A Dog With A Bone

For many people, “a dog with a bone” is just an expression in the English language but growing up in Nigeria, seeing ‘a dog with a bone’ was a daily occurrence. This is because most people will offer left over meat and bones to their dogs. Also the dogs will come closer once they see you eating expecting and knowing some treats would come their way.

When a dog is thrown a tricky bone, one often sees them taking the bone to a quiet space and settling down for the battle that will ensue – the battle to consume every edible part of the bone. You see what appears to be a dance between the dog and the bone as the dog seeks to find a comfortable and productive angle to reach every last ounce of the meat.

Having watched this dance growing up, I have an appreciation for the expression to ‘be like a dog with a bone’. This expression can be used negatively and positively with synonyms for the expression including determined, dogged, stubborn, ambitious, persistent, aggressive, dedicated, heroic, earnest, aspirational and relentless.

All these are really powerful words but the one I want to focus on is ‘Relentless’. In Lean project methodology and Lean thinking, I came across the phrase, ‘relentless pursuit of perfection’. This phrase caught and has held my attention for decades now.

It’s what makes a project manager to always believe more can be done to make a business, process or service offering better. It’s what makes one to aim for zero defects or ‘mistake-proof’ solutions.

On a personal level, being relentless can be the difference between goal setting and successfully achieving our goals.

At this time of the year, many of us have goals to kickstart our health by setting goals to support our physical wellbeing. This could include taking 10,000 steps a day, getting back to the gym, going out for a run or getting back into nature.

This is also the time when it’s dark and cold, there is rain, snow, sleet, frost, fog and icy patches. You already know where I am going with this; the conditions that would make going for a run attractive aren’t necessary there.

People who are relentless in their attitude are the ones who will see and push past the ‘less-than-ideal’ conditions to still do what they need to do to get the result they want. They are the ones who will remain dogged and consistent in the face of challenges and more than likely the ones who will end the year having achieved what they set out to do.

This is a quality I want to become better at demonstrating this year. I want to be like a dog with a bone with the key goals on my list.

The question to you is what do you need to be relentless with?

What is that one goal or top three goals that you don’t want to end the year without having achieved? Those are the ones you want to become relentless and dogged about letting nothing get in the way of your progress.

So what can we do with the written goals that we truly care about?

Be relentless in making the right choices every single day

Be relentless in forming the right habits

Be relentless in your mindset

Be relentless with the actions that move you towards your goals

Be relentless with maintaining your sanity and your overall wellbeing

Be a relentless learner and grow each day

Relentlessly measure your progress and take corrective actions as needed

Relentlessly live a life of gratitude

Thanks for reading my post this week. Here is to being a ‘dog with a bone’ until we achieve our desired results. See you next week.