FEW TIPS HOW TO STAY FOCUSED TO YOUR GOALS

In the busy lifestyle of today, I’m facing problems focusing on my main goals. I keep distracting myself all the time and forget what the priorities of my life are. Distraction of work, home, friends, socializing, events and everything else constantly compete for my attention and dedicated time. It takes time to stay focused and achieving our goals and it’s so easy to fail. As a result we often give up and think our goal is unachievable.

I love people who have goals in life. Means they are fighters, ambitious, and want to achieve something in their life. Obviously, I met plenty of people who don’t have goals in life, they are happy with their job or car, the country they live in, and they don’t want anything more. Wow, that’s unbelievable for me and I don’t even want to be friend with such people. So, this article is definitely not for them!

Most of the people like to set up a list of goals at the beginning of every year. Well, I do it twice: at the beginning of the year and on my birthday, in the morning. This is fun and is the first step in making a significant progress on those goals. First of all, you have to understand what you want your goals to be, before starting doing something!

There can be many reasons for our waning interests, such as not seeing visible progress as quickly as we’d like, so we begin to feel that our efforts are a waste of time. Or we feel confused about the steps we need to take to make our dream a reality.

Since this is a common problem for many people, I’m going to offer some helpful tips to re-fuel your fire:

            Concentrate on 1- 3 goals. Pick 1-3 goals, which are the most important to you, and stick to them. Don’t bother yourself with other goals, until these goals are achieved.

In this way, you’ll make much more progress, compared to when you juggle across 4-7 goals and make little progress in them.

Create a vision board. Creating a vision board helps you to visualize your end goals more clearly, which definitely will inspire you to take consistent action. Get the pictures which represent your goals and dreams; you can cut them from magazines or print them from the internet. Then stick them to a board and put it in your bedroom or your office, so you could see them every day. Every time you see the board, it motivates you and reminds you to take action so as to move forward.

Create a plan. Build your plan for reaching your goal. Your plan becomes your road map and helps you determine the best course to follow.

If you just set a huge goal, it can be discouraging- especially when you don’t achieve it after some time. When that happens, some people may procrastinate on the goal altogether. That’s why, if you have a plan worked out for your goal, it becomes easier to stick to it. All you have to do is to follow the actions you have planned for the day. Usually, I write down the plan of the next day, right before to go to sleep. So, I’m clear about the plans for the following day and when I sleep, my brain can think about new strategies.

Most of us are great at planning, but not so great at taking the actions! ;-)

Be clear on why you’re pursuing the goals. If you keep giving up on your goals halfway, perhaps you were never serious in them to begin with. For me, if I’m really serious about a goal, I’d never give up on it.

Write about the ways it will improve your life and make you feel more fulfilled. Then make sure to read this description every day, even more than once a day, if you need to. Keep that vision STRONG in your mind.

Do not make a goal out of something you do not have already as a great passion in your life. Use something that inspires you and gives you certainly and confidence. Then plan it much bigger and go for it!

 Discover a purpose to help drive you. Have you ever thought that a purpose is like a driving force just like fuel for a car? Without a reason that is big enough, you will hardly make it.

Is it the million dollars you have in mind or is it the boat you can buy if you accomplish the goal?

Have goal buddies. Goal buddies are people who share similar goals with you. They help to remind you about your goal, spur you when you feel unmotivated, give you new ideas on how to achieve your goal, keep you on track among others. Your goal buddies can be your friends, or people whom you meet with similar interests.

Measure  your progress. Record your daily progress. This can tell us if we are on track or if we need to make adjustments to either our plan or activities. You need to measure your progress on a regular basis as it gives you some control.

 Minimize distractions. Get rid of as much temptation as possible that deviates from your focus on your goal. If for example your goal is to exercise more and you have identified watching TV as a distraction, don’t turn on the TV until you have achieved the tasks relating to your goal. Saying Yes to your big goals means that you must say No to other things. Decide what can or should be eliminated from your schedule. This might be socializing, spending time on social media, getting caught in funny videos on YouTube, or watching television.

Work your goals into your daily plan. Do something towards achieving your goals every day. The best way to achieve your goals and maintain your focus is to do something that will make it happen each and every day. Even if it’s only 15 minutes each day, it is better than not doing any goal related activity at all. Give your goal daily attention and you’ll remain more focused and at a better chance of achieving your goal. 

It's even more important to keep a clock beside while you are working, to tell how much time is left to complete each high priority task, same as Facebook engineers and designers are doing.

It’s now known to most people that Thomas Edison failed 999 times before he succeeded in inventing the lamp in the 1000^th trial. But what if Thomas wasn’t focused on his goals? :-)

All successful people know that reaching success is a matter of trying and trying until they get what they want.

If you want to be successful you must focus on goals, in business or personal affairs.

What goals are you working on right now? Are you staying on track toward them, or are you struggling? Let me know your thoughts and tips in the comments…