During your career, be very mindful of when the expected benefits of your endeavours will be realised.
There are some endeavours where the benefit will be realised alongside the work you do.
But there are some endeavours where you won’t realise any benefit unless all the work is completed.
When you commit to writing a book, you won’t realise any benefit unless you finish the book.
When your team commits to winning a tender, you won’t realise any benefit unless you submit the tender.
When you commit to hosting an event, you won’t realise any benefit unless the event is held.
The reason this is important is we can sometimes commit to long-term endeavours without fully appreciating what’s really involved, and if we pull up short then the energy, headspace and resources we gave would be for nil.
So here is a good screening question to assess any endeavour before starting it.
What benefits will I realise if I only finish 90% of what I’m supposed to?
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