How To Do It Right the First Time?

One of Murphy’s Law states, “There’s never enough time to do something right, but there’s always enough time to do it over.”

Doing it right the first time would mean no mistakes, no regrets and no doubts. But if you didn’t make mistakes, have regrets or deal with doubts then what would you learn?

Very little. At least not the important stuff.

It’s the challenges, missed opportunities and mistakes that create the biggest lessons. The only time it doesn’t serve you is when you fail to pay attention. That alone is a lesson to learn.

How can you enhance your chances of doing it right the first time? Here are 3 suggestions on increasing your chance of successfully doing it right the first time.

1. Follow a process. Let your creative thinking flow. Start at the beginning. Identify the problem, question or decision. Define the various levels of what you are confronted with. For instance, you need to decide which job to take. Which job will enhance your long term desires? Is choosing a job the only decision you have to make? What will either decision lead to?

Establish a plan (and always have a pla
B). What are your resources? What are the barriers in your way? Who do you need to involve? Develop scenarios. Pretend to know where each one will lead. What’s real and what’s not? Remember to listen to your gut.

2. Take your time. Jumping in with both feet should only occur when you’ve measured the water or scoped the lay of the land. Time is on your side and if it isn’t then prepare ahead of time for that unexpected prospect. Taking your time doesn’t mean wasting time or putting it off indefinitely. It means giving yourself space, entertaining the what-ifs and being thorough.

3. Be disciplined. Self-discipline or management is a learned attribute. Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from apathy, demands of others, and weakness. Self-discipline builds your strength and ability to focus. Live the 5 pillars of self-discipline; acceptance, willpower, hard work, industry and persistence.

Doing it right the first time will involve mistakes, screw ups and oversights. Accepting this will happen is the first step in learning the hard lessons from those errors that can make a big difference for your future.

When a child is learning to walk, she falls down many times. She learns how to keep her balance, putting one foot in front of the other. Soon she is running and you will, too.