The Messy Middle

It’s officially halfway through the year. January is a million miles away and December seems just as irrelevant. Your “to do” list is a mile long and you are starting to feel the summer vibe.

It’s the messy middle. The not often talked about phase of project management, business execution and goal achievement when you are just…in the muck on getting stuff done.

Everyone knows that great feeling on January 1st, motivation practically bubbling over with “this is going to be my year” sentiment. Most of us also know what it feels like to cross the finish line on a goal: whether it is running over the actual threshold of a marathon or clinking glasses for a toast at the closing dinner of a major deal.

In between those moments is what I have always referred to as the “messy middle.” The weeks, months and sometimes years when the initial gas which gave you a kick-start has run out and the finish line is no where in site.

Maybe you made a little progress towards your goals or even a lot of progress, but halfway through you are no where near where you think you “should” be.

What happened?

1. You lost momentum. We all know the gym is the busiest the first week of January and by the second week, it’s cleared out. The “new year, new me” is an incredible momentum builder, but it’s also something you can’t rely on for 52 weeks of the year. After the initial “jump out of bed” momentum wore off, you didn’t make the progress you thought you would.
2. You lost sight of your goals. Those New Year’s Resolutions which were so clear on the first of January, have become a little fuzzy. If I asked you today what your goals are, would you be able to recall them? Or would you have to dig out the list from a dusty excel spreadsheet in the back of your hard drive? Modern life is full of distractions. I am not just talking about phones or social media (although that too), but for busy working professionals with personal/family commitments, there are constant demands on your time. Maybe you got a lot done, but not the things you wanted to.
3. Something changed. If you have ever worked in markets, you know that just because a deal was possible yesterday, does not mean that same deal is possible today. Over six months situations can change drastically. Crisis happens, people get sick, financial hardship arises, trends alter. It is very possible since the time you set your goal, the environment has changed enough to make your goal no longer possible in the original way you imagined it.
4. The goal was not well defined. If you look at the goal you set for yourself at the beginning of the year and ask “Did I achieve that?” and your answer is “I guess so,” your goal was not clear in the beginning. If you don’t know exactly what success looks like, you won’t be able achieve it.

Confronting the messy middle, is confronting the reality that that not only are you not perfect, but you are more flawed than you readily admit to yourself.

The good news is the messy middle is part of the process. The messy middle is the difference between those who achieve goals and who don’t. Not because the messy middle is easier for some than others, but because those who figure out how to persevere through the messy middle have to change themselves to do so.

Goal achievement is not about getting the goal done, but about who we become by attempting and achieving the goal. If you are trying to do something remarkable, you likely have no idea how to achieve it or if you thought you did, you find out soon enough that you were wrong. This process forces you to step into a space of unknown.

Learning to start over every day. Learning to let go over the perfectionism. Admitting you messed up a bunch of times, but it’s still worth picking yourself up off the ground, dusting off and getting back on the horse. That is what we are after.

If you can recommit to a goal while knowing that it may take 10x the amount of time it “should” take, but that the effort is worth it to have the life you want, it will transform your character.

By setting ambitious goals, we force ourselves to grow physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. It is this growth that will give you the life you want.

Achieving the impossible, looks like failing, recommitting, failing, recommitting every day until it’s done. Goals are not made at the beginning or the end but in the messy middle.

So now what?

1. Dedicate time in your calendar for goal achievement. Look at the week ahead, find the “blank space” in your schedule and ask yourself: what is one thing I could do during this period to contribute towards my goal? Schedule that task and block the time.
2. Make incremental progress. A huge motivator for me creating the Halo Planner was to help guide my goal achievement systems piece by piece towards the finish line. Take your big goals and break them into quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily actions and tasks so that you can creep forward towards that end result.
3. Make your goals visible. The #1 key to goal achievement is to keep your goals visible at all times. Right now, put your goals in a place that is you will see it every day. Even if it’s a piece of printer paper taped on your bathroom mirror- that’s good enough. If you have a HALO, put those goals on the first page of the planner and look at it every day.
4. Reform the goal. Rather than saying “oh well, it’s no longer possible,” restate the goal by asking yourself “what could I accomplish?” Maybe you can’t grow sales by 50%, but could you grow by 40%? 30%? 25%? 15%? Maybe you can’t submit your proposal by 30 September, but what about 31 October or 30 November? Ask yourself what is possible and recommit to it.
5. Bias towards action. If you are a planner, like me, you might get stuck in planning process rather than moving forward. The best way to make progress is to act. Just take one step in the direction of the goal. It may not even ultimately be something that worked, but often the only way to figure out what works, is to try and fail. Writing is the perfect example. A first draft may be rough but you just need get the words out of your head and onto the paper to begin. It may need to be reworked, restructured, rewritten, but a crappy first draft, is a start. When in doubt act.
6. Connect with your deeper why. Having trouble motivating to go to the gym? Instead of thinking about looking great for the summer. Think about playing with your grandchildren or participating in the sports you love, pain-free, for decades to come. Connecting with the deeper why of the goal, is much more likely to motivate you in the long-term.
7. Celebrate real success. Don’t wait a year to mark accomplishments. Celebrate what you have been able to achieve so far and then get that nose back to the grindstone.

Six months is more than enough time to achieve most goals, so make these next few months count. The world is a better place, when you become your best self.

And remember what Ally Love says: “A second wind is a choice.”

Rebecca Brosnan is a senior executive, board member, volunteer and founder of the HALO Planner. Visit the HALO Planner at www.thehaloplanner.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Instagram.