Ever wonder why you don’t get the results you expect, even though you think you’re doing all the right things?

This little story explains why.

My girlfriend and I were tidying the flat.  And when we tidy, we try to clear out as much as possible.

I came across a leather strap.

It took me a moment to figure out what it was…

And then I realised.  It’s a strap to buckle up my picnic blanket.

In my head I thought “aha”.  Here’s something we don’t need.

The blanket’s folded in a corner of the room, so I can throw out the strap to create some space.

I’m on my way to the bin when my girlfriend stops me.

“What are you doing?”

So I told her.

Her response?

“You’re throwing out the very thing that can help us keep this place tidy”.

I thought about it for a second…

And then I realised…

She was right.

The blanket's a third of the size in the strap.  And it’s much easier to store.

I was trying to be tidier by throwing out an object which helps to keep things tidy.

Whoops!  Talk about being counterproductive.

I was doing the complete opposite of what I should've been doing to meet the goal we’d set.

The goal of keeping the flat tidier.

And this idea of “doing the opposite” reminds me of my old job.

There were moments I enjoyed my job.  But most of the time I didn’t.

And it got to the stage where I thought “I need to do something about this”.

So what did I do?

I worked harder.  I got a promotion.  And I took on more responsibility.

I thought that climbing the career ladder would ease some of my gloom.

But guess what?

It didn't.

It just made me more stressed and miserable.

Hardly surprising.  I was embedding myself deeper in something I didn’t enjoy.

It was the complete opposite of what I should’ve done.  Just like throwing out the strap.

I should’ve focussed on questions like “what do I want from a job”…

Or even “what makes me happy?”…

And decided on the actions from there.

These questions need to come first.

Because if you take action without getting clear on why you’re taking that action, you could end up back at square one.

Or even make things worse.

So to sum up…

If something isn’t working or you’re getting the same result over and over again…

Then it might be your own actions which are getting in the way.

My suggestion?

Take a step back and figure out if your actions are aligned to your goals.  If not, it could be time to try something different.

That’s it for today.

- Tom