How to Verify If a Process is Working for You
One of the first things I teach clients is to never blindly trust a process you have doubt in until you verify it first. While this may be counter to the pop culture cliché on trusting the process, it’s simply a fact that you can’t trust something when you have doubt. Although you can fake trust to others, you can’t fake out yourself. Moreover, it’s at the point when you get advice to trust the process when that doubt is often the greatest and faking trust is not working anyway.
So, instead of faking trust in a process, trust in yourself. Indeed, there is a good chance that the reason why you’re feeling doubt in a process is because the process really isn’t working. It’s a fact that every process doesn’t work for everyone every time.
With this in mind, there are three questions you must answer to verify if a process is working:
1. Are you properly executing the steps in the process?
The first step to verify if a process is working is to know what it looks like when you follow the steps in the process properly, then confirm that you are both willing and able to follow through. For example, if part of the process is to wake up at 5am everyday to work or practice, and you aren’t willing or able to wake up at 5am, then that process won’t work for you. You may be able to follow every other step in the process, but if you are skipping steps then the process is incomplete.
In other words, a process may work when done right, but if you aren’t able to do it right then that process won’t work for you. No need to kid yourself and trust the process if the process requires you to do something you aren’t willing to do. Instead, find a new process that you are willing to do.
2. Are you on schedule with the process based on the time of year and the deadlines you need to meet to reach your goals?
Process requires step by step plans, and these plans require schedules. If you don’t have a plan and a schedule, how can you trust that a process is working? You can’t. So, this is a must.
Once you have a plan and a schedule, then you can track progress to verify if you are meeting that schedule. As long as you continue to make reasonable progress that reasonably aligns with the schedule, you can continue to trust the process.
3. Is there something I can do to make the process work better for me?
Finally, once you confirm you are following the process to a tee and you are on schedule, you must question if you could do better. The process may be working, but it could also be holding you back simultaneously.
This is obviously the hardest of the three questions to answer as it’s subjective, not objective. However, it’s an important question to ponder as everyone is unique. Anytime you copy a process created by someone else or for someone else, there is a risk that the process is missing something that would work better for you.
To know this requires self-awareness of your strengths, motivations, and personality type. Incorporating these three aspects of your character into a process will unquestionably make the process work better for you. Therefore, if you are self-aware enough to know that a process does not include these three aspects of your character, then you must do something about it by adjusting the process.