This morning as I sat in the airport waiting to board my 5:40 AM flight home, I pulled up the conference app on my phone from the HR conference I just attended and did a breakout session for about 50 HR professionals. I thought it went pretty well.
Since I was leaving a day early, I looked at the day’s agenda, namely who was doing the ending keynote. The woman that was scheduled was quite impressive. She has spoken nearly every month at HR conferences around the country and is booked pretty heavily in the coming months. I was amazed and jealous at the same time. I thought it was pretty cool to do breakout sessions two weeks in a row but to do the keynote (and they actually PAY keynote speakers while breakout speakers present for free – although sometimes you get a T-shirt and a coffee mug) multiple times blew my accomplishments away.
But then I told myself, “You’ve done pretty well. Breakout speaking is a good start. You’ve come a long way and should be proud. PACE yourself and you’ll get there.”
Then another part of me said, “Bull****! You can be every bit as successful as she is and more! You’ve got to PUSH yourself harder.”
That part of me won out. Then I thought about strategy. Here’s what I came up with. Maybe you’ll find it helpful:
P.A.C.E. vs. P.U.S.H.
PACEing yourself is good when you’re starting out. It’s a good place to be when you’re sure of your goal but not quite ready to go full speed at it.
- Pick a Goal to Accomplish. This is fundamental. You have to define your target first.
- Ask yourself where you need to improve. Look at what you lack as you aim toward that target. Then…
- Check your Skill, Will, and Focus. If you’re familiar with my 3-Legged Stool of Great Performance™ model, this one makes sense. Do I KNOW what I need to know, do I WANT it bad enough, and do I know which areas to FOCUS on first?
- Endeavor to make consistent progress toward that goal. Take a deliberate, methodical path to accomplishing that goal.
In my case though, I’ve moved past the PACE stage. I think I’ll just PUSH myself.
- Pick a Goal to Accomplish. I have the target. Keynote more events, less breakouts.
- Understand what barriers stand in the way. Not exactly sure yet, but I think it might have to do with marketing, networking, and more assertiveness on my part.
- Shift yourself into overdrive. Pacing isn’t useful here. Time to speed up the process.
- Hit each barrier with everything you’ve got. Sometimes going full speed makes the barriers less painful. Use the momentum to break through.
Now it’s up to me to make it happen. I know to PUSH, not PACE.
What about you?
- Have you developed that goal yet?
- Do you know if you’re moving beyond the PACE stage?
- If you have to PUSH, do you have everything and everybody you need to help you?
Nothing good happens from a place of inaction. I’m ready to move forward. I hope you are too!
