If you’re going to reach your business goals, you have to be structured and organised. We all know this – that a little planning and sticking to the plan will get you where you want to be.
But… what if you could reach some of your long-term goals faster than you predict? It is possible, if you change how you do certain things.
Here’s how many of us work our goals: inspiration hits, and we work like madmen (or madwomen) until a) we finish the project or b) abandon it because it’s too hard, it has become too boring, or something else captures our attention. This is a recipe for repeated failure! Here’s how to do it right and actually get things done, fast:
1. Use your imagination to work backwards. This helps you visualise what needs to happen. It helps you create a workable, sustainable plan of action, breaking it down from the big goal to intermediate goals, to daily actions.
2. Do a little every day. Let’s say your business would get a huge boost if you wrote a book. Does your timeline say, “complete book by year’s end”? Well, that’s lovely, but are you scheduling time EVERY DAY to write? Don’t wait around for inspiration! Don’t wait around for extra time! Nothing is going to happen unless you make it happen! Inspiration comes easily when you roll up your sleeves and get to work. Extra time magically appears when you work on your goal every single day. And… discipline yourself. Do your most important tasks when you are mentally and physically fresh. You’ll blast through whatever needs doing with enthusiasm and energy. This good feeling will stay with you all day, making it easy to create a habit of daily action (the good feeling, as well as seeing major progress, is your daily reward for making yourself do it!).
3. Make it public. The more people you tell about your goal, the more real it will become in your head. And you never know – you might casually mention your goal to someone and they might have the answer to a question that’s been holding you back!
4. Make it simple. Don’t chase too many rabbits. Narrow your focus to a few key goals.
5. Track it. Keep a daily log (or journal or diary) of what you’ve done that day for each goal. This will help motivate you as well as point out the precise moment (decision) you may have made a mistake.
6. The secret ingredient? Be present. Be here, now. Give everything you do (not just your projects and goals) 100% attention. You’ll get everything done faster and better because of your full concentration.
You can do more than you think you can, if you set your mind to it!
Inspired by a post on http://lifedev.net/