“I’m fixin’ to do it!”

I couldn’t really tell you how many times I have said and/or heard that phrase, “I’m fixin’ to do it!”  Since I have lived in the south and southwest for over five decades, I have always believed the phrase to be a “southern thing”.  Most of my friends who have grown up in other areas of the country have agreed with me on that.

For those who need assistance when it comes to “southernese”, I am a certified interpreter.  The term “fixin’ to” actually describes a period of time.  To be more specific, it is the period of time that exists between the generation of an idea – and the actual actions that bring the implementation of that idea to fruition.

My mother would have told you that the term “fixin’ to” was just a little boy’s way of procrastinating. She may have been right, but I will have to think about that later 🙂

One of the greatest challenges we all have in sales or sales leadership is spending too much time in the “fixin’ to” stage.  We read a book, attend a seminar or are given some coaching from a mentor.  We come away from that time with solid ideas and actionable items that we fully intend to implement into our business model.  However days and weeks later we find that we have not done a very good job executing those action items – we are still in the “fixin’ to” stage.

In their book, The Four Disciplines of Execution: Sean Covey, Jim Huling, and Chris McChesney give some interesting ideas on why turning our intentions into execution is difficult to do.

  1. Implementing the ideas requires a change in behavior – and we tend to resist.
  2. The change in behavior must happen in the midst of all of the other priorities that are already going on in our life – the chaos.

Tomorrow we will discuss some simple “sounding” ideas that will help you to overcome some of the struggles that are blocking you from turning your intentions into well executed strategies.

As a matter of fact, I’m “fixin’ to” write that article soon. 🙂

QUESTION:

What are the two most important goals you want to accomplish over the next 30 days?