Happy Easter!
I've been trying to get lots of different things done over the last few weeks, so I've kinda been neglecting my newsletter and YouTube channel. I'm sorry.
I had actually written out a great strategy for everything, but it quickly began to fall apart. I just couldn't stick to what I had planned. And, if you're anything like me, this happens so often. Whether I've written a revision timetable, a business plan, or a guide for the day ahead, my strategies never really work.
Why is this?
Well, beside the fact that most strategies are just a bunch of tactics, there are many other reasons why strategies fail. Here's a short list of some of these reasons - let me know what you think:
- Having a strategy for the sake of it. A strategy feels reassuring. It gives us the illusion of control. It turns a messy process into a seemingly clear, step-by-step recipe for success. But sometimes “giving it a shot” is the best strategy. In fact, failing often, and learning from it, can be more valuable than trying to get things right.
- Being blind to external factors. Strategy should not be just a top-down process. It rarely works when you approach strategy as an exclusive process involving you in the middle, and everything and everyone to blindly implement it too.
- Starting too early. I don’t personally believe students (or anyone really) can have a solid strategic plan. Everything is in motion. You don't know what you don't know. Designing a strategy can be a way to avoid getting your hands dirty and doing the actual work. For instance, instead of revising, many of us would rather spend our time crafting a beautiful revision strategy. This is the wrong way to spend your time. Do the work.
- Putting your head in the sand. Related to the previous point, a strategy is also sometimes a way to avoid difficult situations. Because we wrongly think a strategy is set in stone, we ignore the limitations we’ve discovered, the roadblocks we can see ahead, the inherent flaws of the plan. A strategy based on dishonest postulates will crumble at the first adverse event.
- Not seeing it through. Finally, many people craft a strategy and put it on the shelf. You may as well not craft a strategy at all. You won’t know if you were right or wrong without executing on the plan. Yes, moving from paper to real-life execution can be scary, but it’s the only way to learn and grow.
Enjoy your week!
Gareth
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Writing a First Class Law Essay - A Framework for Success
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The Power of Simplicity
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We often tend to prefer complex solutions over simple ones; complicated marketing jargon over clear explanations; multi-steps implementations over more direct execution. Complexity can lend an aura of authority to products, which marketers are exploiting to project authority and expertise. Complex processes can also delay decision-making, giving us the illusion of productivity. Why is it that we struggle so much to embrace the power of simplicity? And how can we balance complexity and simplicity?
Read More
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Hey, I’m Gareth. Every Sunday I write an email newsletter with some thoughts, life lessons and interesting articles I discovered on the internet that week - plus a few extra things!
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