We are one month into the New Year and for many folks; their well-intended resolutions (we’ve decided to call them goals) are already on the path to failure.
The scary part is that they have no idea. For now everything seems right on track. The diet is going well. They’ve made it to the gym regularly. They’re taking proactive steps. What they haven’t been tracking is the “creep.”
“Creep” is a word used in the consulting field when the original scope of the project is slowly and subtly increased. It happens benignly enough but before it’s too late to change course, the new changes are locked in.
Many years ago when I was stationed in Australia with my former spouse, we were part of a weight loss club known as TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). All week long we’d diet and exercise and then at the weekly TOPS meeting we’d weigh in. The person who lost the most weight won a prize but just seeing the progress each week was encouraging. We decided that after weigh-in night, we’d allow ourselves to go out and eat whatever we wanted. Typically it was a large pizza at the base club. The next day, we’d be back on our diet. After a couple of months, the “cheat night” extended to breakfast the next morning, then lunch, then dinner the next night. Before we knew it, we started gaining weight each week. Eventually, we quit TOPS.
The danger of the “creep” is that it starts so innocently and changes our thinking from “no way” to “it’s ok, just this once.” From “scope creep” in a project to “brass creep” at the Pentagon, no one and no thing is immune to it.
This week, take another look at your goal and look for potential opportunities to “creep.” Make yourself aware so you can avoid those situations. Don’t let your progress for this year get sidetracked from the beginning!
