Some people set New Year goals but by the time they reach February or even before that, the whole steam is lost. Have you ever been there? The New Year goals get more attention but it is true for goals set at any other time of the year too. We do have exceptions but why does it happen with the rest of the people?
There is a moment when circumstances or people around you play on your mind and motivate you to do something that you feel strongly or even mildly about. You want to conquer that aspect of your life quickly and declare goals for yourself. However, keeping that level of motivation alive without having those or similar circumstances around is not easy. It is not impossible but difficult. That is why people give up on the goals. What about the people who are successful in achieving their goals? Intentionally or unintentionally they do the following:
1. Set out for outcomes and not goals
There is a thin line which makes a huge difference. When you shift your attention from goals to outcomes, it will help you to remain motivated. Even better, break your outcome into multiple steps or let us call them sub-outcomes. Make each sub-outcome measurable or perceivable depending on what works for you better. Work on achieving one sub-outcome at a time. The positive results of one sub-outcome will motivate you to work on another sub-outcome and so on. This way you would not feel overwhelmed by the big goal even if it is the size of an elephant.
Pick up an old abandoned but still relevant goal of your life and restart your journey following above steps and see the difference for yourself. While being on the journey, it is also important that you assess and reassess your outcomes during the initial phase of your journey to verify your interest.
Ensure that you have not got attracted towards a goal because everybody else is doing it. It should be your own goal driven by your gut. So, whenever you have genuinely felt that the goal was no longer important for you and became irrelevant, don’t blame yourself. Don’t blame your mind and declare it as fickle. It is alright, don’t punish yourself for that. Your mind takes some time to differentiate between a goal that you want to copy and the one that comes from within. Hence the re-assessment.
2. Keep visual reminders for yourself
Visuals make a strong impact on your mind. Make a vision board that identifies your planned journey, ways and means to achieve your sub-outcomes, outcomes and Goals. Keep these boards in a place where you can see them first thing in the morning and last thing at the end of the day besides whatever number of times you can see them during the day. Morning and end of the day is the minimum you should aim. Visual aids help you to connect with that emotion which in the first help triggered you to set out to meet that particular goal. That in turn also takes your motivation level up and continuously inspires you to pursue the goals you have set for yourself. An action happens twice once in your mind and next in the physical realm. So working and strengthening your mental action is as important as the real action. Work on your mental world before the physical.
Are you willing to achieve your Goals through Outcomes?