Creating an Impact

When there are thousands of things to do, how can we make an impact? Any one of those things can feel meaningless, because they’ll barely move the needle. Sometimes the feeling is that we’re just spinning our wheels, or treading water, and not making any progress. And at the same time, so many things are coming at you.

Look, I get that. Things can feel like a struggle, feel chaotic, feel scattered. I feel that way too.

But there’s an open secret to creating an impact: line up your stuff. Line up at least one task today with your mission, and things will happen.

For me, the lining up goes something like this: today’s task -> week’s targets -> month’s targets -> quarterly targets -> yearly vision -> my mission. That means today’s top task is lined up with the week’s targets (1-3 targets), which are lined up with the 3-5 targets for the month, etc. If I can line things up (roughly) this way … things start to happen!

Of course, you’ll still feel scattered, you’ll still feel like you’re treading water, you’ll still feel like you’re being hit by a deluge. That doesn’t go away — it’s the feeling of chaos. The secret of creating an impact is that you can still move mountains, still create something meaningful, while feeling this way. If you line your stuff up.

It’s not magic, but it can sometimes feel like magic. I’ll have a month that feels so chaotic, so much like treading water … and then at the end of the month, I’ll do a monthly review … and I’m shocked at how much I moved the needle. Flabbergasted.