Being Methodical!!

I’ve often heard people say “If only I could do that as well as he (or she) does.” They want the result without putting in the time to develop the skill. People often start a project or desire a skill only to bet bored along the way and move on to something else and something else and something else…………….

Those developing great skills and accomplishing great things are good at the art of being methodical. When others get bored and quit, successful people trudge on. Being methodical develops consistency. In fact, being methodical develops consistency at high levels. Jackie Stiles, the Claflin High School and Missouri State basketball star made 1,000 shots a day before she went on to other activities. Her shooting skills were rarely matched due to her consistency of methodical practice.

Having a plan for improvement every day is a second aspect of being methodical. Often we want to achieve or master something but forget or ignore the steps to getting where we want. Having a routine and sticking with it yields small victories and ultimately the results we desire. Watching a successful professional golfer, we see a repetitive routine that can even seem boring, but yields muscle memory that produces exact or near exact results every time.
Working the routine eventually yields dependability. Many can do a great thing one time, or even a few times. The plan and its repetitiveness make it possible to replicate performance over and over and over again. Organizations need people that can perform at a high level and can do it repeatedly.

Distractions are bound to happen as we move towards our goal. Where we can it is important to remove unwanted distractions. While we cannot always eliminate the distraction we must learn how to handle them and keep moving forward. Some distractions even relax us and make our mind sharp and better prepared to continue. It is important that we get back to our routine and let it take us to our destination.

Accomplishing superior performance is often a lonely task. There must be an understanding that not many will choose to stay with a program. The last two lines of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Traveled” fits well here. “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Being methodical is “a road less traveled” and those making that choice can accomplish anything! Which road we take does make a difference!