5 useful tricks that will help to not abandon everything on the way to a goal
A big project is a challenge, but there are ways to make it easier
If you've ever made a New Year's resolution to yourself, you already know that it won't be easy. Statistics show that only 8% of people achieve their New Year's resolutions. This is because the way to a great and ambitious goal is not an easy walk, but a real marathon, during which it is easy to lose energy, motivation and faith in yourself. Here are a few techniques that will help you cope with difficulties and fulfill your desires.
1. Don't take on too much
Some people like to think big and are guided by the motto "if to be, then to be the best." To lose five pounds or write paper of the required style – it is too small. It's better to win a fitness bikini contest or win the Booker Prize. Something to be proud of and brag about for sure.
But such an approach – to set high, almost unattainable goals – suits very few people. Maybe only productive people who obviously do not need to read this article. Well, fictional movie characters who in two hours of screen time win in the ring, go to Harvard or become world-famous. And all this to life-affirming music.
Why do something, why try for a month or a year or two if the result is almost as far away as when you started? To avoid such thoughts, there are a number of things to keep in mind when setting goals:
Start with small goals. That is, set goals that you will definitely be able to achieve in the foreseeable future. Not "learn English so that I can be confused with a native speaker," but "raise my language skills to the same level." Not "get on the Forbes list," but "create a company that will be profitable."
2. Break down long-term goals into phases
"Build muscle" sounds very vague and complicated. It's much more comfortable if you have a multi-step plan: "Check with my doctor to see if I can do strength training. Research information on exercise and nutrition. Find a fitness club and trainer, make a workout program. Find recipes for tasty and healthy food, start going to the gym three times a week. This is one of the principles of time-management: "eating elephants in pieces.
Adequately evaluate your resources. Say you want to write a book. Consider what you need for it: time, knowledge, assistants, a good laptop, and so on. Make a complete list. If any of that list you do not have, think about how to solve the problem. For example, look for a babysitter who will entertain the child twice a week while you write. Or get an editor to help you refine the text.
Keep goals in front of you. It would be great if everyone had someone who sat next to them and constantly said, "Come on! You can do it! You're doing great!" Or just reminded them, "Look, here's a picture of an Australian beach. To go there and have a good time, you need to improve your English. Don't be lazy."
Hang a picture of your dream above your desk. Write down a motivational quote in your diary. Order yourself a t-shirt or mug with a funny phrase relevant to your work. In short, surround yourself with kind and fun reminders and update them often. This will help keep the goal in mind, but not perceive it as a tedious chore.
3. Reward Yourself
That's how we're built: doing something for nothing doesn't interest us. For every little difficult action we want to get an award. And if it is a long time no one gives out, the mood is spoiled, I want to throw all these difficult cases and go where we are guaranteed to get some pleasure. For example, social networks. Or to the nearest pastry shop.
It's all about dopamine, which I'm sure you've heard a lot about. In short, it's a neurotransmitter that makes us feel anticipation of pleasure and thus makes us crave quick and simple pleasures: food, sex, YouTube videos.
The dopamine system can be tricked into thinking up rewards for ourselves. For example, if after a workout you go to the store and buy yourself something nice, your brain will think that sports are not such a hard thing to do, and before the next workout it will spur you on with a dose of dopamine. But here, of course, regularity is important. And the proportionality of action and reward.
Think about what can please you and not hurt your health and your wallet. Here are a few ways you can reward yourself after completing a difficult task:
Drink a glass of delicious coffee.
Read a book or listen to some new songs.
Buy some nice little thing – a nice notebook or stickers on your laptop.
Lie in a bubble bath.
Write in your diary and praise yourself.
Put a fat checkmark in your diary (it's the pleasure of this process that is at the heart of habit trackers).
4. Examine yourself
Some people work fine in the early morning, while others have their noses plugged in until at least noon. Some people need silence, like in the library, while others like to put music or sounds of nature in the background. There are those who love paper diaries and those who for years have kept a to-do list only on the phone.
There is no universal recipe for productivity. In order to find the right ingredients and to make the right proportion, you have to study your own characteristics and try to take them into account.
You can, for example, keep a mood diary: three times a day record in a notebook how you feel and whether you have a lot of energy. And after a couple of weeks, based on these notes, determine the ideal time for work, study, sports or other activities. Experiment with different productivity techniques, see what works for you.
5. Wait for the first results
Few people give up on a project with just a few touches left to do. If we go back to New Year's Eve promises, most of us forget about them before the end of January. That is, most often people stop at the beginning of the path (until there is no experience, nothing is clear, and the case does not bring any joy). Without visible results and positive feedback it is very difficult to believe that we can cope with the task and this goal is worth the time and effort invested in it.
If you find it very difficult and want to quit, promise yourself that you will wait for the first result of your efforts. And then, if the first lost pounds, earned money or learned dance moves do not please you at all, you with a clear conscience will be able to stop and choose another goal.