The likelihood that you’ll achieve your goals is EXTREMELY low, but let me fill you in on some important concepts that will help you fix that. Nowadays, people seem to dream about having lavish lifestyles, and getting ahold of the finer things in life. But what gets in the way of that, is that people lack a sense of direction, have poor time management and don’t know how to stay consistent. Thankfully, after reading this article, which I wrote using the tricks I’ll be mentioning, you can start crushing your life goals with ease!
So, what exactly did I mean by people lacking “a sense of direction”? Well, to keep it short and sweet, people wake up in the morning and barely have a clue of what they want to do with their day. They might have a set routine that they plow through on a daily basis, but once they’re done with that, they fill up their time with useless consumption. As a result, while they may have goals and dreams, they’re not reaching them, since they’re going in the wrong direction. But, how the hell am I supposed to go in the right direction? Now, the answer to this is rather simple, but we tend to neglect it out of laziness. When was the last time you plotted out, step by step, the things you would need to do in order to achieve a goal? Probably never, right? The reason why doing this is extremely useful, is because it gives you a clear path to tread on. Instead of going into an objective feeling blind and overwhelmed, breaking it down can make it feel more achievable. Here’s an example I created, which you can use as a template:
As you can see, this is the breakdown I made for this very article, so I can get it done. All the things I said above, about being stuck in a routine, are traps I fell into myself. Using this tip alone, I increased my productivity significantly. All you need to make sure of when making a goal breakdown, is to: 1. Have a name for the goal 2. Record your start and end time 3. Set a MINIMUM amount of time you’ll work on it daily (10+ Min. Minimum) and 4. Write down, in detail, each step you’ll need to take to reach that goal. Once a step is complete, simply add a ✅ next to it, or put a line through the step: like so. Start doing this for every NEW and IMPORTANT goal that you want to reach, and it will seem much easier. If you want to take this a step further, try using something like Google Calendar to schedule specific times you’ll work on that goal. Try to schedule it the night before, or in the morning, since things aren’t the same everyday and you’ll have to adjust sometimes.
With that being said, that leads me into my next point about people having poor time management. Trust me when I say this, I’m not above this problem either, but I’ve gotten MUCH better at managing my time. One way I’ve changed this problem overnight, is by living with more intention. Whenever I want to do something, I try to ask myself 2 important questions. For one, WHY do I want to do what I’m planning to do? If the reason is valid, I’ll go ahead and do it, but if it isn’t, I’ll replace it with something that is valid. Here’s a quick example of something that literally just happened as I was writing this article. Since I was getting fatigued, I decided I would go lie down and watch some TV. The reason for that was because I wanted to shut my brain off and do nothing. While that’s fair and beneficial, it’s really easy to slip into watching several episodes of a show and waste tons of time. Instead, why don’t I go for a relaxing walk or simply lay down on the couch and meditate? In both of those instances, I can still quiet my mind down, while not wasting tons of precious time. Thanks to that simple question, I was able to deter myself from wasting hours, that could’ve been used somewhere else.
Now the second question I might ask is, HOW LONG will I do this for? Say I actually chose to watch some TV instead; it’s important that I set a limit on how long I’ll be watching for. I can either do that by setting some sort of timer or only watching a certain amount of episodes. Going over that set amount though is a form of disrespect to yourself. I’ll be honest, I sometimes go over the limits I set for myself, so I punish myself, in a healthy way. Normally, I force myself to do 5 things I DON’T want to do, but know I SHOULD do straight after. This may involve deep cleaning my room, going for a jog, not using technology for a certain amount of time, doing chores that my family would normally do or even doing some extra work. All these things are objectively helpful, but aren’t the most enjoyable to do. But, even though I see these tasks as a punishment, I always come out of them feeling accomplished.
Okay, now that you’ve freed up a bunch of time, thanks to these two questions, what are you supposed to do with it? Most people assume that every waking moment should be filled with productive work, but that’s a lie. You need to fill up your day with both WORK and PLAY. Work can mean many things. For example, from the moment you wake up, you might make your bed, do some stretching, then go for a light walk. To a degree, all of this is work, but more on yourself. Then you may have a nutritious breakfast, while listening to a podcast or watching some videos. In this moment, you’re allowing yourself to be entertained, which gives you some play. Then you might jump straight into an hour and a half of deep work, and later take a 15 minute break to talk to a friend/loved on or watch some videos. Basically, throughout your day, you want to block out moments that will bring you value, but also provide you with a chance to unwind. As I mentioned earlier, I recommend plotting out what you plan to do the day before, and doing this daily, since every day is different. Here’s an example of what I did in Google Calendar for today:
The final thing I NEED to cover is how you can stay consistent with your goals. While you may feel like it’s the toughest obstacle to overcome, I’ll help you understand why it isn’t. At the end of the day, if there’s something you TRULY want to do, you’re going to do it, no matter what. Even if you may desire to do other things, it’ll be outweighed by this one thing. Think of it like a scale; if DESIRE #1 weighs more than DESIRE #2, the balance will tip in favor of DESIRE #1. In that scenario, you’ll prioritize the one that holds the most desire.
Ultimately, the question here is: How do I make Desire #2 hold more weight? First of all, you need to figure out WHY you want to do Desire #2 in the first place. While Desire #1 is to lay down on the couch and scroll through YouTube for hours (which floods me with dopamine), Desire #2 is to write an article that will help people improve their lives. I decided to write why Desire #2 is important to me in a document:
While I quickly wrote this down, you can go into even MORE detail, and fantasize about what life will be like once you achieve this goal. Will you be recognized more? Will you feel more confident? What kind of changes can you expect in your life once you prioritize this desire? Once you write that all down, read what you wrote every morning when you wake up, and remind yourself of the goal you want to achieve!
Before I conclude this article, I want to remind you that consistency involves showing up to your work/goals EVERYDAY no matter what. It’s okay to have certain days where you’re busy, but we always have 5-10 minutes free every single day. Instead of wasting that extra time scrolling through your phone or talking on social media, put in the bear minimum amount of work. Small steps can still lead to massive changes in the long run. Regardless of how much time you spend everyday, doing it consistently is better than not doing it at all. Be proud of yourself if you choose to spend the little time you have (on certain days) reaching for your goals. And lastly, focus on 1 LARGE goal at a time MAXIMUM. While you may think it’s more productive to do multiple things at the same time, it’s better to put your attention fully on one thing to completion, than multiple things and be distracted. You will get burned out if you choose to ignore this advice, and will quit on your goals.
Finally, I’d like you to know that as a part of my own goals, I am trying to become a content creation coach. I have many years of experience with short and long form editing and can teach you how to make KILLER thumbnails, that will bring your YouTube channel to the next level! If this interests you, make sure to contact me on my discord at: ultraxxiii. Let’s book a call and take your channel to new heights! If this doesn’t interest you, feel free to DONATE if you felt like this article brought you value. Or even share this article with someone you know so they can reach their goals 😁
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