The results of tomorrow begin with the seeds we plant today. We all want to accomplish more yet somehow find ourselves coming up short. It’s as if the day is structured differently for those we see being successful.
Surprisingly, we all have the same amount of time in our days. It’s actually we choose to focus on that makes the difference. So how do we go about accomplishing more? Simple, by focusing on less. That’s the short answer, let’s dive into it a little further:
Pick a goal to accomplish
This should be self-explanatory but let’s break it down. Do you ever notice that when you pick a goal, it seems as if tons of other possible things appear? This is often due to lack of focus and being mesmerized by the shiny new thing syndrome.
When it comes to accomplishing things focus is absolutely necessary. Things will appear all the time to distract us but when it comes down to it, what we remain focused on wins.
Picking out a goal can be a very stressful process for some and if you’re like me it can also be a time consuming process. Over the years I’ve learned a few things on picking the right idea. Much of it comes down to timing. Some ideas may be great but poorly timed when released, others may be absolutely horribly no matter when released.
If you haven’t already put together a list of all the ideas you’d love to work on, take a moment to do that now. Spend 15-30 minutes to write down all the ideas you may have, no matter how ridiculous and once your time limit is up, save your document or put your writing instrument down.
Next, on a scale of 1 to 5, rank each goal based on how much it resonates to you. Now take each goal that you’ve given a 5 and put this in your short list. From here things may get easier or a little tougher depending on your perspective. With your shortlist, utilizing the same scale rank each idea based on how feasible it is to accomplish at this moment or over the next month.
At this point, the goal that ranks the highest as most feasible is the one you go with.
Give it proper resources
You can’t expect a goal to succeed if you give it a half-hearted attempt. Put your all into it so that at the end when asked if you gave it your best, you can answer without hesitation, YES!
Much like a plant, you can’t just stick it in the dirt and never water or feed it. Your goal needs water and food too. You feed your goals by how much time you dedicate to working on it, or how much you choose to spend on it in terms of capital. Whatever you choose to do, give your goal what it needs to succeed. That way when it’s all said and done, regardless of failure or success you’ll know that you gave it your all.
If necessary, schedule time to work on your goals and don’t try to do everything at once. Spend less time with those tv shows in the afternoon, spend less time spreading gossip, spend less time hating on others and spend more time doing you.
Life is more than simply going through the motions and somehow ending up lucky. Intentional action is the only way one moves the needle from mediocre and average to great.
Dedicate yourself to seeing it through
A great piece of advice I heard from a comedian, is “always finish your set”, this was something my mom would hammer into me by way of the saying “If a task was once begun, never leave it till it’s done…be your labour great or small…do it well, or not at all.”
It’s easy to want to quit a task, especially if things don’t seem to be working out in the way you want it to, however in the end you are doing more damage to your personal development than most realize.
Not every task you work on will be pleasant. Some things that are necessary for a business or brand to grow are downright mundane tasks. This doesn’t mean that you can’t make them fun. Instead of viewing them as boring or bland tasks, view them as things that unlock the freedom to do the things you truly enjoy.
Preparation is key
One of my favorite hobbies is baking, mostly sugary goodness type delectables. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t just jump into baking. You need to have certain things ready, especially when it comes to baking bread. Things like yeast, water, salt and sugar all go into making the perfect loaf.
When it comes to accomplishing goals the same process applies.
Meaning the environment we create in affects how the process unfolds. Without proper planning you can quickly run into a situation and not be able to handle the things thrown at you, simply because you didn’t take the time to make sure there were resources available.
Take the time to write down the things you’ll need in order to make a goal a reality.
Celebrate the achievement
This doesn’t mean go all out and blow your bank account. Celebrating your goals could be something simple and fitting of the accomplishment. For example, one of my daily goals is to write, each day that I do, I celebrate by a simple yay, getting my favorite drink from Starbucks and move on to the next one. However, each day that I don’t, I try to avoid the mindset of being negative towards myself and simply pick up from where I left off.
Your celebration doesn’t have to be something grand, it simply just has to be meaningful.
As creatives and entrepreneurs, we often fail to celebrate the little wins that make up the bigger ones. Because we’re so close to what we’ve been working on when it leaves our safe space and enters the world, we often fail to realize the true significance of what we’ve been able to accomplish.
To create is to feel. Feel the win of what you’ve been able to accomplish, learn from it and allow the experience to not go by wasted. Above all remain humble.
Repeat
Consistency in achieving small goals is how one builds to achieving greater goals. It’s easy to get stuck in the celebration phase because it’s one that feels good. But guess what? Time keeps moving and so should you.
The only way you can reach where you need to be is by continuously tackling the obstacles before you. The more you do, the more it becomes second nature. The more your confidence will build around the subject matter and the more you’ll be able to contribute to those around you.
While the steps above may be simple, they do require a bit of effort on your part to truly be successful. Remember, at the end of the day it comes down to the choices you make.
So what will you choose today?
