Lions or Gnats--Which Stops You From Getting Things Going?

An Article by Susan Whitcomb, Certified Career Management Coach,  Career Coach Academy

What gets in your way of tending to important tasks and building momentum?

Whether your task is an important “lion” or an insignificant “gnat,” NOT dealing with it can threaten your wants, desires, hopes, and aspirations.

You all know what the “lions” are in your career life—they are the important projects that, when accomplished, will help you feel like a “king” and in control of your own domain. Lions may take the form of staying in touch with critical networking contacts to carving out that time needed to train your successor (so that you can go on to bigger and better things!).

What are “gnats?” They are the pesky irritations that land on our desk, our calendar, and our lives! They drain us of physical and emotional energy and tax our reserves. Your gnat may be something like a disorganized work space, a long-overdue computer backup, the project that you really should have said “no” to, or the daily onslaught of email that needs read and responded to.

Whether you’re dealing with lions or gnats, you can tackle them and build momentum by applying one of these 5 D’s:

• Do – As Nike advises, Just do it! Schedule that “lion” on your calendar, then jump in and get it done. For instance, “On Friday, I will get together with Don and Donna from ABC Inc. to catch up on where their company is headed.”
• Delegate – Surround yourself with support. Ask for the resources you need. If your boss says, “we can’t do that—it’s not in the budget,” get creative! Your gnat my be someone else’s delight--consider trading projects, bringing on an intern, or even hiring an errand runner out of your own pocket so that you’re freed up to do the more important stuff!
• Dump – Is there someone in your life who sucks the lifeblood from you? If so, no longer give that person permission to enter your emotional space. Spend time with “bone-marrow” friends—the ones who feed your soul. Or, is there a seemingly “good” activity in your career that you really should be saying no to? Perhaps you’ve volunteered for an association that isn’t the best use of your time. If so, set a date for when you would like to end that commitment, then begin to graciously extricate yourself!
• Distance – Put some physical space between you and your gnat. For instance, “I will stop eating in the lunchroom so that I am not tempted to participate in the gossip that so often happens there.”
• Discern – It may require that you spend some quiet time to determine the right course of action for your “lion” or “gnat.” In some cases, the right course of action may be to reframe your thinking and change your behaviour. For instance, “This new project that got dumped on my desk is really a blessing in disguise because I can leverage the work I already did on a previous project.”

Now, commit to action:

• Write out separate lists of your “lions” and “gnats”
• Rank order the top 10 priorities for each list.
•  Decide which “D” you’ll apply to each.
• Set a date for action on the Do and Delegate Lists (or set a date to evaluate how well you’ve done with the Dump, Distance, and Discern Lists).
• Check in regularly with your career coach to celebrate your progress.

Susan Whitcomb, is a Certified Career Management Coach and founder of Career Coach Academy. She can be reached at (559) 222-7474 or by e-mail at SWhitcomb@CareerCoachAcademy.com

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