Life Dynamics

Making it Stick

Why this tactic matters
New projects have an appeal: the opportunity to start again and forget the mistakes of previous assignments. Beginning another task can also be a way of avoiding the difficulties of implementation. Making It Stick is the patience and persistence to stay the course and ensure that your initial efforts are translated into tangible outcomes that advance your life aims.

Getting bored quickly, becoming distracted and losing interest in the follow up to projects		Finding it easy to keep a focus on deadlines, maintaining concentration to follow through to a final outcome

Procrastination is the new deadly sin Swallow the frog The secret of getting ahead is getting started Don’t always swing for the fence Be patient Master your diversions Develop your powers of concentration Five Minutes More Work backwards Take the path of least resistance Be prepared to commit and to follow through on your commitments The Do It Tomorrow default setting Get commitments from others Short-cuts can also become dead-ends Keep a diary Good is the enemy of great Review to improve One thing at a time		Effort doesn't equal success Your in box will always be full Prioritise by your goals not by others’ urgency Aim for perfection but be content with continuous improvement Decide when to quit Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing Don’t become a “control freak” It’s quicker to do it myself Delegate that “what”, not the “how” See the big picture to manage the “law of unintended consequences” Planning is indispensable but plans are useless Think “what if” Learn how to improvise Is the project working for you or are you working for the project? Begin “meetings” with endings Have fun

Carlyle’s Manuscript
Thomas Carlyle, a promising but difficult student, entered Edinburgh University in November 1809. He had said goodbye to his parents in his home town, then walked the eighty miles from Ecclefechan during the following three days. After a series of different but unsuccessful “career moves” – the Church, mathematics, law – Carlyle found his niche in historical studies. Here he excelled, producing several works that established his influence as an important and serious thinker, including, after years of concentrated effort, the three volume historical work “The French Revolution”.

He had sent the manuscript to his friend John Stuart Mill for review. Shortly afterwards, Mill’s maid mistook the manuscript for trash paper and used it to kindle a fire. On hearing the news, Carlyle sighed, and then immediately sat down, to begin the process of rewriting the entire manuscript from memory.

Success doesn’t come easily. It requires energy and diligence. And sometimes it demands the most extraordinary levels of patience and sustained effort in the face of the most difficult of circumstances to “make it stick”.

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