The Collins “Stop Doing” List

Stop by cobblucas

I love Jim Collins (who doesn’t?), and recently reread his great USA Today article “Best New Year’s Resolution? A ‘Stop Doing’ List” from way back in 2003. In it, Collins shares his story of discovering his purpose and changing careers so he could live into that purpose, partly by deciding what he needed to stop doing.

I’ve been thinking about purpose, vision, and values a lot lately. 2016 is year three for Cygnus Services, and it’s time for my free-spirited self to more closely define my business’s purpose so I have some guidelines around what to say yes to and what to say no to. My natural inclination is to say yes to every opportunity that comes up. That keeps me busy, too busy at times, but to what end? I want my work to be about much more than making a living. I want to make a difference to people, to serve people well, to help them discover their own purpose in life and develop the courage to live into that. Rereading Collins’s article has helped me dive deeper into that process. If purpose is something you’re exploring right now—for yourself or for your organization—take a look.

Image by cobblucas. Used under CC BY 2.0 license.

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