How To Take Things One at a Time to Achieve Your Goals

We all have responsibilities to fulfill and goals to achieve. 

But sometimes we tend to go overboard with everything because we want to get things over with as well as eager to speed ahead on achieving said goals. This may happen unconsciously to people, including me.

I am the kind of person who loves to try new things (books, new skills, languages etc). But I tend to lose interest or motivation in things quickly as well. I'm sure there are plenty of individuals that does that as well. However, there are several things that I learn recently which I would be happy to share, that might seem helpful in ensuring we don't stray away from our goals, priorities or even just a simple task of the day.

1. Set aside a number of items you wish to do for the day

What the world's name does this even mean?

Well, this was something that my cousin told me just recently. Basically, don't overdo the list of things you need to do, you want to do and the skill goals. You might get disappointed when you don't get the rest of it done.

Basically, set aside a number of things you think is doable just for the day. I would recommend two sets of items in the list such as e.g. put only 30 minutes of Korean Vocab study and do 30 minutes of HIIT workout.
And whatever time it is, as long as you do it before the day ends, that is how you make sure to accomplish your objectives.
This is seems easy enough, right? It's common sense but I wasn't aware then.

2. Don't think too far ahead

As a very anxious person, I like to overthink things and always find excuses as to why things would go badly if I did/didn't do this in the future. This would greatly impact on my thoughts negatively and I ended up not doing the work.

Of course, it isn't bad to think about the future but imagine thinking about all the things that probably would not happen.

Just focus on the present and doing the best you can now. This was a quote my dad always said when he was in the midst of preparing for 1 week long distance bicycle trip with his friends.

"It's not about the destination, but the journey"

Enjoy the process more as you thread along. If you give up now, you will never realise how close you came to achieving the goal. 

3. Sometimes motivation...wanes

Sure, you find something new, excitement falls through and then you lose interest.
Motivation can't last that long. But Grit can.
Based on the Ted talk I have recently remembered watching, Angela Lee Duckworth talked about grit being the ability to persevere and the passion to achieve goals.

"Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. 

Grit is sticking to your future, day in, day out. Not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality."

~ Angela Lee Duckworth

There are times when we are frustrated with the little to slow results that we end up just giving up. I know I do.

Here's a really well-known example.

Back in early January 2016, during my semester break, I went to work out with my dad at the gym. It was a real hassle to wake up early in the morning and to actually work out. Pffft.

But I did that for a solid month. Obviously I expected results. Guess what, I didn't even lose any weight. I was still at that same weight when I first started ( of course, I discovered that there was a reason for that, which I'll tell in another time).

Eventually, I didn't stick around to it because I was hasty in wanting to get results.

I didn't have grit in me to make it work. Because I relied too much on motivation and it faded away.

Grit is an important characteristics to make sure we actually stay aligned with our goals and commit to it.

Basically, this is all I can say for now. I have to learn to all this three things because I was having trouble sticking to my goals and I thought I share this even if it was this much.

P.S I hope this can be a platform for me to share my productivity chat and such because I am always trying to look for new ways to be productive.

Me every year with my weight loss plan.

Carmelia.