How to Achieve Goals
- The One Strategy That Works
Do you want to know how to achieve goals?
There is one strategy that, if you apply it, will ensure you cannot fail in your quest for whatever you want:
Regular, focused action.
This is the slow burn key to success that works for all types of goals.
Whether you want to improve your health, increase your wealth, or simply feel better about life each day, scheduling and taking regular, focused action is all you need to do.
Achieving goals, of course, depends on motivation or desire.
You can desperately want something, but to actually get it, you have to suffer some tough, unpleasant or boring things along the way.
Thinking in terms of time put in, rather than tasks ticked off, shifts the emphasis away from what you resist (i.e. the tough thing to do), and puts the focus on doing it for as long as you feel you want to (as long as you do something).
This mindset shift is enormously beneficial for overcoming procrastination because your internal resistance is reduced.
At some point you will lose the desire to work on a goal -- everyone does.
If you didn’t, it wouldn’t be a goal, which, by it’s very nature, involves a degree of struggle, and a measure of hard work.
Without these, it wouldn’t be a goal; just something that happens to you.
What stops us achieving goals we set for ourselves?
In a word...
Perspective.
The goal appears to be too hard (or too easy), or not to matter. We eventually lose heart and focus which, in turn, means we grind to a halt and give up on the one thing that matters most...
Regular, focused action.
The trouble is that, when it comes to achieving goals, we can often make things more complicated than they need to be.
We forget to slow down and take things one step at a time, trusting that we’ll get there in the end.
SMART goal setting has it’s benefits, but it’s also responsible for taking the fun and focus away from the journey, replacing it with more pressure and a constricting, even unhealthy, emphasis on the destination.
How to achieve goals when you’re not motivated to do so
How do you keep taking steps forward when you’ve lost the will to do so?
Here are three ideas to try...
1. Change your focus
Most goals are achieved by dealing with a number of different elements.
If you’re getting stale, shift your focus to something else that has to be done.
Read or watch something related to it that inspires you, instead.
2. Reduce the time you work on it
This is a great technique for getting something done.
Set a timer and work on your goal for whatever length of time you can face it for. Even it’s only for a few minutes, you’ll often find it has a positive effect on how you feel about what you want to achieve.
3. Remind yourself why you set your goal
Knowing how to achieve goals depends on having good reasons for wanting them.
We all do better when we have a reason, so re-discover yours and get back into the habit of moving yourself towards what you want.
* * *
The key is consistency.
If you put in some time on a daily basis, or at least on a regular basis, and that time is spent doing something worthwhile and relevant, you’ll eventually achieve your goal.
Obviously, the more time you put in each day, the quicker you’ll get what you want. (If you’re familiar with the Pareto Principle, you’ll achieve it even sooner).
Be careful, though. Your goal is only part of your life.
Good time management is important to help keep things in perspective and to maintain a healthy life balance.
If you want to know how to achieve goals, be patient, take one step at a time, and look for the pleasure in the process.
You may even find you enjoy the journey...
Do you need to get a better balance in your life?
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