One of our core values is 'Plan Ahead,' but it really is so much more than that.
Whether it's your day, your upcoming project, your finances, or even your relationships; instilling a habit of visualizing the end result before you act on it will have an incredible impact on you.
The original idea of this core value is rooted in is Habit #2 from 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, one of my favorite books of all time.
'Begin with The End in Mind' is simply taking the time to envision the future of what you're wanting before you actually start the process of working on it. It seems like it would be pretty fundamental to any process, but I have found many times where I skipped this simple step. I would invest lots of time and effort into something only to find out what I wanted and what I ended up with were two very different things.
One of the clearest lessons I remember was in dating - I realized that the type of places I was meeting dates would never lead me to my desired future of a family.
Another one was in my early years of business with my hiring process. I was making short-term decisions (hiring to get the job done today); instead of patiently building a long-term team to grow with. My long-term aspirations and my short-term actions didn't mesh; mostly due to lack of foresight.
There's an age-old story about climbing a ladder only to find out that it was leaning against the opposite wall you wanted to be on. 'Beginning with the End in Mind' is one of the most simple and basic steps to success in anything.
Unfortunately, it's so basic that you might just skip it.