I spent all day yesterday in a personal coaching session, trying to apply the benefits of the "strategic outsider" (the basis of my life and ministry) to myself. We discussed a principle articulated by Brian Klemmer a leadership development and motivational speaker:
Intention + Mechanism = Results
The thrust of Klemmer's teaching is that mechanisms are not the challenge with the equation. You can sense this in the title of one of his books: If How-To's Were Enough We Would All be Skinny, Rich and Happy. Rather, the primary obstacle to getting results is the clarity and intensity of our intention. My favorite quote of the day was, "When the intention is clear, the mechanism will appear." But my love for this line should not be surprising as a clarity evangelist.