The end of March is upon us and it’s also the end of the first quarter. Time is flying by so quickly it can literally make your head spin. At this point with three months of the year gone, it’s time to see where you are. Are you in possession of the ball?
In football, specific rules govern what happens at the end of each quarter of the game. The rules affect team position, possessions, timing and breaks. You can say that the same happens in life. At the beginning of the year you had the opportunity for a fresh start. If you accepted the opportunity to create new things in your life and set your business goals, you might have created a plan or attempted to move things forward in some way. Maybe you had the ball and lost possession of it somewhere along the way to this point and you don’t know how, or maybe you never even had the ball to begin with.
Either way, the end of the first quarter is the time to take a short break, just like the two minute break at the end of the first quarter of a football game. Use this short time to assess where you are. What things had you planned to complete by this point in time and are they done? Are you in possession of the ball or did you fumble somewhere along the way? If you dropped the ball or didn’t even pick it up to begin with, it’s okay. The question for you now is what are you going to do? Are you going to pick up the ball and play the rest of the game and give it everything you’ve got to get that win, or are you going to continue as you are now?
If you’re going to pick up the ball and run with it you’ve got to know which way you’re going and why. Map out your plan or your plays for the rest of the game, making sure you know what kind of resources and support you’ll need along the way. Think about the things that might tackle you along your way down the field to the end zone and determine how you’re going to deal with them if they come up. Set deadlines and action dates according to those deadlines and get someone to hold you accountable. Get the deadline and action dates into your calendar, put your helmet back on and get back in the game!