“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations. You
can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the
world for yourself.”—Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to
travel space
If you are hoping to grow in the area of personal finance and
organization, it is time to be really honest with yourself about
your action style. How do you best stay on track with your goals?
Are you a planner, the kind of person who gets more done when you
set aside time each day to complete pre-determined tasks? Or are
you a crammer, the type who is more productive when you are under a
tight deadline? The basic question is: What motivates you?
Questions for Optimal Planning
Knowing your action style gives you expertise about yourself you
can use as a foundation to achieve any task, whether it is reading
a stack of loan papers or painting your children’s rooms. Begin by
selecting a specific task and making some basic observations about
it. Next, ask yourself the following questions about your action
style:
- What motivates me? (Fear, guilt, desire, hope, change, competition, etc.)
- What helps me become “unstuck” when I am having difficulties getting started on a project or task? (Brainstorming, delegating, friend and family intervention, incentives, etc.)
Now ask yourself these follow-up questions to determine how to move forward:
- How can I best motivate myself to begin this task based on my action style?
- What are five things that I can do to move forward in completing this task?
Task: I want to organize my garage.
Observation: I notice that this task does not move off of my to-do
list.
What motivates me? I am most motivated when I feel excited by a
project and know all the steps required to complete it.
What helps me become unstuck? When I have trouble getting started,
it helps to fantasize about how the project might look and feel
once it is complete. I also find it useful to brainstorm freely
about all the steps necessary to complete this task and recruit
friends or family willing to help out. (The project seems far less
daunting when it is broken down into smaller tasks and the work is
shared.)
How can I best motivate myself based on my action style? I can
spend fifteen minutes breaking down the project into itemized
actions in a to-do list.
What are five things that I can do to move forward in this
specific task?
1. Spend fifteen minutes brainstorming and creating a to-do list
for this project.
2. Admire the neighbor’s beautifully organized garage to gain some
inspiration and become excited about how great my own garage can
look.
3. Congratulate the neighbor on doing such a wonderful job in
keeping her garage clean and organized, and imagine how proud I
would feel if I could do the same.
4. Include my husband/partner/neighbor/friend in my plan to
organize the garage.
5. Set aside some time and complete five items on my to-do
list.
Now you have an action plan to motivate you to begin your task and
guide you through it. Take five steps forward and keep the momentum
going! Once you know what gets you started and what keeps you
driven, you can act efficiently to tackle each item on your to-do
list, one step at a time.
