How to Achieve Goals through Forced Efficiency

There is a lot that can be said for your surroundings. It is not just about the people that you surround yourself most that will determine your success in life, but also what you surround yourself with in your personal work space.

The goal is productivity. This can be said for a white collar job, a blue collar job, a network marketing job, a sales job, etc. Productivity takes preparation no matter what line of business you are in. Just like a surgeon has all of their tools in front of them prior to that first incision, so must you prior to sitting down to finish what you are working on.

Forced efficiency means an arranged desk, pens, pencils, a notepad, a calendar, etc. It means having everything where everything needs to be. It means that things literally need to be within reach, in eye sight, and in the proper place. It means being free of clutter. It means tapping into your OCD side just a wee tad.

Try this: the next time that you sit down to finish a task, take everything off of your desk. Go through the pile and return only those items that are ESSENTIAL to what you are currently working on. By only having the essentials on your desk you focus remains on the task at hand, and distraction is less likely to occur.

Prepare yourself for success, and you shall achieve that success.

How to Achieve Your Goals by Considering the Consequences

Everything that we do in life involves consequences. There is a great quote that says, "You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences". The same can be said for the consequences behind not doing daily activities that move you closer to achieving your goals.

The obvious consequence is that the goal won't happen; however, for some people that is not enough to get them moving. And if that is you, that's okay. There is more that you can do.

Tony Robbins always says that anything we do, or seek, in life is a method for avoiding pain and increasing pleasure. With that being said, the consequences of you not achieving a certain goal can become a lot more serious when you think of the pain it could cause yourself and those around you.

Let's take the example of a woman who needs to lose a good deal of weight as prescribed by her doctor. She puts it off because she doesn't enjoy working out, and she loves food. She has a vacation to Disney World coming up. She has two little girls age 7 and 9, but mom can't ride any of the rides with them because she can't fit in the seats. In addition, mom chooses not to go in the pool with them because she doesn't feel like putting on a swimsuit. The family vacation that the girls were looking forward to is now greatly reduced in meaning and fun because the mother could not take the actions necessary to better herself. Her inaction has caused pain not only for herself by constantly being denied the ability to ride the rides, but by seeing the look on her girls faces. There's a little bit of embarrassment there, resentment, regret. The girls aren't having fun because mom can't join in and they are jealous of the kids around them that have parents playing with them.

As you can see, that example is full of a lot of pain. The consequence is not just, "If I don't watch what I eat I will not lose weight or become more healthy". Now the consequence behind the inaction takes on a much more serious role that dives into the emotions of not just the person not taking the action, but all of those around her.

This is what you need to think of when you consider inaction towards a goal you have. Not just what is the obvious consequence if it doesn't happen, but how does that affect those around you. How does that make you feel? How does that make them feel? How does lack of completion push you forward?  After you have permitted yourself to explore those emotions, turn them around. Think of what happens when you DO achieve your goal. How will that make you feel? How will that make those around you feel? What can you provide them with now that you have accomplished what you set out to do? What can you now push yourself to do that you couldn't do before? Take those emotions, and run with them.

How to Achieve Success through Reverse Engineering

When I share my vision board for a new year in January to my social media audience, it is most commonly met with cheers of support from my friends. I mean, that's only natural right? You always want to support your friends and their goals. What surprises people the most, however, is when I post the vision board again at the end of the year showing what I had accomplished, and what still is left to be taken care of.

The difference between goal attainment and dreams is action taken on part of the individual. You can plan for hours, days, or even months on how you are going to develop a life that you feel that you deserve, but it will never amount to anything or go anywhere without action by YOU.

So how do I achieve everything I set out to do? I plan and I permit myself to have some fun in the meantime.

Life doesn't have to be so serious all the time, that's why my vision boards always contain business strategic goals, and fun little goals for myself.  But regardless if it's a business goal, a personal goal, or just a fun goal that you have set for yourself you need to plan.

The first step is writing down exactly what it is that you want.  What do YOU want? I'm not asking what other people want FOR you, I'm asking you what you want. This is not a list you have to show others, you can keep it to yourself. But get honest about it.

The second step is putting a date on it. When do YOU want it by? Now, some people will say go way outside of your comfort zone with this, but this is a step that I usually spend the most time on because I want my goals to be challenging, but not so much so that they seem impossible. When creating a goal, think about what you have now, what you will have in the future, and the amount of time you have to work on achieving it.  Most importantly, and this can be hard, but how much heart do you have behind it, because that is going to determine a lot of what you are willing to sacrifice to get there.

The third step is to write down everything you can think of that is needed to achieve that goal. This is called reverse engineering and is a step that is most often skipped, but one of THE MOST VALUABLE steps to take. This lays it all out for you. This gives you a clear picture of EXACTLY what you need to do. It is the rough draft of the story that you are about to create. After doing this, you might need to adjust your dates a little bit and that's okay, just make sure you are not laxing on yourself to the point where you will get lazy.

The final step: take action. Take massive action to make it happen. Take one goal at a time, look at it reverse engineered, and think of how you can take one step per day (or more) towards achieving those small items on the to do list of your goal. 

At first it's overwhelming, but practice makes perfect. Not to mention, every goal you mark off is a boost to your own self confidence, and your own belief in yourself which will push you further through life to achieve things you never thought possible.