? Why was I successful (or not)? What do I need to do again – or do differently – next time?”
Then, from time to time, look for patterns that you can influence on a bigger picture level.
Gaining incrementally more effectiveness from our behaviors is definitely worth a few minutes of debrief each day.
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