Do you feel as though you’d accomplish so much more in your life if
it wasn’t for all the obstacles in your way? Perhaps you’ve started on
the journey towards numerous goals over the past few years … only to get
knocked off course by all sorts of things.
If you’ve ever been on a diet, you might have faced obstacles like a vacation, Thanksgiving dinner, a box of chocolates, a busy or draining week…
If you’ve tried to write a book, your obstacles might have been social obligations, a lack of time or space to sit down and concentrate, no feedback or support…
If you’ve never managed to save up as much money as you’d like, you
may have come up against obstacles like your car breaking down,
invitations to pricy events, the irresistible impulse buy, or the
expenses of Christmas…
Perhaps you feel as though you did your best. You had good
intentions, you made plans – and then all sorts of things came up to
derail these. Deep down, though, you know that people do
succeed in dieting, writing books or saving up money … and that they
sometimes hurdle seemingly insurmountable obstacles in order to do so.
How can you storm past the obstacles in your path? Imagine you’re
driving a bumper car around an obstacle course. If you barely put your
foot on the gas, and just coasted along, you’d lose almost all your
momentum every time you hit an obstacle. And if the course was just one
big circle, you might end up drifting around aimlessly.
To get to your goals without being knocked off-course, you need to do two things:
- Increase Your Drive
- Know Your Destination
Increase Your Drive
How can you put your foot down on the gas and race towards your
goals? Well, SKA Ocean Blogging is chock-full of tips about getting and
staying motivated, so you might want to have a browse through the other
articles here! Here’s a couple of quick tips from me:
Don’t Run On Empty
You know what happens when your car runs out of gas. Just like a car,
you’re not able to run on empty. Take time on a daily and weekly basis
to rest and recharge. That might mean having an hour of “me time” each
day, or making sure that you always finish work at 5pm on Fridays so
that you can enjoy the weekend.
Keep Up Your Momentum
You use a lot more energy in your car by going from 0 – 70 than by
staying at a constant 60. It’s often the same when you’re working
towards a goal: it’s much easier to keep going steadily than to keep
slackening off and ramping back up again.
When you’re working towards a long-term goal, like losing weight or
saving up money, try to ensure that your efforts are consistent. Cutting
your food intake or cutting your spending by just a little each day
will pay real dividends – but it’s hard to get back on track if you let
things slide for several weeks.
Know Your Destination
If you know where you’re heading and you keep your goal in mind, it’s
easy to bounce off or ride straight over those obstacles in your path.
You’ll want to know exactly where you’re aiming to be … and how far along the road you are.
This is why writing your goals down is so powerful: it makes them
concrete. “I want to lose weight” is a vague goal, and you’ll never
really know when you’ve succeeded. Try setting goals like “I want to
lose 40 lbs” or “I want to have $5,000 in savings”.
Visualisation
You’ll have heard this recommended before, but I think it’s
especially handy when you’re faced with obstacles or stumbling blocks on
your path towards your goal. Spend some time, ideally a few minutes
each day, visualising your destination. Imagine how it will feel to
reach that goal: build a picture in your mind.
Just as your daydreams of the sparkling blue sea and golden sand can
keep you going on a hot, long summer car journey, your visualisation of
your feelings of health and pride in your new figure can help you lose
weight – or your picture of security and no anxieties about money can
help you stay disciplined with putting money into savings.
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