When it comes to achieving our goals, identifying the what-to's can be crucial - that is, identifying what smaller steps will lead you there, then taking them to reach your goal.
But what about the how-to's?
In one chapter of How to Change the World (one of my current morning reading books), the author describes how, in the early days of Ashoka (an organization that supports social entrepreneurs with new, paradigm-shifting ideas), they grappled with exactly what constituted a "new idea."
It turns out that the new idea is not one thing; it is a product of "how-tos." A new idea might include these considerations: How to better use local resources to solve a problem? How to overcome cultural obstacles? How to get legislation passed? How to finance an organization? How to train others to do the work? How to motivate clients and staff?
That paragraph got me thinking about how important the how-to concept is to our own individual efforts. Understanding the steps to take to reach our goals is great, but the path isn't always clear or easy. The how-to's give us some tools to help us navigate the landscape along the way.
Our own personal how-to's might give us an understanding of, for example:
- How to overcome obstacles that come up
- How to plant seeds for the future's potential
- How to create an environment that foster serendipity
- How to stay energized
None of those are specific steps along the way to reaching your goals. They're more meta-steps that help you get the most out of your journey.
When you have identified your how-to, you have a template you can apply to many different situations, which can have a simplifying effect on some of life's complexity. There are a bazillion things that could get in your way, for example, but many of them can be overcome by taking the same basic approach. It takes some of the guesswork and uncertainty out of the picture.
How do you create your how-to's? Questions are a great place to start. Take "overcoming obstacles," for example. You might ask yourself:
- How do I typically approach an obstacle?
- What problem-solving techniques work best for me?
- What questions do I need to ask any time I'm confronted with an obstacle?
- How do I identify what I need to know in order to overcome this obstacle?
- What are the resources that help me overcome obstacles?
When you have a conscious picture of how you do something, you can put less energy and time into wondering what to do and more energy and time into moving forward.
Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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