It’s pretty easy to set yourself up for success but so few people don’t do it.
If you’re like me, you set goals. Sometimes you write them down, sometimes not. Either way those goals take up space in your mind and you either act on them or you don’t.
What makes us set goals then sit back and wait for them to happen?
Basic human psych (and I’m no psychologist but I am 44 so I’ve done lots of “market research”. Mostly at cocktail parties) says that we often fail to achieve our goals because we fail to start.
Yep, “failure to start”. It’s an epidemic. How many times have you said that you’ll do this that or the other only to slough it off later? We all do it. You’re not special that way.
So, how do you set yourself up to succeed instead of fail? There are a million books written about this but really it’s not that complicated.
First off you have to stop listening to the voice in your head that says that you are not good enough or that you’ve failed in the past. That nasty wee voice is the #1 dream killer and if you can invalidate it you’ll be that much closer to achieving your goals.
Second, you have to write these things down. I know you’ve heard it before and maybe you think because the goals are in your head and you re-visit them often, it’s unnecessary. Nothing could be further from the truth on that one. The simple act of articulating your goals, on paper or computer, will bring you closer to them.
If you still don’t believe me try this exercise:
1. grab a blank piece of paper
2. in the middle write down your goal in fairly big letters and in green ink (trust me, there’s a reason for the green) circle the goal.
3. think of all the things that need to be done to achieve it. i.e. if the goal is “health” then you may have “lost weight”, “drink less”, “exercise 3x/week” as some of your action items.
4. sit back and look at the “map” (we’ll call it a map because it’s directions to your goal)
Now, every decision you make today will either drive you toward that goal (going for a walk) or away from it (having a beer) Each time you take action look at the map and see how it moves you toward or away from your goal.
You can do this exercise for everything in your life. Career, big screen tv, raising kids, anything.
These 2 simple acts of re-directing the voice in your head to be positive and creating a map to your goals will have you succeeding in no time!
Good luck with it. I hope you found this article helpful!
