This excercies focuses on finding your goals and to lay out a path to achieve these goals.
Start by focusing on what is important to you. At the top of the list lies your ultimate goal. There can be multiple goals, each equally important and achievable as long as they do not contradict each other. It’s all about getting into a mindset of progress.
To define a goal, visualize the feeling you desire. Is it love, a sense of accomplishment, proving a point , or being content with yourself? Now visualize in your mind what connects to this feeling you seek. Separate the ideas into two categories. Category one, the positive category, contains all things that lead toward your goal and can help you achieve it. Category two contains the things that prevent you from reaching your goal.
When you gain a clearer picture of what drives that desire, draw or sketch out everything related to it. A first glimpse of a possible future emerges from all the items in category one.
Try to find the two most valuable things in the positive category. Take your time and weigh your options. Identifying the two most valuable items is crucial; your mindset will then focus on exactly what is necessary to achieve your dreams. If you are certain that there is only one thing leading the way, stick with that and invest everything in pursuing it .
Start by focusing on what is important for you. At the top of the list, there lies your ultimate goal. There can be multiple goals, each equally important and achievable if they do not contradict each other.
To define a goal, visualize what feeling you desire. Is it love, a sense of accomplishment, to have proven a point or to be content with yourself?
Now visualize in your mind, what connects to this feeling you are seeking? Separate the ideas into two categories. Category one, the positive category, contains all things that tend towards your goal, that can help you reach that goal. Category two contains the things that prevent you from reaching your goal.
When you get a clearer picture of what is driving that desire, draw or sketch out everything that is related
Try to find the two most valuable things in the positive category. Take your time and weigh your options.
Identifying the two most valuable things is crucial. Your mindset will focus on exactly what is necessary to achieve your dreams. If you are sure there is only one thing leading the way, stick with that and bet everything on pursuing it.
You have now found your focal item(s). Depending on your focus item, the effort required to utilize it as a means of reaching your desired outcome means breaking the process into smaller steps. No significant goal was achieved with a small task, for it would not be meaningful enough.
Also, depending on your attitude towards procrastination, you might feel overwhelmed, unmotivated, or even scared to get started.
If you feel hindered from taking action, try this: What is the smallest thing you could do? Is it getting up from your chair? Is it grabbing a pencil to sketch out something? Is it sending a text message to someone important, or is it a post-it note to yourself on the fridge to take the first step?
Scratching the surface of a task puts your mind into a state of needing to finish the incomplete task. The urge naturally develops to stay motivated and finish what was started. Remember this and remind yourself to start with the smallest step whenever you feel stuck or distracted.
What if the task takes me more than a week? How do I stay on track?
For example, set a timer on your phone for each week, Sunday evening, at a time when you are usually at rest and mentally available. Prepare the reminder with keywords that will propel you right into progressing from where you left off, and avoid setting the title of the reminder to your end goal.
It’s not helpful to overwhelm yourself with the ultimate goal. Instead, treat yourself to such easy steps that they’re no-brainers. So easy, in fact, that you might want to accomplish multiple steps at once because it’s so effortless.
Reward yourself with accomplished tasks and keep track of progress all at once with a neat Done List.
Instead of burdening yourself with what’s to come, you can let go of the hurdles already tackled in reaching your goals. Every line in the Done List should remind you that you are capable of motivating yourself. At that very moment you write down a completed task, intensely focus on how that makes you feel and internalize it as a trigger to get started on the next step.
Try out our other exercises to become consistent, motivated, and focused on achieving more in your life.
