What is Effectiveness?
Being effective is taking appropriate action in relationship to a created purpose. It is something we tend to find desirable as human beings, especially if we are interested in personal growth. It lets us get what we want and is seen as a power. In order to be more effective it is useful to understand what effectiveness is so we can align ourselves with this principle. Here are a few things to consider.
Effectiveness is never fixed. It doesn’t happen just because, it only gets to arise in relationship. “In relationship to what?” you may ask. Whatever your purpose is for the interaction. For example if your purpose is to maintain a blog, then writing a post is effective. Eating french fries would not be seen as effective because it is not aligned with the purpose for the interaction. If the purpose were to change you can see that the same actions would be seen quite differently.
The purpose is what drives the interaction. You measure your goals against the purpose and if the goals, strategies, and actions aren’t serving that purpose then change them!
Clarify The Purpose
Often the first things I will do with a *client or student when we are working on being more effective is clarify the purpose for the interaction. An unclear purpose will lead to confusion when it comes to taking appropriate action. One way to clarify the purpose is quite simple. Ask, “What is my purpose for this interaction?”
*I do online coaching. If you would like to know more click here.
Once you clarify the purpose then you can create goals and strategies to move you in that direction. One trap is that it is easy to make your goal senior to your purpose, then lose track of what you are doing. Don’t do this. Your goal must be in service of the purpose otherwise it is thrown out, dropped, or changed.
Take Committed Action
The last consideration here is once the purpose is clear and the goals are set, you must take the action necessary to be effective. Then keep taking action until the job is done. This is empowered by the principle of commitment, which means that the job gets done no matter what.
To create a small framework to help you succeed in any situation you are invited to consider the steps below. However, you should know that this is only from my perspective and if you can create something that works better for you please do so.
If you are stuck on your journey to personal growth or anything else, you can follow these steps:
- Clarify your purpose for the interaction. You can use a question like, “What is my purpose for this interaction?”
- Once that is clear the appropriate actions will likely arise. You can also ask, “What are my next steps that will serve this purpose?”
- Then you have clear next goals and steps, take action. Go do the thing you need to do.
- Keep going until the purpose is realized.
Now you know the difference between purpose, goals, action, and commitment. The strategy and goals should never be senior to the purpose. Once you have a clear purpose, the actions you need to take should arise naturally or through questioning. The rest is taking action until completion. Good luck in all your personal growth and any other endeavors. If you found this useful please consider registering for my free video course below.
Much Love,
Brendan Lea
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