It feels good when we accomplish what we set out to do. We like the feeling of confidence that completing something brings to us and the skip it puts in our step! When we are able to take consistent steps toward our goals, the success of each step taken builds trust in our ability to create what we want. So if success makes us feel so good, what gets in the way of that joyful experience?
There are three culprits that tend to derail us:
1) Feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of a project—paralysis sets in;
2) Unable to organize the steps into bite-sized chunks—more overwhelm;
3) Lack of consistent effort toward the goal—we lose focus.
When we set goals and fall short of reaching them, we lose trust in our ability to keep the commitments we’ve made to ourselves. When a lack of success becomes a pattern, it robs us of our ability to create a life we want. We lose faith in ourselves and often end up with destructive behavior that creates its own set of problems (overeating, numbing with television, too much alcohol, too much sugar, etc.).
I’m going to share with you a single exercise that will help you to make huge inroads toward thwarting each of these sabotaging factors. It’s a simple exercise, so simple that you may question the power of it. However, I didn’t say it was easy. It does demand you do it consistently for it to be effective.
Here it is. Are you ready! Drum roll please . . .
WRITE DOWN FIVE GOALS A DAY. Make them easy and then do them.
That’s it. Only five. They can be easy as you like and require very little time to accomplish. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you do them every day. I want you to start with small steps so that you can begin a pattern of experiencing consistent success. That’s the key! It’s amazing how it adds up over the course of a month. Do it for thirty days and you will have reached 150 goals in a month! More importantly, by that time you will have established a powerfully positive pattern in your life.
It will show you that you can create!
The goals can be anything you want to accomplish. Examples might include errands you want to run (drop off a letter at the post office; pay the water bill; return a phone call), steps you want to take toward long-term goals (go for a walk; eat a healthy lunch; call the bank about setting up a savings account), or things you want to create (pick out colors for a room you want to paint; fill out an online application for a new job; go to bed at a consistent time).
Set your goals in the morning before you start your day. Keep a pad and pencil by your bed so when you wake up you can think about your day and write down your five goals. If you tend to be a procrastinator, try writing down the time of day that you are committing to do each of the goals. That way, you won’t sabotage yourself by telling yourself that you can do it later, which is the procrastinator’s mantra!
If you fall short of one of your goals, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, ask yourself what you did that got in the way. It will probably be a familiar sabotage. Learn from it and think of what you can do to replace it. For example, one of my sabotages is to put off the things I don’t like to do. I can come up with the most clever justifications for delaying them indefinitely! If I discover I’m doing that when doing this exercise, I break the goal into smaller chunks and spread it over two or three days so that it feels manageable. Much to my surprise, when I actually start the task, I often get “into” it and actually finish it, doing more than I committed to! Now that’s success.
Lastly, keep the five goals with you so that they don’t fall off your radar. Put them on a note in your pocket, on your phone, on a sticky note pasted to your laptop, or on the kitchen counter. Make them visible.
This simple exercise will give you confidence in yourself, make you more productive, and create more order in your life. It’s a great tool for your toolbox. Let me know how it works out for you!