The hot summer has brought back memories of my childhood. When I was a youngster, I loved competing down in the river with friends to see who could tread water the longest. At that time there was serious value in those games. We built strength and fitness, we developed a competitive spirit in a healthy activity, and we grew our confidence while in the water. The intrinsic values of treading water notwithstanding, as an adult, figuratively speaking, “treading water” seems such a waste of time and energy. It illustrates staying in place while working hard to stay there. It isn’t even as progressive as swimming upstream against the current. Going nowhere while working hard, is surely worse than doing nothing and staying in the same place.
The symbolic treading of water is akin to “confusing effort with results”. In other words, trying hard is not really good enough. Working smarter, making progress and getting some results are much more rewarding than simply working hard. Working hard is certainly important, but if the hard work is only accomplishing the treading of water, its value quickly diminishes.
Have you ever had the sensation of treading water? Did it frustrate you? Perhaps you are doing so right now? If so, how does that feel? There are several colloquialisms that may describe the sensations you could be experiencing if in that situation. Descriptions such as: “shoveling against the tide; spitting into the wind and pushing the rock up the hill”. I don’t know about you, but I have felt that way a few times and never really enjoyed it.
Avoiding or breaking out of the “treading water” syndrome requires calculated and intentional effort. It must include planning, goal-setting and step-by-step execution. Sometimes difficult and/or large projects seem overwhelming and can edge or even plunge us into feeling as if treading water due to a lack of perceived progress or satisfactory results. That is why an executable plan is so important. Often the difference between getting something accomplished versus working hard without results is simply a plan or the lack thereof.
Building a plan is not as difficult as you might believe it to be. Knowing what we want to become or accomplish is the first step. After that, creating steps and action items with deadlines and success measurements is all that is needed. Those steps need to be in achievable increments so that success can be realized along the way. Success builds confidence, no matter how small the success is. A little bit of success repeated over and over again will add up to something bigger, both materially and psychologically. Before you know it, you will have completed something that if approached without a plan, may never have been finished at all.
The technical details of building a plan can range from simple to complex, but if correctly broken into incremental components will always remain simple. Simple steps provide easier attainment, more psychological value, and illustrate progress. Getting the picture? Small wins add up more quickly.
Plans provide not only visible wins, but also roadmaps that can guide or lead you to attainment. Following a plan requires thoughtfulness and focus, with focus being a key, key ingredient. Having no plan makes it hard to focus, because in truth, there is nothing concrete to focus on. Lack of focus can be a huge distraction and take the work process in an entirely different direction than intended. I use the term “tangential” from time to time. I know that word, because I have done that word. I have gone off on tangents that have taken me off the track of completing what I had set out to accomplish. It may have been easier, more fun, more interesting or more stimulating for a time, but at the end of the day, if the project is incomplete, the project is incomplete. Focus is very important.
Without a plan, how can you know if you have completed what you intended to complete? Perhaps you can, but is it what it was originally intended to be or something that evolved along the way? If so, was it really what you wanted or needed to complete or just the end of the line for this particular effort because you became tired of treading water and decided to grab the life preserver and get to dry ground? Something to think about.