5 Ways To Stay Focused On Your Goals Year-Round

5 Ways To Stay Focused On Your Goals Year-Round

by | Leadership, Productivity

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January 1st is in the rearview mirror. Do you remember the goals and resolutions you made in January?

I’m human too so I know what it’s like to start the year with great life-changing goals and resolutions only to see them fizzle out after a few weeks.

You’re not alone; this is totally normal. Staying focused on our goals is not easy. You have to be totally intentional about it.

Gyms sell close to 90% of their memberships in January with the expectation that the majority of the people who signed up will stop coming by February and March

Over the years through trial and error, I’ve learned that goal-setting is both art and science. It’s an art because you need a process that is personal and works for YOU. 

And it’s a science because there’s a lot of research out there on the most effective and ineffective ways of setting and executing goals. 

I don’t have to tell you this, but if you’re reading this you know the importance of setting goals. The problem isn’t lack of information, the real issue is most of us don’t stick with our goals throughout the year.

It’s hard to stay committed to long-term goals because life gets messy. We get busy, take new responsibilities, have major life changes, or get distracted so we gradually take the easier path and go back to our regular routines.

Two things to keep in mind.

  • Human beings are more emotional creatures. Emotions play a huge role in determining what actions we take or don’t take. Personal development guru Jim Rohn said, “We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation.”

So here five things that are helping me keep stay focused on my goals.

WRITE IT DOWN

“People forget, but paper remembers.” I know this is captain obvious, but you MUST write down your goals. There’s a lot of research showing that people who write their goals have a higher chance of accomplishing them. 

When I used to make New Year’s resolutions I never wrote them down. I filed them away in my mental cabinet which is so good I never thought about them again.  

And to take it further, you can write down your goals weekly or even daily.

LESS IS MORE

When I started taking goal setting seriously I focused on 7 to 8 goals per year. The more the better, right?

Wrong. 

You can do more by focusing on less. Goal-setting is a highly personal thing so while focusing on 7 to 8 goals can work for some people, it also makes it much harder to focus.

Let’s be honest. If it’s hard to accomplish one goal now, can you really achieve 7 or 8 really important things at the same time? 

I don’t know if there’s a magic number, but thanks to a push from psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy, I’m focused on just three goals.  Just thinking about the difference between 3 and 8 makes me feel better (remember we are emotional beings).  

SEE YOUR GOALS DAILY

On top of writing your goals, put them in places where you’ll be forced to see them. Write them on a 3×5 card, a notebook, or on a piece of paper you carry in your wallet/purse.  David Goggins puts them on his accountability mirror.

On the front of a 3×5 card, I wrote my big three goals for the year and on the back, I wrote my big three smaller goals (targets) for the month. I leave the card in my daily planner so that each time I open it I’m forced to pick up the card (this is what behavioral scientist BJ Fogg, author of Tiny Habits, calls a “Prompt” which is something that forces you to remember to do a certain behavior.)

JOURNAL ABOUT YOUR GOALS

When done intentionally, Journaling has amazing benefits and can be a great tool for gaining clarity. When writing about one’s goals or future, putting pen to paper helps cement those ideas in your head.

You can journal about your progress towards achieving those goals. You can describe what it will feel like after you accomplish your goals.

You can even journal as if you’ve already achieved your goals.

USE AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

Share your goals with one person you trust or a small group of close people and that will put some positive pressure on you. And if you want to take it to the next level, give that person or group permission to ask you about your progress. 

To take it even further, send them a check for $50 (or some painful amount) and tell them that if you don’t accomplish your goals they can cash it. 

These five tips don’t mean I will execute on my goals, but by simplifying them and keeping them top of mind it makes it much easier for me to accomplish them.

What are you doing to follow through on your goals?

Are You Focused on Doing More or Doing Less?

Are You Focused on Doing More or Doing Less?

by | Productivity

What makes some people so productive? How does Beyoncé get so much done? How does Richard Branson have time to manage hundreds of companies and still have time for family?

And if we all have 24 hours, why are some people doing so much more with the same amount of time?

There’s no limit to the number of blog posts and videos sharing productivity hacks. And there are a bunch of best-selling books promising to show us how to “Get Things Done”.

After absorbing a bunch of productivity-focused blogs, videos, and books as well as combining it with my life experiences I’ve picked up on three main philosophies for living a productive life. Later on, I’ll post about the productivity tips but for now, I want to focus on the common thread.

FOCUS ON THE RIGHT THINGS FIRST

One of the traps of productivity is that we’re starting off by trying to be as productive as possible. Instead, shouldn’t we focus on being as effective as possible? If you’re doing the wrong things fast (efficiently) you’re still working on things that don’t move the needle.

Effectiveness starts with having clarity about what’s important to you and focusing on that.

So, how do you gain clarity?

We have to decide where to invest our time, energy, and talents. The word “decide” originates from the term “to cut off”. It’s not just about what you want, it’s just as important to know what you don’t want.

OBSESS ABOUT A FEW THINGS ONLY

Have you ever noticed that people who achieve uncommon goals and projects are obsessed? I know that obsession is normally seen as something negative, but what if we’re fanatical about stuff that’s important to us?

We’re living during the greatest epidemic of WMD (Weapons of Mass Distraction). Each time we sit in front of a computer there’s a competition of willpower between your ability to focus and the pull of social media, Youtube, Netflix, useless political news, answering email, and of course celebrity gossip updates.

There’s no limit to the types of distractions out there. In order to be a producer, a healthy dose of obsession with whatever we’re working on is a requirement, especially today.  

FINISH WHAT YOU START

Goals, projects, and tasks that are not completed have zero chances of being successful. Antoine de Saint-Exupery (I don’t who he is but his quote is EVERYWHERE.) said,

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

It sounds absolutely crazy to say this but the most important thing in productivity is to finish what we start.

Sounds simple, right? Well, like Brendan Burchard likes to say, “Common sense isn’t common practice.”

I recently heard someone use the term “uncommon follow-through.” Most people spend a lot of time talking about things they’d like to do, have, or experience but the unfortunate truth is that only a small percentage of people actually start.  And an even smaller percentage of people actually accomplish what they plan.

Most people don’t do what they know they should (quit smoking, exercise, eat more veggies, save for retirement, etc). None of these things are rocket science.

The ability to execute is a skill that eventually becomes a habit. The good news is that we have an opportunity to develop this skill if we treat even the simplest chores, tasks, and items on our to-do lists as an opportunity to build our execution muscles.  

The goal of productivity isn’t to do more. It’s really about cutting off low-value stuff so we can focus on the things we really care about. Find a system that works for you.

So, from these three philosophies which one resonated the most with you and why?