Getting to Goal - A Personal Strategy Guarantees Success

In my previous post about goals, I focused on using goals as a defined endpoint. In other words, having a clear destination that we intend to reach. As with many things though, understanding where you would like to end up is only half the task at hand. Actually getting there is the other half, and to be successful in getting to your destination you need to be as purpose driven in the journey as you are in defining that destination.

In order to achieve your goals, you need to live by a strategy.

Execution Matters

Your strategy will dictate how you execute your life. It will allow you to make individual and independent decisions in a manner that moves you closer to your goals. It enables you to accept risk where necessary, play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses and most importantly, enjoy the journey of achieving your goals. A clear strategy will allow you to act purposely, in control of your situations, as opposed to reacting instinctively to short term awareness. Whenever you find yourself reacting and not acting, you probably aren’t moving towards your goals.

Dealing With Yourself

Think of a great king preparing to do battle with a foe. Behind him, his army. He has spent months if not years preparing his troops for this day. During his training, he’s learned that they do some things very well, but are poor at others. They may have the best fitness, but lack enough cavalry. They might have great leaders, but wavering loyalty. The whole army might be sitting in a bad position; weaker than normal, or they may be on top of a hill with the best possible sight-lines.

In the same way, understanding yourself is the foundation to creating a good personal strategy. You’ll get the most out of things if you work in favour of your strengths and interests, and focus less - but at the same time be aware of - your weakness. This personal assessment process is continual, and the results vary depending on what type of environment you are currently in. Not only does it matter what you are, it matters where you are.

Dealing With Information

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.Donald Rumsfeld

This quote was ridiculed with great glee by those who figured they knew better. Although it won’t win any awards for literature, it is nonetheless an important truth. When you live strategically, you need to classify incoming information in one of the three categories that Rumsfeld refers to in order to successfully process it and act in on it.

Known Knowns are things that you are aware of: your strengths, your weaknesses, the givens of a situation. Let’s think again about our king. He knows that his army has strong infantry, but no horse support. He knows the terrain in front of him, since he can see it. He also knows that he’s got a reserve division hiding behind the next ridge.

Known Unknowns are like blank lines in a sentence. We know that something goes there, we just don’t know what it is. Our king knows that his enemy is in front of him, but he doesn’t know their size, composition or shape. Known unknowns are the things we try to react to by anticipation - the king sends riders to peer into the forests ahead, looking for answers.

Unknown Unknowns are the gotchas of life. These are the events that hit us from out of left field. Our king doesn’t know that the division hiding on the other side of the ridge has been destroyed by the main enemy force. He can’t react or anticipate this event because it doesn’t fit with the information he is receiving from his current vantage point. Unknown unknowns can only be reacted to, and never anticipated.

Strategically dealing with information means understanding the known, seeking the “need to know” and reacting to the unknown when the time comes. Understand that which you must, anticipate the things you can, and disregard the unknown until it becomes relevant.

Dealing With Individual Situations

If we understand ourselves, and we understand how to process information, we can deal with situations as they arise in a manner that is purpose driven and not haphazard. The key here is to deal with life by anticipating outcomes whenever possible. When we’re hit with too many “unknown unknowns”, we move into fight or flight mode. When this happens, we start to make individual decisions based on the fastest possible positive outcome: thinking on how to make our current situation better.

The problem is that we often lose sight of our goals and end points when we’re forced into this mode of thinking, and this becomes even more true if our goals and strategy for achieving them is poorly thought out and understood. As our king learns that the enemy is a lot closer than he thought, and he’s now down a third of his army, what action should he take? The answer depends on his goals, and his strategy to ultimately achieve those goals. If he’s attempting to crush his enemy, he may well decide to join the battle, hoping that a tired and bloodied foe is now weaker. But if his goal is to take the closest city, he may decide that it’s best to ignore the fighting and race to the unprotected treasure.

His decisions are guided by what he’s trying to gain, and how he’s already decided he wants to get there.

Focus on the Big Picture

Without a strategy, our king will make haphazard choices in reaction to the situation he is faced with, instead of controlling the situation based on his larger objectives, regardless of what is thrown at him at a given time. How you lead your life can be controlled by having a clear and concise strategy to achieve your defined goals.

There is no magic bullet that is a guaranteed winning strategy because there are no two people that are living the same lives. Your strategy should be designed by you in conjunction with your goals and expectations for life.

It’s all about acting on purpose, even in times of great doubt and uncertainty. If you can do this, you’ll be all the more successful at reaching your goals.