PRODUCTIVITY
It’s Time To Recapture Your Focus and Get Your Priorities Back on Track
How to do the most you can with the time you have left
A common trait of the successful is to keep tabs on how they’re doing. For example, they set benchmarks throughout the year to evaluate progress and determine if they’re on track with their goals.
Four months ago, many of us were writing down our resolutions and making commitments to stop smoking, get a better job, find a spouse, lose weight, and hundreds of other wanted changes in our lives.
How’s everyone doing?
According to U.S. News and World Report, as cited in an article by Marla Tabaka on Inc., not very well.
Eighty percent of us have not only given up, but we’ve also forgotten about our resolutions completely. That leaves only twenty percent who are still taking action — those who will actually accomplish any kind of lasting change.
The problem?
The vast majority of our resolutions are destined to become nothing more than nice little wishes, quickly forgotten and buried in the hustle-bustle of everyday living. And as the years pass, we find ourselves looking back on a field of gravestones etched with excuses . . .
“It was impossible to stay on my diet. The company had me traveling most of the month, and you know how fattening restaurant food is.”
“I fully intended to begin that Spanish course, but the kids started little league and then the basement flooded, and then …”
“I tried to schedule an hour a day to write, but with the new project at work starting, and the extra paperwork, something had to give.”
Feeling a twinge of regret, we mourn our good intentions and then quickly move on.
Does that mean that eighty percent of us are predisposed to failure because of the existing circumstances in our lives? On the surface, it might seem that way. But it actually goes much deeper than that.
It’s more about our motivation — the emotion that excites us and drives us to take action — becoming diluted with the everyday demands of life. And it happens to all of us. None of us are immune.
So what sets the productive twenty percent — the ones who follow through with their plans to create a new business, or find a new life partner, or shed an extra fifty pounds — apart from those who remain stuck in a life they desperately want to change?
The successful twenty percent are always ready to pick up the pieces and start over.
And they’ve realized they don’t need to wait until next January to do it.
Ready to join the productive twenty percent? Start by realizing the calendar is an arbitrary reason for setting new life objectives. If there’s something you really want to do, start now by pulling out the goals and resolutions you made four months ago, and use the following questions and suggestions to revise and re-prioritize your efforts.
Do you have too many goals?
It’s only normal to want to change everything at once — to attempt a total life makeover. But trying to accomplish too many changes at the same time often keeps us from doing anything.
For example, when consulting with my clients I’ll often suggest this exercise: If you had ten goals and failed to make progress on any of them, choose the three that still mean the most to you — the ones that would make a real difference in your life.
Next, prioritize those three goals even further by asking yourself which one is a must-have. The majority of failed objectives result from the activities in your current schedule over-riding the priority of your new goal. And it makes the truth painfully clear: If you haven’t made any progress on a particular goal, it was never a must have.
Pursuing more than one goal at a time also invites conflicting behavior and intentions.
For example, if one of your goals is to save fifteen percent of your income to start an investment fund, and you also want to buy a new home, replace your aging car, and increase your charitable contributions, you have a major conflict.
Choose one objective– the most important one to you — and start. Save the others to review in six months from now.
Do your goals belong to someone else?
In helping my clients work through their goal-setting strategies, the largest hurdle is overcoming the need to set goals to impress or meet the expectations of family, friends, or business associates. In practice, this type of strategy usually leads to disappointment in the long term.
Personal goals — as opposed to goals you set in behalf of your employer or those determined for you by management — should serve and benefit your desired outcome. If a strong dose of self-evaluation makes it clear you’ve been following the wrong path, don’t be reluctant to stop pursuing something you no longer want.
Many of those I’ve counseled with over the years have expressed their concern about what others will think. In reality, feeling apprehensive over the possibility of being labeled a quitter is a strong indication the goal is no longer appropriate for you.
Get your priorities back on track!
Once you have your number one goal or objective identified, use the following 4 guidelines to re-prioritize your time and resources to create the future you really want.
1. Determine the first step, then take it
Knowing your first step — and taking it — recharges your confidence and gives you a sense of new direction. This is also an excellent test to determine how realistic your goals are. If you have no idea how to start, you may be trying to pursue an unrealistic fantasy — another distraction that moves you further from making real and desirable changes in your life.
On the other hand, if you’re stumped due to a lack of knowledge, your first step becomes researching the process and learning how others have accomplished the same or similar objective.
2. Expect the fear
This is especially true if your goal is centered on career change. The biggest concern is typically financial. It’s difficult to put your economic security at risk — until you realize it’s always at risk. Our future income — as employees or entrepreneurs — is never guaranteed.
If you’re currently employed, keep your job until you’re ready to replace it. If there must be a transition between your old income and the new, plan for it. Stop buying what you don’t need. No more eating out or buying five dollar coffees, or committing to a new lease payment because you want to drive the latest model automobile.
Saving what you’ve been spending on luxury purchases can be a vital first step to investing in your new future.
3. Don’t let money goals misguide your real purpose in life
Setting a goal of having enough money to pay all the bills at the end of the month describes a problem, not a goal.
And while having more money is often the result of setting new monetary goals, increasing your financial freedom can also result from accomplishing a specific life change, for example, starting a new career, learning new skills, or starting your own business.
4. Above all, decide that now is the time to take action
None of us want a life filled with boredom or frustration, and that’s the common result of failing to follow through on our plans and goals.
The years pass quickly and, before we know it, we’ve settled into a comfortable rut. Maybe you’ve been too busy responding to life’s little “emergencies” and can’t seem to get back on track. But we each receive a very limited number of years to accomplish our dreams.
“Your first goal should be to do the most with the time you have left.” — Roger A. Reid, Ph.D.
© 2021 Roger A. Reid. All Rights Reserved.
Listen to the podcast of this episode at SuccessPoint360
Roger A. Reid, Ph.D. is the host of Success Point 360 Podcast and author of Better Mondays and Speak Up. A certified NLP trainer with degrees in engineering and business, Roger offers tips and strategies for achieving higher levels of career success and personal fulfillment in the real world.