7 Steps To Get Past The Good Intentions And Get Results
“The virtue of achievement is victory over oneself. Those who know this can never know defeat.”
~A.J. Cronin
This article is for those of us that know exactly what we need to do, why we need to do it, yet still fail to follow through on our good intentions.
Every person on the planet has been a victim of this phenomenon at one point or another.
I call it a phenomenon because it seems counter intuitive to me how a perfectly intelligent person could know which direction is right for them and then walk the other way.
- Define What you Really Want. Many of us say what we want, but can’t actually define it. Go to wikipedia if you’re not sure, but make sure you have a clear mental image of what you really want to accomplish.
- Write Your Reasons. Once you’ve clearly defined what you want, and written it down, write down the reasons of why you want to accomplish this. Just having a definition does not provide the ambition to obtain what you want.
- Check Your Position. Where are you now, in comparison to where you want to be? If you can answer this question, than you can also answer the question of how much further your destination is.
- Create An Emotional Steroid. Put together a beautiful set of words to express how amazing you will feel once you accomplish this goal.
- Create An Emotional Shocker. Write down all the negative things that will happen to you as a consequence of not getting your goal complete.
- Detailed Plan of Action. One thing that keeps people procrastinating and stands between them and a result is a project that seems too big to handle.
- Want For Yourself. Stop the “I’ll do it for them”. In reality we are all selfish beings. Even the saints among us, they receive great pleasure for giving of themselves and being god-like. Since they consistently do good deeds and receive pleasure, they are selfish in this way.
I told her, “you say that you love him, but I’m just curious, could you define love?”
“The greatest reward is to know that one can speak and emit articulate sounds and utter words that describe things, events and emotions.”
~Camilo Jose Cela
Getting in shape may be for obvious reasons to you, but it must be a specific written reason. It could be to get in shape, to protect yourself from obesity, or to fit into an awesome dress. Get personal and vivid.
Being able to identify the distance between you and your destination allows you to see your goal as more realistic, achievable, and not as intimidating as it was before.
Imagine the feelings within your body, the praises that you will get from your family and friends, and most importantly the benefit this accomplishment will have to your self-image.
Be severely brutal in this analysis and take into consideration all the worst case scenarios. If the positive boost of the emotional steroid won’t send you rocketing towards your goal, then perhaps a nice tug from the emotional shocker will get you past the finish line.
“Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.”
~Dennis Wholey
The simple solution is to plan in such a way that this big project is broken down into several smaller workable action items. Couple this with exact time frames for completetion and you’ll notice yourself achieving in no time.
Create a self-serving benefit out of whatever it is you’re working on and do it for that reason.
“Feeling and longing are the motive forces behind all human endeavor and human creations.”
~Albert Einstein
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Posted by Alex Shalman in Goal Setting, Personal Development | April 15, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 9 comments
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“One thing that keeps people procrastinating and stands between them and a result is a project that seems too big to handle.” Great point!
I think this is one of the most common stumbling blocks. A goal can be so grand in scale that we don’t know how to even start, since we’ve never done anything like it before. Starting your own business or writing your first book is a great example.
Like you said Alex, the key is to break it down into smaller goals. What’s useful here is to emulate role models that have your same skills set and to emulate the steps they made.
Yes, without the emotional button (no. 4 and 5), one would never really push yourself toward your goal. It will be even better if we put the emotional steroid and shocker onto our Vision Board to remind us everyday.
Great post Alex. I think defining what you want will enable you to prioritize your life, so that the goals can become reality.
Although I agree that we are all creatures who want for ourselves, I still believe that there are those genuine people out there who are truly altruistic and do things to make other people happy or better off. They are truly unselfish beings. So, don’t dis the “saints” or as I prefer to call them “angels”. Without our angels it would be a pretty grim world, everone out for himself - my idea of hell, in fact!
Hi Viv. I’m not dissing the saints at all. I think being a giver is the highest level of fulfillment that we can achieve as human beings. To give is to become God-like (if you believe in God- but if you don’t, try giving, and see how nice it feels).
Alex:
This article reminds me of a quote I heard in an episode of Star Trek several years back.
“You will NEVER come across a greater adversary than your own potential.”
As you have correctly pointed out, it’s not always what we’re capable of doing or what we intend to do (our potential), but what we actually do.
Time to get back to work . . .
Stanley F. Bronstein
Mr. Positioning
Attorney, CPA, Author & Professional Motivational Speaker
Ahh the wisdom of Star Trek… =)
Wow Alex,
Right on, that raised an uneasy feeling with in me, sound like me I thought. I do set great plans and intentions and then get sidetracted, I will take on board your emotional steroid and emotional shocker.
Thank you a great post
Nice, simple, easy to understand post.
My comment is also regarding ‘people procrastinating and stands between them and a result is a project that seems too big to handle’.
Break it down and then break it down even further.
Try to have five things / tasks you do everyday, which makes you a step closer to your overall goal.
I also recommend a simple ‘post-it’ highlighting your overall goal posted on your pc, just to act as a reminder. It works for me.
I have a post it with a daily income figure in big numbers written on it, so it stands out. That reminds me what I need to do today to it that figure and if I do not I have to do more tomorrow.
Andrew