Battling life’s distractions in order to achieve your goals

Have you lost your focus? Really, how could you not? We have so many things that can easily distract us. Modern technology has given us instant access to people and the world like never before. From news and game apps to the wide variety of social media apps right at our fingertips 24/7, it’s hard to stay focused. In fact, I’ve checked my Facebook three times since starting this blog post and I’m not even out of the first paragraph! We can quickly lose hours a day if we aren’t mindful. There are also a million every day life pressures, from jobs to families to having a social life otherwise you’ll be labeled as a social recluse.

Side note: for all of you parents out there, our children can throw us off our path in no time. There is is expectation that kids should be in at least 35 different activities every season. If they aren’t, they are most certainly going to grow up to be failures and it will be (insert whining child voice) all your fault.

Even with all of the temptations and life pressures that exist, what if these distractions are just a symptom of a much larger problem in our goal-getting journey? Say what? 

Free (unlicensed) therapy time! What if, being easily distracted isn’t because of the distraction itself, but because you’re subconsciously avoiding whatever it is that you were supposed to be doing? Let’s look at some reasons why this may happen.

1. Your goal isn’t motivating enough. We’ve talked about our “why” before. If it’s not big enough, it won’t motivate us to do what is needed to be done to achieve our goal. AKA – you don’t want it as much as you say you do.
2. Your action plan is “too hard” or you’re unsure of where to start. Goal planning and working though those plans is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes we avoid things that we think will be “too much” or “too hard.” I’m notorious for this.
3. You’re afraid of success. If you achieve the success that you desire, depending on the size of your goal, there could be a lot of pressure to then keep that up. That could also lead to permanent life changes. Even though that’s not a bad thing…sometimes we don’t have the confidence that we can keep it up. We think that our present way of life is easier and expectation free.

If you’ve identified with anything mentioned above, I first applaud you for your self-awareness. Second, I encourage you to keep reading for some tips on how to get back on track.

1. Re-evaluate your “why.” I have a free resource here to help you gain some clarity.
2. Review your goal plan. Are the deadlines realistic? Are the action steps realistic? make any changes you need to to make your plan doable and then ask someone to hold you accountable. If you don’t have a goal plan written down. Set up a call with me and we can get to work!
3. Address your fears. Take a few moments and write down all of the fears you have about achieving your goal. Next to your list of fears, write down how you will plan to combat that fear. For example, if your fear is that you may be asked to speak in front of audiences if you become successful, then you may solution to take a public speaking course to help prepare you.
4. Don’t lose sight of the big picture. In addition to writing down your fears, I want you to list all of the great things that will come from achieving your goal and then I want you to hang that list somewhere you will see it every day. Those daily reminders of all of the great things that will happen once you reach your goal should be motivating enough to keep you on track.

With the right planning and focus, you can achieve anything. The key is to catch yourself early before you fall completely off the rails. It’s easier to correct your plan early vs months later when you’ve likely completely lost all sense of direction. As always, if you need help, I’m here for you.

 

 

 

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