Description

By Shonna Waters, PhD

Content

The ABCs of goal-setting

If you want to focus on your goals, you have to set yourself up for success. That means using the right goal-setting methods. One often-recommended option is to use SMART goals. You can set SMART goals at work, or elsewhere in your life.

SMART stands for:

Specific: you have a clear outcome in mind for your goal

Measurable: you have a metric with which you can define success

Achievable: you can realistically expect to achieve your goal with your current skills and resources

Relevant: your goal is aligned or at least doesn’t conflict with your other life goals

Time-bound: you have a clear deadline for achieving your goal

If you’re already using this method, you’re in a good spot. These steps help you set big goals you can actually accomplish. And when you know success is possible, it’s much easier to stay motivated to achieve them. Being mindful and thus realistic in your goal-setting increases your likelihood of success

3 factors that can make it hard to focus on your goals

There are a million and one things that can pull you off course — even with the best action plan. The first step to preventing this from happening is to identify potential detractors in your life.

Here are some common factors that influence your ability to focus and how to deal with them.

1. Your environment

When it comes to focusing on your goals, your environment plays an important role. Your ability to follow through on your ambitions is influenced by:

Who do you spend time with

Where you live

What you read, watch, and listen to

Consider social media. These platforms are actually designed to capture and hold your attention. They prey on your fear of missing out, entice you with unnecessary notifications, and trap you in endless scrolling.

What to do: It’s up to you to change your environment to support your personal and work goals rather than distract you from them. For instance, you can block social media notifications.

2. Your willpower

Motivation is a feeling. And, just like laughter or sadness, it disappears as fast as it comes. Your motivation can help you out of bed, but it will disappear at the first sign of trouble.

Willpower, on the other hand, is like a muscle, and shouldn’t be confused with motivation. It allows you to power through those moments of zero motivation. But for it to be effective, you have to train it.

What to do: through meditation and small acts of self-control, you can tame your impulses one step at a time.

3. Your frame of mind

A phenomenon known as inevitability thinking can occur when you accept your destiny as a foregone conclusion. This happens whether you realize it or not, so you have to shift your mindset and make it work for you.

For example, if you have a bias toward negativity, you may anticipate failure before you’ve even begun. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: you fail because you’re already accepted failure as the likely outcome. But the opposite can also be true. If you believe you can succeed and organize your life around that idea, you prime your mind for success.

What to do: You can change your environment, build new habits, and adjust your routines to gear your life toward success. It all starts with a positive mental attitude. Failure feels less likely if every part of you pulls in the same direction (and by that, we mean forward).

How to always focus on your goals

Now that you’re aware of your potential distractions, what can you do about them? We’ve already alluded to some remedies. But here is a more substantial list of tips to focus on goals:

1. Create or find a better environment

Consider whether your place of residence, social circle, or colleagues will help you achieve your goals — or hinder your ability. If you want to work in the film industry, you’ll likely want to move to New York City or Hollywood.

Maybe what city you live in doesn’t matter, but you’d benefit from finding an apartment with an extra room you can use as an office. Bottom line: figure out what you need to succeed.

2. Make your goals visible

Write your goals down and stick them to your bathroom mirror or computer screen. Create a vision board and hang it on the wall. Whatever it takes, make sure you can see your goals regularly. If they fall out of sight, they’ll quickly fall out of mind.

3. Leverage your task list

You won’t become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company overnight. Use the SMART method to create smaller goals and tasks that build on each other, inching you toward your larger ambition. Set daily goals, monthly goals, and yearly ones to make continuous progress toward clear objectives.

4. Pursue goals that excite you

Having fun is a great intrinsic motivator. If you don’t enjoy the work of pursuing your goals, you’ll have a harder time focusing. Remember why you’re doing this in the first place. There are many types of motivation, but being self-motivated is always a sustainable option.

5. Reward yourself

Create a system of extrinsic motivators to help you succeed. Eating a chocolate bar after running a record lap time can give you the dopamine kick necessary to keep training for that PR.

6. Study your craft

If you want to be a good writer, read well-written books. If you want to start a company, learn about other companies in your space and network with CEOs. Successful people are experts in their chosen craft.

7. Find your people

You are the company you keep. Surround yourself with people who elevate you and support your goals, not toxic friends.

8. Exercise

This is a worthy goal by itself. But doing more exercise can also help you succeed in other areas of your life. It will help improve your mental health, boost your energy, and increase your concentration.

9. Meditate

Mindfulness can help you discipline your subconscious mind and clear your thoughts. This is a useful way to flex your willpower while also being compassionate to yourself. And as we mentioned before, mindfulness will help you set better goals.

10. Remove time wasters that leave you feeling sluggish

Avoid watching too much TV or browsing social media. These types of activities often sap energy and limit productivity. You can also limit or remove other vices, like alcohol consumption. Sometimes, you never know what’s holding you back until you let them go.

11. Practice love

Practice all kinds of love — not just romantic love. Find people with whom you can be yourself, whether that’s friends or family. Share your joy and time with them. Hugging — or physical touch in general — is crucial for our body’s ability to manage stress, reduce inflammation, and find calm.

12. Make time for fun

Purposefully taking a break can rejuvenate you to keep working on your goals. The keyword here is “purposefully.” You’re not letting something distract you. Instead, you’re doing it because it’s good for you. If you struggle to find time to rest, add it to your calendar. Avoiding burnout demands preventative and proactive rest.

13. Try some productivity tips

Most of these are larger-scale recommendations, so here are some in-the-moment tips to help you focus on your tasks each day:

Feeling distracted? here’s how to focus on your go

Description

Content

The ABCs of goal-setting

If you want to focus on your goals, you have to set yourself up for success. That means using the right goal-setting methods. One often-recommended option is to use SMART goals. You can set SMART goals at work, or elsewhere in your life.

SMART stands for:

Specific: you have a clear outcome in mind for your goal

Measurable: you have a metric with which you can define success

Achievable: you can realistically expect to achieve your goal with your current skills and resources

Relevant: your goal is aligned or at least doesn’t conflict with your other life goals

Time-bound: you have a clear deadline for achieving your goal

3 factors that can make it hard to focus on your goals

There are a million and one things that can pull you off course — even with the best action plan. The first step to preventing this from happening is to identify potential detractors in your life.

Here are some common factors that influence your ability to focus and how to deal with them.

1. Your environment

When it comes to focusing on your goals, your environment plays an important role. Your ability to follow through on your ambitions is influenced by:

Who do you spend time with

Where you live

What you read, watch, and listen to

Consider social media. These platforms are actually designed to capture and hold your attention. They prey on your fear of missing out, entice you with unnecessary notifications, and trap you in endless scrolling.

What to do: It’s up to you to change your environment to support your personal and work goals rather than distract you from them. For instance, you can block social media notifications.

2. Your willpower

Motivation is a feeling. And, just like laughter or sadness, it disappears as fast as it comes. Your motivation can help you out of bed, but it will disappear at the first sign of trouble.

Willpower, on the other hand, is like a muscle, and shouldn’t be confused with motivation. It allows you to power through those moments of zero motivation. But for it to be effective, you have to train it.

What to do: through meditation and small acts of self-control, you can tame your impulses one step at a time.

3. Your frame of mind

A phenomenon known as inevitability thinking can occur when you accept your destiny as a foregone conclusion. This happens whether you realize it or not, so you have to shift your mindset and make it work for you.

What to do: You can change your environment, build new habits, and adjust your routines to gear your life toward success. It all starts with a positive mental attitude. Failure feels less likely if every part of you pulls in the same direction (and by that, we mean forward).

How to always focus on your goals

Now that you’re aware of your potential distractions, what can you do about them? We’ve already alluded to some remedies. But here is a more substantial list of tips to focus on goals:

1. Create or find a better environment

Consider whether your place of residence, social circle, or colleagues will help you achieve your goals — or hinder your ability. If you want to work in the film industry, you’ll likely want to move to New York City or Hollywood.

Maybe what city you live in doesn’t matter, but you’d benefit from finding an apartment with an extra room you can use as an office. Bottom line: figure out what you need to succeed.

2. Make your goals visible

Write your goals down and stick them to your bathroom mirror or computer screen. Create a vision board and hang it on the wall. Whatever it takes, make sure you can see your goals regularly. If they fall out of sight, they’ll quickly fall out of mind.

3. Leverage your task list

You won’t become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company overnight. Use the SMART method to create smaller goals and tasks that build on each other, inching you toward your larger ambition. Set daily goals, monthly goals, and yearly ones to make continuous progress toward clear objectives.

4. Pursue goals that excite you

Having fun is a great intrinsic motivator. If you don’t enjoy the work of pursuing your goals, you’ll have a harder time focusing. Remember why you’re doing this in the first place. There are many types of motivation, but being self-motivated is always a sustainable option.

5. Reward yourself

Create a system of extrinsic motivators to help you succeed. Eating a chocolate bar after running a record lap time can give you the dopamine kick necessary to keep training for that PR.

6. Study your craft

If you want to be a good writer, read well-written books. If you want to start a company, learn about other companies in your space and network with CEOs. Successful people are experts in their chosen craft.

7. Find your people

You are the company you keep. Surround yourself with people who elevate you and support your goals, not toxic friends.

8. Exercise

This is a worthy goal by itself. But doing more exercise can also help you succeed in other areas of your life. It will help improve your mental health, boost your energy, and increase your concentration.

9. Meditate

Mindfulness can help you discipline your subconscious mind and clear your thoughts. This is a useful way to flex your willpower while also being compassionate to yourself. And as we mentioned before, mindfulness will help you set better goals.

10. Remove time wasters that leave you feeling sluggish

Avoid watching too much TV or browsing social media. These types of activities often sap energy and limit productivity. You can also limit or remove other vices, like alcohol consumption. Sometimes, you never know what’s holding you back until you let them go.

11. Practice love

12. Make time for fun

13. Try some productivity tips

Most of these are larger-scale recommendations, so here are some in-the-moment tips to help you focus on your tasks each day:

Complete important tasks first, then move on to smaller tasks

Learn how to focus on one goal at a time by avoiding multitasking

Remove distractions

Practice mindfulness on a regular basis

Take short breaks

Skip the procrastination

Create tomorrow’s task list at the end of the day

Have an accountability partner

Maintain a healthy diet to fuel your brain

Try a new time management strategy, like the Pomodoro Technique