(Reminders of Success 2)
March 12, 2012 by Kevin Ngo
You can have a strong desire and really want to achieve your goal but as I’m sure you’ve experienced, life has its way of knocking us off course. Things come up, distractions occur, the next thing you know, you look at your goals and wonder what the heck happened.
Success takes a lot of focus. I’m sure you’ve had the experience of setting a goal and being really excited about achieving it only to have a few weeks or months to go by and realize the goal has dropped down on your list of priorities.
People often get easily side tracked. Circumstances and situations can nudge you off course. This doesn’t just happen all at once. Often times, you get off track just little by little until one day, you realize you’re completely off track. Keeping your mind focused on your goal can be a constant battle because everything around you is trying to get your attention. Since most people can only focus on so many things at once, it will be your job to keep your goal up high on your priorities list.
So what can you do to keep your focus, to keep your eyes on the prize? There are several things you can try. You can write down your goal and read it each morning and night. You can visualize achieving your goals daily. You can make sure that your daily to-do list includes doing something that will take you closer to your goal. You can buy some motivational posters and stick them on your walls. You can find a friend who has a similar goal and work to keep each other on track.
One of my favorite methods of keeping focused on a goal is to constantly ask myself, “Is what I’m doing right now bringing me closer to my goal or further away?” Once you answer that question, you’ll know what to do.
The common theme in all of these ways to keep your focus is to constantly keep your goal on your mind. Making an effort to stay focused on your goal is a lot easier if it’s a major goal that you have an intense desire to achieve.
Now because staying focused on one major goal is hard enough, you may want to consider sticking to just one goal. If you look back at the goals you’ve tried to achieve and realized you haven’t achieved any of your major goals, it may be time to just focus on a single goal. This way, all of your energy and focus can be put towards obtaining that one goal which will dramatically increase your chances of getting it. It’s a lot better to just achieve 1 major goal then to work on a dozen and achieve none of them.
The final thing I want to say about this reminder of success is that you’re going to have days where you do nothing to get closer to your goals. You’re going to have periods of time where your focus and priorities are elsewhere. When this happens, many people will beat themselves up mentally and quit all together.
Remember that you’re human and because of this, you’ll make some errors in judgment. You’ll get side tracked here and there. Instead of beating yourself up, just be aware that certain things can take your focus away from your goals. Once you’re aware of these things, you can actively reduce the amount of time they take your focus off of your goals.
Distractions are like gravity, it’s constant. It’s going to cause us all to fall every now and then. The important thing is that we bounce back up every time we fall. Get your focus back on your goal when you start to realize it’s drifting somewhere else. The quicker you do it, the better.
I’d like to know what you do to keep your focus on your goal. Please share them in the comments section.
Until next time…
Love Life. Do Good. Live Well.
Also see Success Takes Desire
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That's Simple Yet Powerful… I Liked your Post. I am Surely Going to Implement this plan from today onwards. Thank You And Best Of Luck For Your Work..
Thanks!
now I know the importance of focus in achiving goals &thanks to you for get me back on the track
to achieve my goal i always motivate myself and my co worker to make a short term goal and do all efforts to achieve it……………….
Raj
really motivative.. looks like if i read all the posts out here.. it's gonna change my life 🙂
Reading all of the posts may help but nothing will change your life more than taking action 🙂
hey, thanx ….. i just cant wait to start focusing on my major goals
One of my favorite managers used to call me a “firefighter” because I was terrible at prioritizing, thus, constantly running around to attack whatever issue seemed to be the most pressing. She made it her mission to teach me to prioritize.
Since I've learned to prioritize, (using a daily to-do list, as you mentioned), I'm usually distracted by something that needs my attention, so I make it a minor goal to finish that distraction as quickly as possible. It's like one more finished item on my checklist to give me the satisfaction of having accomplished something. Then it's back to the to-do list, and back on track.
Yeah, the important thing is realizing you're being distracted, doing what you need to do, and getting back on track as fast as possible. Thanks for commenting, Alicia.
In the understanding that success takes focus, I believe that we must keep our eye on the goal and keep focused on the bigger picture. The bigger and more important the goal is to us, the more drive we will have to achieve it. Inspiring and motivating ourselves is vital, but above all I believe that we must understand and accept that goals and success do take time. We must keep on persevering through the setbacks and distractions arise, for they will and do pop up. One must be realistic with our progress, even though it may be slow. Seeing steady progress will keep us moving forward with our goals, and success will follow.
Thanks for the input, Peter. To add to your comment, I believe that accepting the price that comes with achieving a goal is crucial because when setbacks and distractions come up, it’ll be easier to keep moving forward because you have already decided beforehand that this is what you were willing to go through.
your views are inspirational. I am glad I mad random check for inspirations today. You make sense…
Thanks! I’m glad you found my site and hope you pick up lots of useful ideas.
Hi Kevin,
Your article is of GREAT PUSH to those who have overlooked the importance of the word “focus” in achieving their goals.
I have been aiming to top this year’s board exam (supposedly in march but postponing it to September to give myself ample time to study) however I have applied for a job and im close to signing a contract with them. Im thinking twice if I still should accept the offer as it will take away a lil much of my time though the job is related to my degree.
I’m glad to have found your articles including the “21 things that can kill your motivation”. I’d be glad to follow your posts. Would also much appreciate if you could give a piece of advice on my situation.
Good luck and more power to you, Kevin.
Hi Ivee,
My advice would be to just weigh the pros and cons. Think about what your ultimate career goal is. See if there’s a way you can fit in the time to do both if possible. You’d be surprised what you can get done when you don’t have much time to spare. Hope that helps a bit and thanks for the comment.
Thank you, Kevin. I’ll take your advice and see how it goes. 🙂
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks and God bless!
Thanks a lot I actually gave up everything I thought that I am unable to do anything you made me make my mind back again thanks again
You’re welcome!
If u could please give me an advise on bearing up the distractions for my studies
God bless you!!!
Thanx
Change your environment. If wherever you’re studying at the moment is distracting to you, change it. Either go to the library or anywhere you feel you can focus more or eliminate the distractions in your room. Other things you can do is to set a specific time to do your studying in short segments of time such as 20-45 minutes, then taking a break. It’s easier to stay focused when the amount of time you’re studying for is reduced into smaller chunks. Turning on some classical music usually helps me as well.
Hope that helps.