7 Tips for Accomplishing your Goals in Bite Sized Pieces
When it comes to accomplishing our goals were encouraged to reach for the stars and set big hairy audacious goals. Although its great to be ambitious when we set goals like this, we get so overwhelmed by how were going to actually manage to accomplish such things that we dont bother to take action in the first place. As a result our goals simply remain unrealized dreams.
With a few changes in the way we do things and the adoption of some simple mindsets we can make progress towards our goals much faster.
Most people never take action or stop half way to the goal line because they bite off more than they can chew. Eventually the goal they have in mind goes from being the pursuit of a dream to a daily chore. As a result they lose the motivation to work on a goal and before they know it the goal is yet another thing they didnt follow through on.
By starting with bite sized pieces, our view of how much progress weve made shifts dramatically. Lets say you want to write a book. Rather than concerning yourself with finishing the whole book, focus on finishing the first chapter or even the first page. Its far less daunting and you will actually feel a sense of accomplishment as opposed to feeling like youre goal is so far off.
The only way to get any sort of result is to take action towards a goal. By taking action every single day you create momentum. As momentum increases, the results taken from your action will become much more substantial, and eventually youll be at a point where you actually cant stop because youve reached the point of no return.
When you assess the progress towards a goal you have choices. You can! either focus on how far you have to go or look at how far youve come. When you do the latter, it tends to motivate and inspire you. When you do the former it demoralizes and demotivates you. Were so caught up in getting to where we want to go that we forget to enjoy the journey and celebrate the small victories along the way.
Setbacks and failure are a part of accomplishing anything worth doing in life. In almost every story of massive success that youll come across, there are MAJOR setbacks that took place. Setbacks are usually opportunity in disguise and we have to remember that sometimes well take 2 steps back in order take 20 steps forward. If you look back over the course of your life youll notice the serendipitous nature of setbacks.
Many people tend to give up on a goal when they feel stuck or as though there is not light at the end of tunnel. One of the best ways to get past this is to adopt that attitude belief that when you feel the most frustrated and most ready to give up, youre on the verge of a major breakthrough. It would be a shame to make so much progress towards a goal and abandon the pursuit in your final hours. Often, accomplishment occurs on the final hours of a goal.
We live in a world today where people seem intent on moving a million miles an hour. As a result people suffer from anxiety and diseases that didnt exist before we got ourselves in such a hurry. Its important to make a point daily to take a break from everything and do something without any purpose other than for the enjoyment of whatever youre doing. Dont walk for the sake of exercise. Just walk for the sake of walking.
Our need for instant gratification is so strong that when we dont see a result form something were working on immediately we become tempted to abandon its pursuit. But consider the actions you take the seeds that you ! plant in order for your goal to come to fruition. If you pull those seeds out of the ground to check on the progress of their growth youre essentially starting the process all over again. So, let nature take its course and stay detached from the outcome.
Treat your goals as part of the game of life and dont take everything so seriously. If you do that youll find yourself not only enjoying the process but making much more progress.
Written on 10/04/2011 by Srinivas Rao. Srinivas is the author of the Skool of Life, where he writes about surfing, personal development, and things you never learned in school but should have. If youre ready to to become a student, check out his FREE course on the 7 most valuable lessons they never taught in school. You can follow him on twitter @skooloflife.Photo Credit: caitlinator
