Achieving Goals
Create reasons not excuses. Even during those times when you have no choice but to be out of balance, for example a work project is taking up most of your time, there’s no reason why you cannot set aside a mere five minutes toward a goal.
If you want to author a book, you can write a paragraph in five minutes. You can edit it later on but you can’t edit a blank page. If you want to start your own business, you can write down one paragraph or several notes of a business plan in five minutes. By the end of the month, all those five minutes will turn into something bigger.
It’s like a snowball effect. You start small and continue rolling that snowball down the hill. Before you know it, you have a boulder of success coming your way.
Being goal oriented is good, up to a point. Some people are obsessed with getting things done. People who obsess about getting things done, put everybody and everything before their own hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Then, suddenly, they look around and their life is moving faster as time goes on. They’ve reached a certain age and all of their hopes, dreams, and aspirations are nowhere in sight.
Don’t be addicted to getting things done for everyone and everything. Put yourself on the schedule. Put your dreams on your to-do list. Be addicted to getting things done for you, and more importantly for your dreams.
Put it down on paper. There’s no better or faster way to achieve a goal then to put it down on paper. Have you ever noticed how the items on your to-do list get done when you write them down and refer back to them?
If you have goals, dreams and aspirations or you simply want to enjoy more of life’s simple pleasures, put it down on paper. If you want to spend more time in nature, put it down on paper. If you want to walk down by the beach, write it down. Believe it or not, it becomes more tangible and real if you put it down on paper. You can now look at it as a goal or an item, which is incomplete, if you don’t follow through. Putting things in writing makes them more effective.
Break it up into smaller sections. When a task looks like a mountain, it will feel that way until you break it up into smaller stepping stones. If you have a task to complete, break it up into smaller chunks. Take the project apart from start to finish and spend a few minutes each day breaking it down.
If you want to rent your basement out, for example, and you go down there and look at how many days and hours it will take to achieve the goal and simply throw your hands up and walk away, break it up into smaller chunks.
Give yourself 15 minutes per day, each day, where you clean out one box or one corner. Before you know it, the basement is cleaned out and you are ready to move on to the next step. It’s important that you do not exceed the 15-minute time limit. Once the 15 minutes is up, go on to the next task.
Take one small step each day even if you don’t feel like it. This is probably one of the most important tips. Take one, small actionable step every day. If you want to achieve goals, you must realize the thoughts in your head will create your life to show up as it is.
If you feel that a dream is unreachable or unobtainable, then it will be. However, if you take one small actionable step each day, you will soon realize your goals and dreams and you will be living life to the fullest.
You might even ask yourself how you got there so quickly. Our dreams are so important to us and when we think about how they show up in our heads, they are these grand visions. Maybe yours is of a mansion in California or an acceptance speech at the Oscars. Then we check out and tell ourselves those dreams are too big and too unrealistic.
If you want to become an actor, take on extra work to pay for some acting classes. If you want to author a book, write one paragraph per day. Small actionable steps can add up to large measurable results.
Get an accountability partner. Grab a partner and share the experience. For example, if want to lose weight ask someone who is dependable, honest, and capable to help keep you on track. Don’t do it alone. You may also want to consider the following ideas to help you focus on being accountable to yourself.
- Record your progress.
- Pay a fine.
- Join a mastermind group.
- Put a timer on it.