A little bit later I was talking to a brilliant man who was struggling with the idea of writing a book. I drew a circle up on the board and asked him “what is the one thing which HAS to happen in order for your book to be completed?”

He began listing a number of things like “doing the research”, “creating an outline”, and “developing the premise”. I put three ‘x’s outside the circle and asked him the question a little bit differently:

“What is the one activity without which it is impossible for you to complete this book?”

He looked puzzled for a moment and then the light dawned.

“I need to actually write it.”

That gave us our “magic formula” for successful writing – to spend as much time as possible “inside the circle” – in this case, actually writing pages of his book.

I have since introduced this idea to a number of clients in a variety of professions, and the result is remarkably consistent – when you identify the core activity that will lead to a successful outcome and then work consistently “inside the circle” on that activity, a successful outcome is sure to follow.

Have fun, learn heaps, and work inside the circle of success!

Copyright (c) 2009 Michael Neill, author of ‘You Can Have What Your Want’. All rights reserved – read more tips at http://www.geniuscatalyst.com.

Coaching Call to Action

1. Choose an area of your work or life to explore

Examples: financial management, relationships, widget production, etc.

2. Ask yourself this question: “What is the one activity without which a successful result in this area is virtually impossible?”

Examples: In order to successfully manage your finances (at any level of success or business complexity), the three things you MUST track are what you currently have, what is coming in, and what is going out. While there are many other things you can usefully pay attention to, without those three you simply cannot get a clear financial picture.

In order to create and maintain a wonderful relationship, you MUST connect with that person in some way. No connection, no relationship.

If you are struggling with this, you may like to go through it with a colleague or group of colleagues, as sometimes the obvious answer is the most elusive one. You can also ask for help from our wonderful community of coaches and friends at the Genius Catalyst Forums.

3. Begin to focus on working and tracking that one core activity until you have successfully reached your target or outcome.

Community Involvement

Warm Welcome to West Suburban Chapter of Mass Mothers of Twins Association Attendees of Accomplishing Goals that Truly Matter

A warm welcome to our new Coaching Tip of the Week subscribers who I met at the Mothers of Twins Association meeting in Framingham last night during my program “Accomplishing Goals that Truly Matter.” I enjoyed sharing my tools for identifying what’s important to you and achieving goals that fit these priorities and participating in new openings and ideas that people experienced.

February 26, 2009
Pounce on a Project II – 2009

Last month we worked on moving a marketing plan forward, getting email in-boxes cleaned out and completing items on a procrastination list. Here are what a few folks said: