This is habit number two from Covey’s list of seven and something that definitely supports productivity. It works when you set long-term goals, and use visualization as a tool to develop it. Before you start anything, you have to have a clear picture of what it is you want and that means looking at the end result and working your way backward to the starting point to know what to do to get you there. When you work in this manner and mentally create what you want, it helps you to focus on relevant things.
I have seen the difference that this makes time and time again. I’ll share one example with you. A few years ago a colleague said that she needed my help to pull things together. She was all over the place, working on a number of different things, but had no idea of where she was going with some of them. I took her through a visualization session so that she could get clear on where she was going with her clients. We went into the detail about the purpose of the programs she wanted to create and the results she wanted from each of them. I also had her stop working on her first annual retreat to get clear about the end results. That session made all the difference.
Beginning with the end in mind had her look at exactly where she was going with the programs and events in her business. The outcomes allowed her to see where the gaps where in what she was contemplating as well as the things she had already been working on without making time to envision it all first. Looking at the end result helped her create her long term goals for each endeavor and map out the plan to get there. Stopping to look forward enabled her days to be more focused and kept her from her usual days of being all over the place and not knowing where she was going.