Why is it that no matter how much we want to achieve something it just doesn’t seem to happen? It’s not as if you don’t know what you need to do to get there, you may even have a plan plus the desire and yet you still haven’t got there.
Are there things in your life that you’ve wanted to change and it seems like it’s been on your list forever, and yet as much as you want it you just can’t seem to make it happen. And on your list of to do’s for another year are the same goals that were there last year and the year before.
It could be that you want to lose weight and get in better shape. Even though you are getting older and things don’t usually get any easier as you age it’s still doable. Perhaps a new career has been in your sites for some time, or there’s something particular that you have wanted to learn to do or experience. Is it going back on your list again because you haven’t achieved it yet? Do you want it to be different this time?
So if you think of a goal as in the sporting sense, in a game of basketball or netball it’s about getting the ball in through the hoop, and soccer or hockey past the goalie and into the goal net. You know there are skills required to play the game but if you get distracted and take your eyes off the ball you are not going to get the goal. If you think about your life goals it’s the same thing. It’s often the distractions that have no bearing on your goal that keeps you away from the success that you want. Let’s be honest life is full of distractions especially the ones that really serve no purpose except to waste your time and energy.
You may say you that you want something really badly and that you are committed to it but is it something that you keep your eye on at all times? For most of us it’s easy to get distracted and take our eye off the ball. We are full of motivation and determination when the topic comes up in a conversation, or when we are making our list of priorities, wants and goals but we let the distractions win even though we know the rules and we know what we have to do to complete the task.
What if you changed the way you do things? When you start the day answering emails, making phone calls and watching TV you can lose hours before you are even aware of the time. Rather than starting your days letting these distractions hook you in, make the choice to not check the emails, leave the television turned off, put your phone away and instead start the day by doing something towards achieving your goal. Even if it’s only a small thing it will help you keep your focus, you will also feel better about yourself for actually taking some action and it will most likely set you up to be more productive during the day. If you do this on an ongoing basis you will soon reach your target.
If it is weight loss or fitness you can start the day by planning how you can eat healthy, finding a healthy recipe or preparing a tasty healthy dish. You may start the day going for a walk or with some form of exercise or finding a new exercise plan that you know you will do and enjoy. If you want to boost your social life too you may want to consider learning to dance. If it’s a new career you’re after, find out what you need to get into that particular field, do research, make appointments and keep them, study, check out the opportunities.
Goals don’t happen on their own you have to set it up and then see it through whether it’s on the soccer field or in your personal life. It’s up to you to do your part.
Start by getting up in the morning and look at your goals which should be written somewhere so you can see them often, ideally put them above your computer screen, on your mirror or somewhere else that’s very visible. Another great thing is to do a visual of what you want. You can make up a poster board of pictures/drawing and words that mean something to you when you’ve done that put it on a wall where you can see it often. It’s amazing how this helps and especially fun when you can look back and see that you have achieved at least some of it.