Jay Wolf is the president of JWC, a people stratergy firm. He has been an organizational, executive and performance coach for over 15 years.
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If you ask anyone, "Do you want to be successful?" the overwhelming response will likely be, "Absolutely. Doesn’t everyone?" Being successful is one of life's most basic goals. It is what most of us strive for. Yet if we take an objective view of the world and the people who live in it, we come to the conclusion that achieving success is a lot harder than just saying you want it.
The truth is that achieving success is difficult at any level. Without a plan or a process, success is often just a dream. For the past 15 years, I have "power coached" C-level executives, high potentials and athletes on increasing their performance using the three-step process I call P.E.E. (preparation, execution and evaluation). The most interesting thing I have learned is that there is a very clear difference in the behaviors of those who achieve success and those who don't. I've noticed that many people get up in the morning with a reactive mindset; they head out into the world and do their very best to react to whatever comes their way. Most successful people wake up early in the morning and greet the world with a proactive mindset. They have a clear goal of what a successful day looks like. They understand that success is often counterintuitive — that it can be a cognitive, emotional and physical paradox.
The process of achieving success often feels very uncomfortable. It can stretch you and take you out of your comfort zone. So why would someone put themselves through that? Many people don't. The ones who do have experienced how great achieving success actually feels. They also may have learned that it can be hard to go through this type of journey on their own. Many people who achieve success realize that their odds greatly increase with the help of a mentor or a coach. However, I've found that the most important variable is having a plan that outlines the steps they need to follow to achieve that success.
My three-step process has helped people, teams and organizations around the world achieve success at all levels. It is a continuous performance loop that people can use. It is the ongoing commitment to these three actions that allows them to achieve their goals.
Preparation
Preparation is about setting performance goals. Most people think they know how to set goals, but I've noticed that high performers tend to do it differently. They often start out by creating an outcome goal — a vision of success. Once they have a clear outcome goal, they create a "what" goal. Ask yourself, "What do I have to do to achieve my outcome goal?" Next, they create a "how" goal. "How am I going to accomplish my 'what' goal?" Lastly, they create a "when" goal. "When am I going to achieve my 'how' goal?" If they don't hold themselves accountable to when they are going to achieve their "how" goal, it will not get done.
The people who achieve success usually create visions of success and then ask the what, how and when questions. When you have the answers, you are prepared to execute.
Execution
Execution is the ability to hyper-focus on a task or action until it is completed at the highest level. What often stops people from hyper-focusing are distractions. The goal is not to eliminate distractions but to be aware of them so you can minimize them in order to manage them. Most high achievers have learned that the better you are at preparing, the better you will be at managing distractions, the better you will be at hyper-focusing and the better you will be at achieving your goals.
For many people who are striving for success, executing is just the second step in the process. They are always looking for improvement by evaluating their preparation and execution.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the most important step in the process. Evaluation is all about constant positive feedback. Ask yourself, "How close did I get to achieving my goals? How could I have prepared better? How could I have executed better? How could I be more aware of my distractions so I can manage them better in order to focus better?" Evaluation is all about learning how to improve and grow, because without growth, you aren't likely to succeed.
Many high performers have achieved success with this three-step process. If you want to achieve, take a deep breath, and go through the three steps of P.E.E.
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