How To Stay Afloat Whey You’re “Swimming In It”

What’s the last thing you started without knowing how it was going to end?

Probably not at the hair stylist, or when you’re booking a vacation, or once you’ve committed to an expensive home renovation.

In those moments, starting with the end in mind comes easy. Skip it and you might walk out with a mullet, headed to a city you have zero interest in, or come home to a house that still doesn’t feel like it’s yours.

But what do you do for the moments where the end isn’t as clear, and the pressure is already on?

This is where it gets harder to consistently start with the end in mind, and where we tend to get stuck in a few familiar ways.

A Hard Habit To Master

When something unexpected happens we can suffer momentary amnesia. And as we try to find our bearings, it’s easy to forget our original objective.

Or when someone comes in with their hair on fire, our instinct can be to tackle whatever problem is in front of us instead of tackling with the end in mind.

Then there is the problem of starting a new thing without ever finishing the full picture of our current project. Without the satisfaction of reaching a desired end and evaluating the result, it’s easy to move from project to project without finishing any of them.

The consistent practice of starting with the end in mind works, whether you’re mid-crisis, stuck reacting instead of thinking ahead, or can’t seem to finish what you start.

Mark’s Cue

My client, Mark, has a phrase for when the pressure is on.

“I’m swimming in it,” he’ll say.

It means the picture of where he’s headed has gone cloudy, usually because something unexpected knocked him off course. I’ve learned that phrase is my cue.

When I hear it, I ask the question: What do you want this to look like when this situation is wrapped?

Reorienting him to the bigger picture for his business is the life raft he needs.

Marie’s Shift

My client, I’ll call Marie, was so good at handling the tough moments that it earned her a reputation for being reactive rather than strategic. When we started working together, changing that reputation was her goal.

My advice was simple: start with the end in mind.

By our next session, she was delighted with what had happened.

Thinking of the end before she sprang into action gave her the pause she needed.  She could see the ripples and make adjustments to her plan before she started.

Voilà. Strategic thinking engaged.

My Own Mantra

I really embraced the idea of starting with the end in mind decades ago. It is Habit #2 in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

It’s become a mantra to me as I face each new decision as a business owner, parent, partner, and just a well-intentioned human. It is a simple reminder for this self described “starter” (and reluctant finisher) to also imagine what it will look like and feel like to finish well.

💡 Try This

Next time you’re stuck, whether that’s swimming, reacting, or starting thing number four, ask the question before anything else…

What do I want this to look like when it’s done?

Say it out loud! You already do this without thinking for a haircut. It’s worth the same thirty seconds for the thing that actually matters.

What are you swimming in right now, and what would it take to describe the shore?

To knowing where you’re headed,
Laurie

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