Keep it Simple by Alex Paramo

Playoffs on the line, NY Jets ball in Buffalo Bills territory. I was feeling great, my team is well within field goal range and we are down by 2 in the fourth quarter! Run the ball, kick the field goal, go up by one and play defense with one of the top-ranked defenses in the league. Simple right? Uh-uh, The offensive coordinator called for a pass into the middle of the end-zone, the quarterback threw it into the middle of the end-zone and the defensive back intercepted it in the middle of the end-zone!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Check out the recap.

Over-Thinking

Why didn’t they just keep it simple! And that friends bring us to the theme of this article. Regardless of what endeavor we are under-taking, whether it be collectively or individually, we tend to over-think it. Analysis, algorithms, all that stuff is helpful but as the Seattle Seahawks circa 2015 Super Bowl will tell you, sometimes you just have to put your head down and pound it through the goal line.

Resolutions, targets, measurable data, metrics, ROI (return on investment)…they have all been ruminating in my head this past week or so. It seems like our allotted “life” time is shrinking while our responsibilities are increasing. Something is gotta give. How do we manage the madness?

Live to Work

Naturally every idea begins with a vision, a dream. Where that dream ends up or takes you to, your destination, is your goal. Sounds simple enough but reaching your goals involves lots of work, dedication and yes the dreaded organization as in: Getting Organized! We all have our day to day schedules, our everyday life which for some lucky folks might provide hours and hours of time to reach your goals. Others might be transitioning from a “place” where you work to live over to live to work. If you have not found your passion, I recommend you stop what you are doing, and go find it: you are wasting your time and your life.

Goal Setting

Sitting down in front of an empty piece of paper or screen can be daunting and intimidating because we have a thousand thoughts going thru our head. How general or specific should our goals be. By now you all should have heard about SMART Goals, I started out thinking about the 5 year vision for Community Publishing. How much income would be generated to keep the business going led to a calculation of how many multimedia books we need to sell which led to setting a goal of how many multimedia books we need to publish and the need to expand our email/subscriber list. So one thing needs to another from the top goal all the way down.

Try to stick with 5 primary goals and classify the sub-goals (needed to achieve the main goals) as tasks. Set milestones and deadlines for yourself/organization and celebrate your achievements. Realize that no plan is flawless, stay true to your goals but be realistic and organic enough to modify as experience dictates. Let me know how it goes (comments) and good luck! For the NY Jets its wait till next year, for the rest of us next year is now! Go find your passion in life and pursue it as a profession! You will not regret that decision.

*Check out some more of my articles by clicking here. 

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Alex Paramo

Alex Paramo is an Author and Co-Founder of Community Publishing. Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as multimedia eBooks while promoting literacy in our communities.

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