“We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.” – Herb Kelleher
I have this quote framed on a wall in my office. I can’t help but see it every day and it does what it is supposed to do…sort of.
It doesn’t make me do things. It makes me think about what my things are. I used to get caught up in all of the things that were on my to-do list, but I have realized that many of those things weren’t my things. They were someone else’s things. And my things were taking a back seat to them.
Your things rarely come from your email inbox or direct message. They come from what is derived from those emails and those messages. Yet so many times we go to those platforms to see what things are there for us…even if they aren’t our things to do (or to do next).
If you look at that quote above and change the “we” to an “I” then the only way you’ll really inspire the right kind of action is to add the word “my” in front of “things” when you read it.
So in my mind the quote reads:
“I have a strategic plan. It’s called doing my things.”
When you do your things, fiddling with tools becomes less of a thing to do. When you do your things, then the quality of your work is bound to increase because you’re not shifting focus nearly as much. When you do your things, you wind up being happier because you’re doing the things that belong to you – even if they are for someone else.
(Yes, your things can also be someone else’s things. But it’s best to treat them as yours first so you can really deliver.)
I’d love it if today – just as an experiment – you decided to do your things instead of everyone else’s. Be honest about what your things are. Be diligent and attack them head on.
Do your things. No one else will do them as well as you.