Focus Point of the Week: Inventory Taking
By Bruce Burke and Will Sunner
Over the Holiday season we discussed the importance of “Goal Setting” and “Connecting the Short-Term with the Long-Term”. This week’s Focus Point, “Inventory Taking”, provides us with a tool to stay on track and succeed.
Inventory taking is a regular and honest examination of our efforts and habits in both our personal (relationships, health, etc.) and professional life roles.
It is a proactive process that helps us identify if we are on track to attaining our goals or coming up a little short…and doing so in a timely manner. It allows us to either feel good about our direction or make necessary changes to our behavior without experiencing the consequences of wrong assumptions, bad habits, procrastination or lack of initiative.
So how do we inventory? Start by creating inventory questions that relate to the strategies you have developed to achieve your goals. For example, if the goal is to get a raise at work, ask yourself:
- Do I know what management expects of me?
- Do I have the tools to succeed?
- Is the criterion for success clear?
- On a weekly basis, am I meeting that criterion?
If the goal is to make your health a top priority, go through the same process:
- Is my strategy for success well defined; is it reasonable?
- Do I have the tools to succeed?
- Am I implementing my strategy successfully, or letting the same old roadblocks sabotage my efforts?
If the answer is “no” to an inventory question, you must dig deeper, determine why, and create new strategies. When the answer is “yes”, you must ask yourself a final, very important question…”how do I know?” . This often means getting someone else involved.
Making assumptions, setting the bar too low or simply “not knowing what you don’t know” makes asking this question the most important part of the process. For example, you might think you are meeting the criteria for a raise, but how do you know? The answer is pretty simple…ask your boss! That will allow you to either know you are on track and proceed with confidence or make the changes necessary to succeed. Don’t assume anything and don’t leave being successful to chance.
Inventory as often as you decide is necessary to be successful. If you are succeeding with goals or issues you are inventorying weekly, you can probably begin to inventory those items monthly or quarterly.
Don’t start the year fast out of the gates only to slip back into bad habits. Inventory your behavior and ensure success in achieving your goals!
