|
By Christine Cowan-Gascoigne
I had to go to business school and get a master's degree to learn some of the most effective
tools for managing my life.
What a shame! And, even worse, it took 15 years after that to realize that the same tools that
could help me climb the corporate ladder could also help me be a better friend, sister, colleague and mom.
I'm talking about goal-setting, the ability to set measurable, objective goals, reasonable
deadlines for their accomplishments and time (presumably after the deadline) to evaluate the results.
Sound simple? It should because it is. You - yes you - can begin today to reduce the
chaos and stress in your life. The trickiest part is setting yourself down to do it the first time.
Once you've overcome that barrier, invariably the results are so impressive that you eagerly
do it again.
Here's a guide to taking the plunge.
- Step 1: Identify issues that are important to you, not your friends, co-workers, husband, children or
boss, and concentrate on these first. An example might be spending more quality, one-on-one time with your children.
- Step 2: Develop goals that are both positive and specific. The most motivating goals are ones
that you both can and want to visualize yourself accomplishing.
For instance, the goal to "quit being an absentee parent" is hard to visualize, difficult to convert to action, impossible
to measure and reminds you of something you'd just as soon forget - that you have been an absentee parent.
On the other hand, the goal "I will spend a minimum of 2 hours (or whatever suits you) each week alone with each of my
children" is both positive and specific.
You can see yourself doing it and, unlike the goal in Step 1 of "spending more quality, one-on-one time with each child,"
it tells you how much is enough. Imagine what a relief it is to you and to everyone to have consciously, explicitly decided
how much is enough. Peace of mind begins to replace guilt and stress.
- Step 3: Schedule the activities to meet your goal (e.g. 2 hours for each child each week) into your calendar extending
out a minimum of 90 days, and allow nothing to interfere with that time (short of a life-or-death emergency).
- Step Step 4: Establish a date and time 90 days hence to evaluate your performance, revise the goal if necessary
and establish steps for the next 90 days to keep you and your family managing life with maximum fulfillment.
It doesn't take an M.B.A. Trust me.
Cowan-Gascoigne is founder and president of The Leadership Co., a Cleveland
consulting firm. She was formerly an executive at the Cleveland Clinic and a consultant with McKinsey & Co.
This
article was originally printed in The Business of Running a Family in the Family Times of Northeast Ohio in May 1994 and in
the Women's Work column in the Business section of The Plain Dealer on Sunday, September 4, 1994.
|
