Getting Things Done

PART THREE
they assume could be better than it currently is. The action ques-
tion forces the issue. If it can be changed, there's some action that
will change it. If it can't, it must be considered part of
the landscape to be incorporated in strategy and tac-
tics. Complaining is a sign that someone isn't willing
to risk moving on a changeable situation, or won't
consider the immutable circumstance in his or her
plans. This is a temporary and hollow form of self-
validation.
Although my colleagues and I rarely promote
our work in this way, I notice people really empower-
ing themselves every day as we coach them in apply-
ing the next-action technique. The light in their eyes
and the lightness in their step increase, and a positive
spark shows up in their thinking and demeanor. We
are all already powerful, but deciding on and effec-
tively managing the physical actions required to
move things forward seems to exercise that power in
ways that call forward the more positive aspects of
our nature.
When you start to make things happen, you really begin to
believe that you can make things happen. And 
that 
makes things
happen.
248
People are always
blaming their
circumstances for
what they are. I
don't believe in
circumstances. The
people who get on
in this world are
the people who get
up and look for the
circumstances they
want, and, if they
can't find them,
- make them.
—
George Bernard
Shaw

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The Power of Outcome Focusing
THE POWER OF directing our mental and imaginative processes to
create change has been studied and promoted in thousands of
contexts—from the early "positive thinking" books to recent dis-
coveries in advanced neurophysiology.
My own interest has been in applying of the principle in
terms of practical reality: Does it help get things done? And if so,
how do we best utilize it in managing the work of our lives? Can
we really use this information in ways that allow us to produce
what we want to have happen with less effort? The answer has
been a resounding yes.
Focus and the Fast Track
Over the years I have seen the application of the method pre-
sented in this book create profound results for people in their day-
to-day worlds. As you begin to use it habitually as your primary
means of addressing all situations—from processing e-mails, to
buying a house or a company, to structuring meetings or having
conversations with your kids—your personal productivity can go
through the roof.
Many of the professionals I have worked with who inte-
grated this method now find themselves experiencing enhanced
or even new jobs and careers. These processes really work in the
arena of the ordinary things we must deal with daily—the stuff
of