Category Archives: Goal Achievement

Disconnect and Focus!

Goal Achievement, Personal Development Book Reviews,

focus2

A man who chases two rabbits catches none.
~ Roman Proverb

Simplify and Focus

If you read my last post about what I learned from the 100 day challenge I realised that I had tried to do too many difficult things at the same time.  I had chased 5 rabbits and caught none!  I am thinking a lot lately about simplicity and focus.  I now have three goals for Quarter 3 2015.   Perhaps even three goals are too many – it remains to be seen.

I came across a very useful free book online by Leo Babauta called “A simplicity manifesto in the Age of Distraction”.  You can download the free book at: http://focusmanifesto.com/

The book deals with focus in an age of constant distraction.  We need to simplify our lives and focus in order to be at our creative best.  There are so many distractions – phones, instant messaging, emails, text messaging alerts, internet surfing etc etc.  We need to be able to create distraction free periods during our day where we can be creative.  We need to be able to block time throughout the day where we switch off all gadgets and focus.  We also can have blocks of time where we communicate – handle emails, make calls etc.  We can limit email to pre-appointed times only.

Leo advocates to plan three key tasks to be achieved for the day (preferably planned the night before).  A good idea is to start with the most important task first.  I already do this, it is simple and it works.  A great idea I learned from Leo’s book is to create a refocus ritual. Every hour or two have a quick walk for a few minutes to clear your head and then check back to your list of most important tasks for the day.  It is so easy to have a list and not look at it and get distracted with other less important things.  Making a habit of refocusing is an excellent idea.

There is much more to this free book and I will be returning to it for further gems of wisdom – I highly recommend you read it.

Reference:

focus A simplicity manifesto in the Age of Distraction – Leo Babauta – http://focusmanifesto.com/

100 Day Challenge Update – Day 99

Experiments, Goal Achievement

Goals

100 Day Challenge Update – Day 99 of 100

As I write this I am on day 99 of my 100 Day Challenge.  Please see back to my post nearly 100 days ago and see what I wrote then: https://lifeisalaboratory.com/goal-achievement/100-day-challenge

How did it go? I had five goals and I have not achieved one in full!  I have partially achieved some of my goals however which is good progress.  For example one of my goals was to run a marathon.  Well I managed to run half a marathon.  Another was to publish a book that I am working on.  I did not publish the book but I did make great progress in writing the book (Experiments in Personal Change – eventually completed in October 2015).  Another goal was related to purchasing a property – that did not happen but was beyond my control.  How do I feel now? I feel overall that I learned much from the 100 Day Challenge and I have gained far more value than I paid.  I feel that I will carry the skills learned into improving my next quarter and setting new goals for my next 100 Day Challenge which I will complete on my own.

Two key lessons come to mind when I reflect on the 100 Day Challenge I am now completing:

1.  My un-achieved goals should not make me feel down.

“Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so?  Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.  Before they know it, time runs out.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

An email from Steve Chandler arrived in my inbox just now and prompted me to write this post (I recommend signing up for regular emails from Steve Chandler .  Steve is a life coach, author and speaker and a rock of good sense – www.stevechandler.com)

In reference to the above quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes Steve says:

“I love waking up to those two choices I have. I can get ready to live, or I can live.  This getting ready to live is often a misinterpretation of the goal-setting process…………. It’s beautiful to have goals, it’s wonderful to have projects; but I don’t want them to be an excuse for me to try to live in the future.”

My partially completed goals should not make me feel like a failure.  I still can live fully today.  I am complete today even if I failed to complete all my goals in the 100 Day Challenge.  As Wendell Holmes said I just need to live today to the fullest and stop getting ready to live when I have achieved some goal or other.

Carpe_diem

2.  I had set too many goals!

I had set 5 goals at the beginning of the 100 Day Challenge.  Listen to what Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computers said to his company shareholders:

‘We are the most focused company that I know of. We say no to good ideas everyday. We say no to great ideas in order to keep the amount of things we focus on very small in number so that we can put enormous energy behind the ones we do choose. The table that each of you is sitting at today, you could probably put every product on it that Apple makes, yet Apple’s revenue last year was $40 billion.’

In hindsight I should have set one to two goals for my 100 Day Challenge and really focused all my energy on achieving those goals .  I feel that I was trying to achieve too many disparate goals and my energy dissipated between them.

If you would like to try out the 100 Day Challenge for yourself please see: www.goalsguy.com . The 100 Day Challenge programme will guide you on how to set focused goals for the next 100 days.  You will also be guided on how to conduct a weekly review and planning process which is a very valuable skill.  Each day of the 100 day challenge you will be emailed a thought provoking and inspirational message.  One huge benefit of the 100 Day Challenge is that you will be focused on goal achievement over the next 100 days and you will likely make progress towards achieving your goals even if you don’t achieve them fully. Keep in mind my experience – focus, focus, focus and set 1-2 key goals.  In fact set 1 to 2 WIGs (wildly important goals).  WIGS have the power to transform you life.

Also remember to live each day to the fullest – you are complete today even without achieving your goal.  Don’t let your goals be an excuse for living in the future.