We’ve been taught to set goals our entire lives.
We set goals to get better grades in school. We dream about saving up enough to buy our first car. We make resolutions to lose weight, travel more, learn a new language, and start a business. We set goals to become better leaders.
However, goal-setting isn’t the problem, it's the execution. Because while we all know what we want to achieve, we often lack the motivation to follow through with our action plans.
How do you motivate yourself to continue working toward your goals? How do you overcome challenges? Here’s how:
1. Know your limits. Push yourself hard, but never to the point of emotional exhaustion. To remain motivated, you need to avoid burning out.
2. Break your goals down. Think of your goal as the destination. Now think of each step you take toward that goal as a smaller yet attainable step to get you there. If your goal is to launch a business someday, your smaller steps would include defining your products or services or getting funds to start up.
3. Avoid distraction. Distraction is the enemy of success; it affects productivity and leads to procrastination, and before you know it, nothing gets done. When you find yourself distracted, revisit your goals.
4. Focus on the rewards. The rewards don’t have to have monetary value; they can be a feeling of satisfaction or a sense of accomplishment. Before you set your goal, know the how, but more importantly, identify the why.
Taking Massive Action
Defining your goals gives you clarity and the motivation to reach them. However, it’s massive action that ultimately helps you achieve them.
Massive action means taking full ownership of everything involved in accomplishing your goal. This includes your failures, bad decisions and problems. It means no more making excuses for why you can’t follow through with your action plan. It means being deliberate with your movements and connecting with your goals on an emotional level.
But what should your massive action plan involve to ensure you achieve results and reach success?
1. Acquire knowledge. Are you one of those people who pause from reading to look up a word you don’t know? If you are, that says a few things about you. First, you’re thirsty for knowledge. It also reveals that you’re not ashamed to admit to yourself when you don’t know something. And most importantly, you take action to educate yourself before proceeding. It should apply to more than just reading, but anytime you feel that your lack of knowledge, training or skill gets in the way of you staying on track and reaching your dreams.
2. Don’t waste time. Begin today. Excusing that you have all the time in the world takes you off course. You end up in places you weren’t meant to go. You find yourself surrounded by people who don’t bring you closer to achieving your goals. And before you know it, you’ve missed opportunities and aren’t any closer to bringing your dreams into fruition. Stay focused!
3. Don’t fear failure. Your relationship with failure will determine the heights of your successes. The fear of failure can be debilitating. However, from defeat you can gain experience, knowledge and the lessons that teach you about your character, and what it takes to succeed the next time you try again. Don't be afraid of failure or move on from failure without maximizing the benefits.
In the words of John C. Maxwell, “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
