The Power to Get Things Done (whether you feel like it or not)

The Power to Get Things Done (whether you feel like it or not)
Steve Levinson, PHD and Chris Cooper

A classic dilemma in sales, or really any profession, is follow through. Not every person is afflicted with this issue, but it can completely debilitate a professional’s success. In summation, action equals success and this book highlights follow through techniques to overcome a lack of motivation.

This book is not meant to trick you and make you think motivation is everything. The authors explain how our intelligent decisions do not always drive our behavior and our feelings will outweigh your intentions. We are wired to be reward seeking and want instant gratification. It’s the classic promise to try harder but, we usually end up with the same result. Culture pushes cliché quotes in on our Instagram feeds however, it does not last. Of course, when motivation is there, use it… but the bottom line is you should not depend on the wind, you will have to row.

In full disclosure, this book does contain a significant amount of fluff but it is short so you can quickly get to the useful information. The book breaks down how we need to take our intentions more seriously and be precise.

We need to be thorough in our goals, complete our due diligence on what we want to achieve, and not make half promises. When our goals are specific, we leave out the wiggle room to make excuses or the possibility to not see something through to completion. The authors stress not placing too much confidence in your natural ability to follow through and to be aware of the good intentions we place in ourselves.

The end of the book gives specific examples to highlight broad concepts on how to eliminate procrastination. They illustrate real life examples of tactics to follow through on goals and how to maintain it. If you have any issues with following through, this is a great book to start with overcoming this dilemma.