So why does answering e-mails, fighting fires, and other routine busywork eclipse meeting our critical goals? Why do we allow a constant stream of meetings, conference calls, messages, and documents to read inundate our business life…leaving no time to think or reflect?

As a result, of all of this activity, we tend to ignore or postpone dealing with our organization’s most crucial issues. Those are the kind of problems that require getting away from the details of everyday life and seeing the big picture. And seeing the big picture requires reflection, systematic planning, creative thinking and above all, time.

How do Hudson Valley organizations end up losing valuable time and energy rather than acting in truly productive ways? Excuses may range from the bureaucracy stifling our efforts to budget constraints holding us back.

The excuses rarely address the lack of purposeful, goal-directed action. Making the matter worse, few organizations recognize their inability to act. After all, they’re busy all the time. Certainly, they are taking some sort of action. But is it the right action, or is it just active non-action?

Perhaps the best place to start in answering these questions is to distinguish between purposeful action and all the other actions that take up our time and energy. Purposeful action is consistent, conscious, and energetic behavior that shows goal directed activity. Leaders who know how to take purposeful action share two critical traits: energy and focus.

Energy is displayed with both effort and personal involvement. The right energy exists when the individual owns the goal. Purposeful action is self-generated, engaged, and self-driven behavior that can’t be fueled simply by external pressures.

Purposeful action is focused. It is conscious and intentional, guided by a person’s decision to achieve a goal. It requires discipline to resist distraction, overcome problems, and persist in the face of unanticipated setbacks. Purposeful action is different from impulsive behavior. It involves thought, analysis, and planning.

Impulsive behavior characteristics include frenzied activity and studies indicate forty percent of us are distracted by all of the tasks we have to juggle each day. We are energetic but unfocused, and may appear desperate or hasty.

Thirty percent of us procrastinate and put off doing the work that really matters, because we lack both energy and focus. We often feel insecure and fear failure. Twenty percent are disengaged from our work. We are focused, but lack energy and often seem aloof, tense, and apathetic.

Only 10 percent are purposeful and actually get the job done. We are highly focused and energetic, and come across as reflective and calm, even in the midst of chaos.

What distinguishes the 10 percent of Hudson Valley leaders who are purposeful? The answer is willpower. While motivation is important, it always exists in an atmosphere of ambitious goals, high uncertainty, and extreme opposition. Motivation, therefore, requires willpower as a catalyst to meet those challenges.

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