I don’t know about you but I have never found it easy to achieve what I set for myself as goals. Along the way, the following kinds of things happen:<\/p>\n
Forget it <\/em>– what seemed like a worthwhile goal last week suddenly doesn’t seem that important anymore – probably because the motivation was temporary<\/p>\n I can’t do it<\/em> – this is usually the “gee this is tougher than I thought” thought<\/p>\n I’ll do this some other time<\/em> – you know you need to change but habit kicks in as the usual fallback savior<\/p>\n Here’s a practical strategy for moving forward in the direction of the goal:<\/p>\n In a previous article I mentioned how it is usually more productive to work on the steps that lead to a goal rather than focusing solely on the outcome. Moving forward even if its incremental movement in the direction of a goal is better than procrastinating oneself to a standstill:<\/p>\n 1- Don’t confuse yourself with multiple goals Let’s say you want to be a better communicator.\u00a0 You can get ambitious and think about achieving success on many fronts or you can focus on a single goal such as ” I want to write much better”. This is more specific, and more focused.<\/p>\n 2- Identify the first 2-3 steps<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, enrolling in a writing course, practice writing letters and proposals, find a friend who can offer critique, take part in a competition etc. <\/strong>Doing this forces you to think of practical steps in the direction of your goal. 3- Plan Phase 1 – very very short term<\/strong><\/p>\n The most important element is to take a small first chunk of the plan, ensure its not too difficult and to achieve it. Let’s call this Phase 1. This could simply be to make a call to enrol in a writing course by 5pm tomorrow. The key is that the deadline should be only a few hours away and it should be very do-able.\u00a0 Then congratulate yourself, and plan the next small increment.<\/p>\n This is motivation in small steps – taking small steps before you say “forget it”, before you conclude “I can’t do it” and before procrastination sets in and excitement fizzles out. It’s much easier than mustering motivation for a large goal that may or may not materialize and is several months away..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t know about you but I have never found it easy to achieve what I set for myself as goals. Along the way, the following kinds of things happen: Forget it – what seemed like a worthwhile goal last week suddenly doesn’t seem that important anymore – probably because the motivation was temporary I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-effectiveness","post-preview"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n