Think As Inc

WORK BACKWARD

November 18, 2009 on 1:57 pm | In life coaching | No Comments

There is no greater frustration than taking one approach towards your goal only to find that it doesn’t work.  You diligently adhere to your plans but the strategy was wrong to begin with.  One way to avoid this is to test your strategy by working backward from the goal.  For example, if you wish to lose ten pounds, that’s 35,000 calories.  If your strategy is to walk one mile each day and one mile at your current weight burns 100 calories, then you need 350 days or almost a year to hit your goal, provided that nothing else changes.  If your metabolism slows or you eat more or differently, then you may not hit your goal.  Your strategy may not be the right one at the outset.  Fix it now – by identifying other activities to burn more calories or by incorporating dietary changes – to have a better chance of hitting your goal later.

If your goal is a new job, note that 15% or less of jobs are filled by advertising.  Word-of-mouth or networking is the most effective method.  If you don’t know where to start, work backward.  What is your ideal job – what industry, company, department?  Who do you know in that department?  Who do you know in the company – they may be able to refer you to someone in the department?  Who do you know in that industry – to get to the company to get to the department? 

If your goal is a new career, work backward from your role models in that career.  You can’t become them overnight, but they will tell you where to start.  Find out the preceding jobs and the education background of top people in your dream career.  This reveals what type of training and experience you may need.  This saves you from going after degrees or jobs that aren’t necessary or helpful.

Save yourself from strategies doomed at the start by working backward from your goal to outline the necessary steps.  The right strategy is just as important as execution.