Reach Your Goals Through Daily Habits

We’ve all faced the disappointment and guilt that comes from setting a goal and giving up on it after a couple of weeks. Sustaining motivation for a long-term goal is hard to achieve, and yet the best goals can usually only be accomplished in a few months or even years.

Here’s the solution: Focus instead on creating a new habit that will lead to achieving your goal.

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Want to run a marathon? First create the habit of running every day. Want to get out of debt and start saving? Create the habit of brown bagging it to work, or watching DVDs instead of going to the movies, or whatever change will lead to saving money for you.

By focusing not on what you have to achieve over the course of the next year, but instead on what you are doing each day, you are focusing on something achievable. That little daily change will add up to a huge change, over time … and you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come in no time. Little grains of sand can add up to a mountain over time.

I used this philosophy of habit changes to run a marathon, to change my diet and lose weight, to write a novel, to quit smoking, to become organized and productive, to double my income, reduce my debt and start saving, and to begin training for an Olympic triathlon this year. It works, if you focus on changing habits.

Now, changing your habits isn’t easy — I won’t lie to you — but it’s achievable, especially if you start small. Don’t try to change the world with your first habit change … take baby steps at first. I started by just trying to run a mile — and by the end of the year, I could run more than 20 miles.

How do you change your habits? Focus on one habit at a time, and follow these steps:

1. Positive changes. If you’re trying to change a negative habit (quit smoking), replace it with a positive habit (running for stress relief, for example).
2. Take on a 30-day challenge. Tell yourself that you’re going to do this habit every day, at the same time every day, for 30 straight days without fail. Once you’re past that 30-day mark, the habit will become much easier. If you fail, do not beat yourself up. Start again on a new 30-day challenge. Practice until you succeed.
3. Commit yourself completely. Don’t just tell yourself that you might or should do this. Tell the world that DEFINITELY will do this. Put yourself into this 100 percent. Tell everyone you know. Email them. Put it on your blog. Post it up at your home and work place. This positive public pressure will help motivate you.
4. Set up rewards. It’s best to reward yourself often the first week, and then reward yourself every week for that first month. Make sure these are good rewards, that will help motivate you to stay on track.
5. Plan to beat your urges. It’s best to start out by monitoring your urges, so you become more aware of them. Track them for a couple days, putting a tally mark in a small notebook every time you get an urge. Write out a plan, before you get the urges, with strategies to beat them. We all have urges to quit — how will you overcome it? What helps me most are deep breathing and drinking water. You can get through an urge — it will pass.
6. Track and report your progress. Keep a log or journal or chart so that you can see your progress over time. I used a running log for my marathon training, and a quit meter when I quit smoking. It’s very motivating to see how far you’ve come. Also, if you can join an online group and report your progress each day, or email family and friends on your progress, that will help motivate you.

Most important of all: Always stay positive. I learned the habit of monitoring my thoughts, and if I saw any negative thoughts (“I want to stop!”) I would squash it like a little bug, and replace it with a positive thought (“I can do this!”). It works amazingly. This is the best tip ever. If you think negative thoughts, you will definitely fail. But if you always think positive, you will definitely succeed.

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3 Habits Surprisingly Killing Your Productivity

Yesterday about 6:30 p.m. a gaping sense of panic set in. Did I send that article? Wait, did I finish that article? Hey, did I eat today? Why are the lights off? Did everyone leave? How did this happen to me, again?

I was content with my accomplishments that day, never leaving my workstation.

At one point, I responded to twenty emails, while answering the phone. In addition, I scheduled five meetings, created a beautiful report with splashy graphics and squeezed in assisting a teammate.

Turns out my leg muscles were cramped, two of those meetings were scheduled at the same time and a bewildered client called to inquire why I emailed her regarding my cat, Mr. Whiskers. By the way, I missed the crucial deadline, never having forwarded the article.

Sound familiar? I’m positive I’m not the only one that thinks I’m helping myself, yet in reality, has developed destructive habits that have directly affected my level of productivity.

Take a look at these three top offenders and recommendations on how to counteract these habits.

For Goodness Sake Don’t Skip The Break

We spend our lives wishing for more time. Convinced the only way to add time to the clock is to skip our breaks. Should we honestly wonder why our brains are feeling fuzzy and we are severely unfocused?
Set a reminder on your calendar, don’t ignore it. When it goes off, stand up, stroll around the room. 

Better yet, wander outside, breathe in fresh air. It’s a fact, brains require oxygen. Don’t be opposed to a quick set of jumping jacks just to ensure the blood begins to flow. Consider taking that lunch or break and consuming one of these superfoods that help support an active, productive, and healthy brain.

Provided you followed the above advice, the fog in your head is now clear, allowing your brain to return to creative problem solving. Built up stress between your shoulder blades has finally let go of it’s tight clutch. 

You’re coherent and ready to pounce on that massive project you have been ignoring.

In addition, a quick meditation break also can lower your stress, giving you back a sense of peace and purpose creating a joyful attitude. Come on, cheerful people are so much nicer to be around. Right?

Meet the Zen Master of Multitasking

For years we have all been proudly adding the title “King of the Multitaskers” to our resumes. Delighted we can type 80 wpm, send off a bunch of emails and call fifteen clients, simultaneously!

Turns out, this could be the most destructive habit that numerous people are still guilty of developing. 

Multitasking typically equals mediocre work, including a high percentage of mistakes. Studies have shown that if you are splitting your focal point between tasks, fragments of focus are pointing toward each of the tasks you are trying to accomplish. However, most of the attention is pointed towards the actual act of switching tasks potentially losing up to 40% of your productivity.

This explained why yesterday I dialed the wrong number five times before connecting with the right customer and why my best client received a lengthy email detailing Mr. Whisker’s infatuation with his new cat toy.

Desperate for a recommendation on how to break this loathsome routine? After wasted hours surfing the net (another habit to break), I stumbled on the Pomodoro Technique® . Surprisingly, this not only helped break me of the dreaded multitasking habit. It also aided with time management, forcing myself into those much needed breaks that were being ignored.

The Pomodoro Technique®, created by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980’s, focuses on utilizing twenty-five minute blocks of time to focus on a single activity, taking a mini break after each block and a larger break after completing four blocks of time. For me the key was prioritizing tasks, placing the most vital on the list into the early morning portion of the day. I began feeling exceptionally focused, completing two extra assignments per day.

Um…No?

A co-worker once gifted me a magnet, thinking it captured my attitude perfectly. It reads: “No, No I’m sorry I can’t, No….OK, I will be there Friday at 8:00.” So many of us can be categorized as people pleasers, never wanting to be heard saying no. We also like being viewed as willing to help and first to volunteer. 

Besides, some of us are under the impression that by being seen as the Yes Man for our supervisors, we are ensuring ourselves an opportunity to get ahead.

However, with today’s packed schedules, that behavior results in becoming bogged down. Trying to juggle tasks and complete assignments leads to sacrificing quality for quantity. We run the risk of pushing our calendars to maximum capacity as pleas for our assistance or requests for meetings flood into our inbox. 

In addition, with today’s economy, we are fearful that we will be out of a job if we use the dreaded “no” word.

Why are we afraid to say no? It could easily be traced to the fact that when most of us are learning how to talk one of our first words is “NO”. Soon after, our toddler selves learn this powerful word, our parents quickly reverse the knowledge insisting we don’t say it. We learn it can be rude, borderline impolite.

Consider this, saying yes can have negative consequences. Potentially sacrificing our own deadlines, turning assignments in late and completing less than superior work. Thusly, appearing incapable.

By trial and error I finally learned “no” is an acceptable response. I always try to include a reason and a possible alternative suggestion. It’s justifiable to state: I am up against a deadline. I have time available to assist you tomorrow.

If your boss asks you to take on an additional project, state your concerns. Share that you value the attention to detailed, quality work and you would feel it’s best to wrap up the current task you are working on before diving into this new assignment. Be prepared that his answer might also be no. If so, ask him to sit down with you and re-evaluate the order of priorities.

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16 Everyday Habits of Highly Productive People

Most articles about everyday habits offer only the overall, generic advice like: ‘go above and beyond,’ ‘get more organized,’ ‘respect others,’ etc. without offering any doable tricks or examples of what this actually looks like. What many of these articles fail to provide is applicable, basic tips that the basic layman can apply to life tomorrow and instantly feel better about their circumstances. That ends here.

Below you will find a list of 16 tips and tricks that will help guide you to a more fulfilled life.

1. They Make Lists

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the requirements of a dream-like project. Creating a daily list of “action items” that need to be accomplished keeps successful people honest, motivated, and constantly progressing. Start small, and gradually build. (Trick: do this first thing in the morning. Make a brief list of all the things you need to accomplish to make the day a triumph.)

2. They Maximize Down Time

There’s always something to learn, or things that need to get done. Successful people embrace this. Having a time surplus is a good indicator that you’re challenge is either too small or you’re not thinking big enough. (Trick: concentrate on segregating your free time – i.e. one hour video editing practice, half hour reading video editing book, half hour watching beautifully edited films of others, repeat.)

3. They Reflect on Mistakes & Grow

Carol Dweck concentrates on the fixed vs. growth oriented pathways of the brain in her New York Times best selling book Mindsets. When faced with a challenge, overcoming fear, or coming back from a “failure,” successful people are focused on growth more than they fixate on the outcome of failure. (Trick: when feeling letdown, reflect by writing 3 things that went wrong in the process and how you plan to fix them next time.)

4. They Limit Technological Distractions

We live in a world that is constantly stimulated by electronic communication. Text messaging, the virtual worlds of social media, and mobile email capability can become serious time drains if handled inappropriately. (Trick: limit yourself to checking your social media accounts and emails once a day to limit distractions. There’s an app to keep you honest with that.)

5. They Forget About Perfection

Eric Thomas sums it perfectly with his statement, “There will never be the perfect time to do a great thing.” Successful people understand this, and don’t use their perfectionism substitute for procrastination. No matter how inexperienced, uneducated, or unprepared you might feel, right now is the best time to jump into action. (Trick: think of an endeavor you undertook and performed perfectly. No mistakes at all. Difficult? That’s what I thought.)

6. They Collect Their Thoughts Immediately

For many successful people, their best ideas, or what psychologists call ah-ha ‘moments,’ come at inopportune times like during exercise or their daily commute. Collecting those thoughts will allow you to reflect on them later. (Trick: keep a pocket-sized journal in your backpack or purse for note taking. There are apps for this, too.)

7. They Do Nice Things, But Don’t Tell Everyone

One of the many problems mass media has created is the idea that successful people always perform in front of others. As a society we often discredit the amount of hard work, practice, and sleepless nights these phenoms spent alone with their craft, with no one around. (Trick: do something small each day for a whole week to progress your dream. Tell no one.)

8. They Remind Themselves of Death

We have a limited amount of time on earth, and there’s no sense in hiding from how fast time goes. Successful people understand this, and use it as an advantage in letting no day go by wasted or squandered. (Trick: Envision an older version of yourself watching you throughout the day, and do today what you’d regret later in life. Creepy? Yes. Effective? Yes.)

9. They Define Success Themselves

Success is a large word thrown around by many small mouths. It’s a shame and, honestly, it’s a sham. A large bank account, sexy spouse, or lavish wardrobes do not define success in business, life, love, and other. YOU do. (Trick: look to people you idolize. Write down what you like about them. Chances are good that the adjectives and emotions you used are some of their proudest features.)

10. They Outwork Everyone

My mother once told me that, “There will always be someone stronger, faster, smarter, and more capable than you, but you’ll never be outworked.” Though some may view this as counterproductive, I’ve never had such sage and practical advice in my life. (Trick: pretend adversity. I guarantee you’ll want to prove everyone wrong as a result, even if they’re made up.)

11. They Don’t Envy Others

Successful people don’t have time to worry about the successes or failures of others because they’re too focused on what they want. Eliminate envy, and other negative emotions, as you’ll surely free your mind for bigger things. (Trick: talk up and freely promote others you admire, even if they don’t return the favor.)

12. They Heed Danger in Lounging

I’m not here to demonize TV, but studies have shown that success and television viewing have a negative correlation (when success goes up, television watching goes down). In fact, Craig Dewie did a brilliant piece on this some time ago. We only have so much free time in the day, and successful people spend it educating themselves by feeding their brain instead of numbing it.

13. They Believe That Fate Is Fake

Destiny and luck is a product of hard work and sacrifice. Successful athletes, CEOs, and film stars don’t “take days off.” They’re consistently dedicated to bettering each aspect of their life daily. (Trick: don’t overload yourself at once. Take small bites, 7 days a week, and build up.)

14. They Are The Man in the Glass

Successful people know what they want, and visualize how their strengths and weaknesses will play to their favor or downfall. Sure, everyone’s filled with doubt and fear that they’ll flop, but successful people know exactly what it takes to rise above as a result of spending so much time alone. At the end of the day, they are the only person they answer to. (Trick: Be by yourself. No phone. No friends. No roommates. You. Alone. BY YOURSELF.)

15. They Embrace Criticism

Nobody likes being booed, but they normally come from the cheap seats. Instead of getting defensive and immediately dismissing the negative opinions of others, successful people listen, heed those words, and use them to grow. (Trick: next time you’re confronted with negativity, agree and thank them for it. It will completely disarm your hater.)

16. They Always Finish Strong

No one, I repeat, NO ONE is an off-the-bat success. From Muhammad Ali to Mahatma Gandhi, all successes have taken their bruises and lumps, and they kept on going. No matter what happens, or whatever the end result may be, seeing something through to the end will help you develop the resolve to continue taking chances, growing, and bettering yourself.

Next time you’re in the situation of becoming your own worst critic, remember that,

“The road to personal excellence has no end.”

Trust in yourself, keep your head down, and keep moving forward no matter what.

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