Today’s issue will be a little different…
Tomorrow, I’m taking the day off for my wife’s birthday, and because it’s the first day of summer break for the kids. So don’t expect the normal Video Friday.
But I don’t want you to go totally without.
So I’m actually going to share a video that I DID NOT make, but that I believe will be incredibly impactful if you study its lessons and take it to heart.
Actually, this video is a combination of eight concise episodes that together make up what could be one of the most impactful 30 minutes of your life…
The video series is the brainchild of billionaire investor Ray Dalio, and is titled Principles for Success.
It parallels his book Principles, which I highly recommend.
(It’s not necessarily the easiest read, but it’s worth it. And I ended up getting the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over 16 hours but goes quick at 2.5X speed.)
I’ll share the video in a moment, but first I want to highlight a process from Episode 3 — The Five-Step Process…
This is actually the crux of the entire series, if you ask me.
It’s a 5-step process for going for what you want, and overcoming every obstacle life throws in your way.
Here are Dalio’s five steps…
- Know your goals and run after them.
- Encounter the problems that stand in the way of getting your goals (identify and don’t tolerate).
- Diagnose your problems to get at their root causes (don’t skip to solutions, step back and make sure you understand what’s symptom and what’s disease).
- Design a plan to eliminate the problems.
- Execute your plan and push yourself to do what’s needed to progress toward your goal.
Basically, know where you’re going, recognize when something is standing in your way, and do something to get over or around the obstacle.
I know it sounds simplistic, but it’s almost identical to something I’ve been practicing on a weekly basis for a couple years now, and the impact is profound…
Here’s the simplest way to overcome whatever issues you face…
I got this from the book Traction, by Gino Wickman. He calls it the IDS process.
In your business, and really everywhere else in your life, it’s completely common and natural to run into what Wickman calls “issues.”
This could be something big, like your biggest client pulling out of a contract and creating a cash-flow crisis.
Or it could be something small, like a miscommunication about the schedule for a marketing campaign.
(It could also be personal: such as a summer vacation scheduling issue, etc.)
Whatever issues you face, the best way to face them is head-on…
For many of us, our gut reaction is to hide from problems and hope they go away. But they won’t.
And the more ambitious you are, the more problems you’ll face.
(Following the metaphor, you’ll never run into a roadblock if you’re not traveling down the road — and the more miles you travel, the more likely you are to run into roadblocks.)
The Traction IDS system breaks handling issues into a 3-step process that parallels Dalio’s.
— Issue: identify the real issue that’s at the root of the problem. E.g. the client pulling out of the contract could actually point to two separate issues. One might be that you suddenly have to come up with a way to meet payroll. The second could be that it points to a relationship issue, stemming from employees, or service quality, or whatever.
— Discuss: brainstorm potential solutions, without trying to land on one. Early on, you’re just looking for options you can discuss. Weigh the pros and cons of various options, to get a good take on potential courses of action.
— Solve: determine the specific next action steps you’re going to take, including who is responsible for what tasks, to address the issue. And if it represents a recurring issue, or an issue that may rear its ugly head again, consider what next actions may be required to implement systems and processes that actively prevent the issue from resurfacing in the future.
Wash, rinse, repeat…
As I said, I’ve been formally following this for a couple years, on a weekly basis (in my weekly meetings with Joseph, my coach).
We spend the first half of the meeting reviewing a ton of status information from my business.
That typically brings up one or more issues worth discussing. Plus I bring in any issues that have arisen during the previous week.
Then, we spend the second half of the meeting doing this IDS process, and coming up with specific next actions.
(We actually discussed this in the next lessons to be released in our Pinnacle Performance Habits training — to be added to the members area within the next seven days.)
This has been hugely beneficial in my business.
But it also has an add-on impact.
When you get comfortable tackling issues in one area of your life, you’ll grow more comfortable tackling them elsewhere.
The process is the same. The content may change, but the process will remain just as effective.
You simply identify what’s standing in your way, you consider your plan of attack, and you execute specific next actions designed to get you through.
And if those next actions don’t work? What do you think you do?
Simply recognize their failure as the next issue to solve, and start the process over at the beginning.
When Ray Dalio presents it, he shows it as an upward progression of little loops representing falling back, and then climbing to new heights.
That’s the power of this process.
Here’s Principles for Success, and pay special attention to Episode 3…
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
