Leverage Your Best; Ditch the Rest

Leverage Your Best; Ditch the Rest
Scott Blanchard and Madeleine Homan


The first step to change is to accept yourself as you and don’t judge yourself for how you got there. One of the paradoxes of change is that the more you pressure someone to change, the less likely they are to change and the less you pressure them to change, the more likely they are to change. You must accept the circumstances that you are in and not complain about them before you can move forward.

In order to get from point A to point B, you must first know exactly where you are, point A, and have a very clear idea of where you want to go, point B. Only when you have done this are you able to work out a strategy to get you there.

The key question to ask to find your life ambition: What do you yearn for that has continually eluded you? Imagine that you have what you yearn for; now what? What does it bring you that you did not have before? Now imagine that this is now yours. Now that you have it, what does it bring you? What does it look like, how does it feel, do you see yourself differently, do others see you differently, how does it affect your day-to-day living, What do you now have that you didn’t have before? As a result of this change, what is now true? Keep going through this exercise until you find what you ultimately want, not just an ends to another means.

Make sure that you really want what you are striving for. Don’t just climb the ladder; make sure it is leaning against the right wall.

What you want to create in life is your Prime Objective.

Ask these questions to help you clarify your Prime Objective:
What are you good at that doesn’t even seem like work to you?
What is crucial to your well-being?
Does the thing you are good at have any commercial value and are you using that leverage?
Are you willing to go out on a limb to market what you are good at?
What do you want people to say about you at your memorial service?
What are you willing to risk or give up entirely in order to achieve your prime objective?
If you could achieve your prime objective right now, what would it look and feel like?

Now, put your Prime Objective into writing.

In order to make a plan to achieve your Prime Objective, ask:
How would you have to set up your life to achieve your prime objective?
What must you accomplish to achieve your prime objective?
What milestones must you pass along the way?

You need to be disciplined enough to follow your plan but flexible enough to adjust to the realities that come your way. A good plan has a purposeful end and clear, specific and definable actions to take. Thinking and intending will never get you there; only action will achieve your prime objective, and action produces more action. The best way to learn is to take action and reflect upon the results in order to take better action. You will either receive positive information, keep on doing what you are doing, or negative information, make adjustments or stop.

Use backward planning: set a date for your goal and then define the last action you would have to take in achieving that goal. Then define the action just before the last and so on, until you come to the present and define the first action you must take.


For helpful tools visit: leverageyourbest.com


The following seven posts are the Seven Leverage Points: