Achieving our goals is critical in our pursuit of becoming better versions of ourselves. But with the constant drags on our attention, how do we remain focused on our goals versus tackling the latest urgent problem that needs to be dealt with?
These problems assault us constantly, threatening to derail us from our objectives. The urgent work problem that requires us to put in overtime, rippling outward and disrupting our evening schedules and bumping gym-time off the daily agenda. These urgent problems of now war and rage against our dreams of a brighter future.
This situation came up in one of my coaching calls recently, as fitness goals started collecting dust on the shelf, while my client was putting out the endless fires at work and school. As days went by, losing the momentum of consistent action, the question was raised:
How do I remain focused on my goals when life is pulling me a thousand different directions?
The resulting discussion revealed a couple of areas that we all fall prey to. The first was the desire to do better, expressed as a hope.
“I hope to get back to the gym next week.”
When we began looking into this desire for improvement more, it seemed that hope wasn’t the right word. Hope could be trumped by being busy, hope could lose out to not feeling like it, hope wasn’t a strong enough commitment.
Don’t rely on hope.
To remain focused on your goals, you must first tell yourself what you must do, not what you hope to do. These are called non-negotiables. When pursuing your goals, you need to make them non-negotiable, they will be done, no matter what.
For myself, a couple of my non-negotiables are reading and working out. I try and have these done in the morning, so that I don’t give myself the opportunity to be distracted first. My time table works for me, but it doesn’t work for everyone. But the principle is the same, what are your non-negotiables? What are the steps that you take towards your goals each day? And will you commit, that you won’t end your day without taking those steps?
That commitment makes your goals non-negotiable.
There is another aspect of uncertainty held in the statement, “I hope to get back to the gym next week.” This is the lack of specificity surrounding when this gym time will occur. It is one thing to say “I must do this each day.” And another thing entirely to give those plans a set time and place.
When we have a meeting, or a scheduled time commitment, we almost always show up. By scheduling time for your goals, you are declaring that nothing else can take up that time. This means your non-negotiable is on your calendar, planned, and ready to be acted upon at that time.
Going back to my morning, at 7:15 am every working day, I walk into the gym. This is my non-negotiable, and 7:15 am is the time that I have allocated to my fitness goals. Do you know what your non-negotiables are? What steps you need to take to achieve your goals? Do you know when, and where, you will be to take those steps towards success?
By determining your non-negotiables, and scheduling them in your calendar, you are doing what it takes to remain focused. Because they are a must for you, you will take the actions necessary to drive achievement. There is no room for excuses, too busy, not enough energy, don’t feel like it. Those excuses, other people’s demands, the inevitable fires you have to put out elsewhere in your life; that all happens outside of your scheduled achievement time.
The discipline to follow through with your non-negotiables is the key to remaining focused on your goals. And that discipline makes you unstoppable. Your achievement, the heights you will go, only you can say when you will stop.