Begin With the End in Mind

I recently began a series of posts, about Stephen Covey's magnificent book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I think the discussion has proven to be somewhat timely in light of the current Republican, presidential, nominating process.

Donald Trump might be the world's greatest self-promoter. He recently claimed that his book, The Art of the Deal, is the best selling business book of all time. Click here to see the interview.

I do not mean to split hairs but that claim is false. Most people would put Covey's book in the category of business books. And, The 7 Habits has certainly sold much better than Trump's book. Covey's masterpiece has sold somewhere in the range of twenty million copies. But, I digress.

Last week I talked about the first of Covey's 7 Habits. The first habit is, “Be proactive.” If you have not read that post, click here. Today, let's talk about Covey's second habit. The second habit is, “Begin with the end in mind.”

While I have no empirical data to support this claim, I think habit number five is the second most difficult of the habits. The most difficult, if I were to guess, is this second habit. Which is quite perplexing because it sounds so simple to begin with the end in mind.

Think about it. If we were to go on a trip, we would start by deciding on our destination. We would begin with where we would end (up.) Do we want to go to Rome, or Paris, or the Bahamas? Maybe Japan or Australia. Where would we like to go? That would be the first question.

Once we know our destination it is pretty easy to find our way. It is only after we choose our destination that we consider, and plan, everything else. Things such as, what clothes to pack, will we fly or drive, and who will take care of the dog.

I guess our traveling is not that different from making a simple phone call. Have you ever just picked up the phone, and started dialing random numbers, to see where it takes you? I very seriously doubt it.

When we pick up the phone we know exactly where we are headed. Perhaps we intend to call our attorney to discuss a business or insurance matter. Knowing the end game allows us to cobble together the necessary documentation.

Back to the traveling analogy. I once heard it said that people spend more time planning a vacation than they do planning their life. At first glance, it sounded like something of a stretch. More and more I am coming to believe that it might be true.

Surely our lives are much more important than our vacations. How could it be that we spend more time planning our vacations? I think the answer to that question is one word: fear.

When we can do anything, the question of what to do can become overwhelming. What if we chose the wrong thing? This conundrum reminds me of The Omnivore's Dilemma. Have you ever read Michael Pollan's fabulous book?

The omnivore's dilemma is as follows: When we can eat just about anything, the choice of what to eat becomes very difficult. Have you ever had a hard time deciding where to go for dinner? Essentially, we are dealing with The Paradox of Choice. The more choices we have, the harder it becomes to make a choice.

The United States is the very embodiment of freedom. In America, we are free to do just about anything we want. Which sounds really great. And, it is. The problem is the opportunity costs. The problem is the paradox of choice.

When it comes to the end-game, the number of options available to us is virtually unlimited. But, again, the problem is, what if we make a mistake? What if we pursue the wrong path? What if we find out that we do not like the path we have chosen? Or, what if we discover we have little chance of success?

To cope with this existential anxiety many people avoid the question of where they hope to end up. What a lot of people do is stay extremely busy. And, they use that whirlwind of activity as a proxy for feelings of being valuable and important.

Covey said, "It's incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall." As intimidating as it may be, it is vitally important that we step back to properly place our ladders.

There is an interesting question that asks, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" Without explicitly saying it, that question is meant as a device to deal with fear. Right? When we plan a vacation, we do not waste time worrying about failure. However, when we plan our lives we do.

Covey recommends that we all write personal mission statements. What is your mission in life? What do you want to be remembered for? Pretty intimidating stuff, isn't it? All the more reason to start working on your answers today.

The great thing about entrepreneurship is that we get to have mulligans. We get do-overs. While, we only get to one life, we can build many businesses.

When deciding to start a business it is critically important to being with the end in mind. Where do you want to drive your ship? What is your vision? The good news is, at least in America, you can completely screw up, and you still get the chance to try again.  

If you wish to hit the bull's eye you must see the target. This is a huge part of what effectiveness is all about. As Peter Drucker said, efficiency is doing things right, it is the busy-ness part of the equation. Effectiveness, is doing the right things.

Please do not allow yourself to confuse activity/efficiency with effectiveness. Just because you are busy does not mean you are making progress towards your goals. You might be off-track. But, you will never know that until you are certain about your destination.

Begin with the end in mind. Start today. And, always remember what George Bernard Shaw said, “If you take too long in deciding what to do with your life, you'll find you've done it.”