If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. Albert Einstein
How to Develop Long-Term Focus Staying Motivated to Achieve Distant Goals
What is Focus? Focus is your ability to center your attention and energy on a specific task, object, or activity, for a sustained length of time.
How to Develop and Maintain Long- Term Focus 1. Identify Meaningful Long-Term Goals 2. Write Goals Down 3. Strengthen Self-Regulation 4. Make Time for Long-Term Goals 5. Stay on Course 6. Recognize Progress
Goal Setting One: Life Reset
Goal Setting!!!!!!
Another Approach to Goal Setting!
1. Identify Meaningful Long-Term Goals First, set specific, long-term goals for the important areas of your life, such as career, family, finances, and education. Then, look over these goals. Do you feel excited when you think of them? Do you feel strongly enough about these goals to pursue them in the months or years to come? And, do you find the type of work involved with them interesting, in its own right?
2. Write Goals Down Once you've decided on your long-term goals, word them in a way that communicates why they are important to you, and put them in a place where you'll see them regularly. For example, you could write them on index cards and keep them in your wallet or purse, or print them on a sheet of paper and tack it up beside your desk. You could also make a Treasure Map that represents your goals visually, or that describes what your life will be like when you achieve them.
Why Not To Write Goals Down
3. Strengthen Self-Regulation Self-regulation" (the ability to control your emotions and impulses) is the single most important factor in achieving long-term goals.
To develop it, work on your selfdiscipline. This is a trait that helps you keep moving forward and working hard, even when you are not "in the mood" to do this. There will be times when your goal feels out of reach, or when you want to give up. Self-discipline pushes you to keep going, in spite of the odds.
Another important element in self-regulation is self-efficacy. This is your belief in your ability to accomplish your goals. To develop this, work on your self-confidence and learn to develop an internal locus of control. (People who have an internal locus of control believe that they're responsible for their own success.)
4. Make Time for Long-Term Goals To achieve your long-term goals and stay focused on them, you need to work on them regularly. But how do you balance long-term goals with short-term objectives and urgent tasks?
First, use a tool like the Urgent/Important Matrix to determine which tasks you should do, and which you can delegate or stop doing. When you analyze your tasks in this way, you can free up time to focus on activities that contribute to your longterm goals.
Then, start developing the habits needed to make your goal a reality. These might include waking up early, reading books, or dedicating time every day to work on activities that contribute to your goals. You may need to overcome bad habits, too, such as watching a lot of television, or aimlessly surfing the Web
5. Stay on Course Keep a record of new ideas as you have them, but don't take any action on them immediately. When you review your current goals, ask yourself if these ideas contribute to your long-term set new goals. This prevents you from changing direction impulsively. objectives. If they do, add them as subgoals. If they don't, keep a note of them, so that you can analyze them properly when you
6. Recognize Progress Every day, take a few minutes to look at your progress towards your goal, and pat yourself on the back for what you've done, even if you haven't produced meaningful results. For bigger milestones, reward yourself with something significant, such as a meal with your family or a shopping trip. It will be easier to maintain your long-term focus when you take time to recognize these achievements.
Also, research shows that it's easier to stay motivated if you see your goals as an opportunity to learn something new, rather than as a means of doing something. To use this to your advantage when you review your progress, think about what you have learned, rather than about what you have achieved.
The Five Golden Rules 1. Set Goals that Motivate You When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.
2. Set SMART Goals Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. Time Bound.
Set Specific Goals Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
Set Measurable Goals Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as "To reduce expenses" how will you know when you have been successful? In one month's time if you have a 1 percent reduction or in two years' time when you have a 10 percent reduction? Without a way to measure your success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.
Set Attainable Goals Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they bring the greatest personal satisfaction.
Set Relevant Goals Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time and your life away.
Set Time-Bound Goals Your goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.
3. Set Goals in Writing The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. You have no excuse for forgetting about it. As you write, use the word "will" instead of "would like to" or "might." For example, "I will finish all of my Algebra homework on time," not "I would like to finish my Algebra homework on time." The first goal statement has power and you can "see" yourself completing the assignments, the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.
4. Make an Action Plan This step is often missed in the process of goal setting. You get so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important if your goal is big and demanding, or long-term.
5. Stick With It! Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals. Your end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you set for yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value, and necessity remain high.