Many years ago I was introduced to “Stop, Start, Continue.” It is often used for team-based improvement. I like to use it to periodically to review my current life in relation to how I want my life to be.
I look at my goals that I am trying to achieve and apply the formula. For example, let’s say one of my goals was to travel abroad to places I haven’t been before. My “stop” might be to decrease money spent on unnecessary items. My “start” might be to start a savings account for future travel. My “continue” might be to continue doing research on where to visit.
What I like about this formula is that it can work for most anything. Last year I applied the formula to my marketing. I decided to stop doing my podcast, start reaching out to psychiatrists for referrals through mailings and to continue to do my newsletter.
Often we continue to do things because we have always done them whether they are working for us anymore or not. We need to think about what we can stop doing to make room for things we want to start doing. We can’t always be starting things if we never stop anything. We would simply run out of time. When I want to start something new I try to remember to figure out something I can stop doing to make space for the new thing.
People affected by ADHD often get caught up in the “bright, sparkly and new” and don’t think about what they should continue to be doing and what they should stop doing.
When you are making plans or re-evaluating a goal think about what you could “Stop, start, continue” doing.