So following on from Part 1 which I posted on Wednesday the 28th December, this post is a lot more to the point since the main focus is around the spreadsheet that I mentioned in Part 1.
It’s the spreadsheet that I use to set my goals, with a clear time frame, a clear plan, a specific focus on the One Thing that will have the biggest impact on achieving the result, and the ability to continually monitor progress.
The key is create the link between the end result, and the day to day activity that you have to do each and every day starting today to eventually get to the desired outcome.
Once you can break down your goals in this way, and you have a specific activity to achieve today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and so on that will eventually lead to the end result… The only thing that you have to do is make sure that you schedule in the time each day to achieve those activities no matter what.
Sounds too easy, right?
It really is so simple, which begs the question “If it’s this easy, why isn’t everyone achieving their goals?”.
The answer is threefold.
- Firstly, 95% of us simply aren’t writing them down or creating any kind of plan to get there. Imagine trying to set out on a journey to get somewhere, except your SatNav has no destination, no route, and no time frame of when to arrive… You’re probably not going to end up where you want to be.
- Secondly, for those who do create clear plans, many do not develop the resilience to stick at it each and every day no matter what. Something comes up, or we feel tired so we skip days, and before we know it we’re back in our old routine not focusing on what we need to be focusing on to ultimately live the lives that we want.
- Finally, the biggest killer of all (And I’ve talked about this many times before), is fear. Along the road challenges will come up that will test us, and it’s very tempting to find an excuse rather than finding a way. Finding an excuse is easy and allows us to shift blame or responsibility to something exterior to ourselves. But that won’t allow us to overcome that challenge, all it will do is ensure that the challenge defeats us.
We MUST take responsibility and ownership for everything on our journeys. It’s never the “fault” of something else that we haven’t achieved what we want, it’s always down to us, our choices, and our actions.
Once we can accept responsibility, commit to creating the habit to complete the daily actions required to hit our goals no matter what gets in our way, then achieving our dreams is inevitable.
So anyway, click here to download the spreadsheet.
Check the tabs along the bottom for different examples of breaking down different goals. Each goal has 3 tactics to work on to help achieve it, and each tactic has 3 strategies. I then highlight the ONE THING that I can do today, which will have the biggest impact in this moment on helping me to work towards achieving that goal. Whatever that One Thing is, that is then what I must do.
Speak soon, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Dan