Infallible way of achieving a goal revisited

Infallible way of achieving a goal revisited

Today I am revisiting the infallible way of achieving a goal.   This because a friend of mine has been dealing with a problem that turned out to be so complex that there was a need for considerable and confusing break down of the task.
It is well known that if you need to eat an elephant you eat it one bite at a time.  This is the essence of this way to approach a problem too.  Breaking down a multiple faceted problem is not straightforward. It is a bit like fractals for it is an ever-increasing succession of mini goals.
There are main questions to ask yourself:

What do I want specifically. Is it in my control?  What is stopping me from achieving it?  What must I do to achieve it?

Initially you need to know precisely what you want to achieve.   I will be using my friend’s problem as the example.  
He has a piece of land that he wishes to sell.  It is as simple as that.
To have something to work towards, the first thing to do, if you want to be sure to achieve what you want to achieve, is to create an explicit, colourfu,l moving image in your mind, of having achieve your goal.  This can be referred to all through the process as a reminder of what your result will be.   It is worth doing I assure you!
 In this example the land for sale is a distance from where he lives.  He has discovered that someone has annexed his land and put up fences on part of the land, and built a small brick built shed too. All without permission.  Meanwhile the rest of the land has been used for fly tipping.
Immediately there are two major problems to solve: retrieving the annexed land and clearing the fly tipping.  
The problem is no longer ‘I want to sell the land’.  He needs to express what he wants more specifically:   ‘I need to have found an auctioneer, retrieved the ‘stolen land, cleared the remaining  land and completed it by 31^st December 2025.

Is it in his control?    i.e What will it cost in money, time and relationships?  He needs to ask himself these questions and be honest with himself about all the consequences. 


 The Three main separate goals that have emerged so far are: 

• He needs to find a seller.
• He needs to retrieve the stolen land
• He needs to clear the fly tipping.

Goal one:  The action is comparatively easy. Find an auctioneer.  Having done research, he can find the best available seller. This entails a few emails and phone calls. It may, however, be wise to approach a seller after the land has been retrieved and cleared.
Goal two: “I need to retrieve the  annexed land.  Within two months.”
This is a new sub goal.  So again, he creates an image in his mind of having successfully retrieved the land.  This he can refer to as he proceeds.
What is entailed?  Is it in his control?

• Get the contact details of the annexure
• Formally contact the annexure with a specific requirement. (this can be used in the future if it is necessary to take legal action)
• He needs to decide how to do this: through a solicitor or on his own?

This latter becomes the next iteration of the ‘fractal’ – how to achieve the retrieval.   He decides to go through a solicitor.
New goal: I wish to achieve a retrieval of the land in the through a solicitor within two months’   – and again he needs to create an image in his mind of having achieve this goal in the stated time and method.
His original goal may need to be changed for it is unlikely that it will be achieved before the end of 2025 if the law is involved!
Having set this procedure in motion he can turn to the disposal of the fly tipping.
A comparatively easy activity one might think.  However, he encountered problems.   He created the goal ‘I will clear the land of fly tipping debris within two months.   (He duly produced an image in his mind of having achieved this.)
What had to be achieved:

• Contact skip providers
• Find someone to help with the clearing

He discovered that no skip provider would supply him because the access to the land is only 7ft wide and the delivery lorries are 10ft wide!  (The debris is around 100 metres from the road).
So his goal to clear the land of fly tipping debris within two months might also have to be extended for it is not in his control – yet. Now he needs to do research to establish how the get rid of the fly tipping – and then set another goal.
What I am attempting to exemplify is that when achieving a large project it is necessary to constantly break down the action every step of the way, and ensure that the relevant questions are asked over and over again:

• What is it I want to achieve specifically?
• What will be the consequences of my achieving this goal?
• Is it in my control?  What is stopping me?
• What action must I take?

Despite the apparent complexity of this continual breakdown, it is worth constantly asking yourself these questions and creating new goals so you can keep track of what you need to be doing to achieve your final goal.   If you do this, and can overcome all the obstacles, you WILL achieve what you want to achieve.