How to eat a five hundred pound marshmallow

"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

                                    Peter Drucker

The vast gorge that lies between noble intent and significant achievement is, of course, quite real, and widely documented.  Lofty goals are commonplace.  Noteworthy achievement?  Not so much.  And this is particularly true for entrepreneurs and their ambitious startup plans.

Many years ago one of my friends presented me with a clever metaphor that I have since used on a regular basis.  Speaking about one particular challenge, he said, "This is like a five hundred pound marshmallow.  I can't even get a firm grip on it, let alone eat it.  But if I chop it up into bite sized pieces, I can at least make some progress." 

It seems to me that the vast gorge between intent and achievement might be addressed in the same manner.  So - I hereby offer a simple experiment that you may perform in the comfort and security of your own office. 

How to eat a five hundred pound marshmallow...

Commit to specific, short-term, relevant actions that are obvious and powerful pre-requisites to lofty outcomes, rather than to the outcomes themselves.  Hold the outcomes in mind, of course.  But focus on the actions, one at a time.  Select one.  Complete it.  Review your situation.  Determine what the next most relevant action should be, and take it.  Repeat as needed.

Example.  Don't resolve to increase sales by $1,000,000. 

Instead, visualize your business as vibrant and prosperous, larger than it is today, with more clients, placing larger orders.  Then execute one specific, measurable, immediate, relevant action on the path to that prosperity.  Perhaps it might be to make five prospect calls today.  After those five calls are made, assess the fresh information.  The next most useful action might be to make five more calls; or it might be to compose a new introductory pitch; or it might be to lower prices by 10%.

Bonus: every time you actually complete one of those relevant actions, you get an accomplishment boost, a nice recharge for your Moxie.

So, remember the old English proverb, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."  Transform your vision into meaningful action.

P.S.  This system also works for New Year's Resolutions.

Comments

[violette]

I love this article....thank you so kindly for posting it. I always ask myself "How do you eat an elephant?" when i'm overwhelmed.......but the marshmallow analogy makes me smile more!

Love, Violette

[Jim Flowers]

Violette,

I'm not sure, but I suspect that a marshmallow tastes better than an elephant.

Jim