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Life Health > Life Insurance

Your goals are waiting, Part 2

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One of the most common questions I hear is “Jack, how do you get so much done?” In this article, I share three more of my top strategies for tackling goals:

1.     Get clear about what’s required. When people set goals, particularly New Year’s resolutions, they tend to be overly optimistic about how much is actually possible. As a result, they over-commit or make lists that are far too long.

I’ve fallen into this trap myself. I’ve learned that, to be realistic, I must take the time to break down goals and ask “What would actually be required for me to achieve this goal? How many hours would that take?” Once I have a list of activities and estimates of the time needed to achieve each item, I pull out my calendar and start scheduling those activities.

This is the point at which you come face to face with reality. If you recognize there’s not enough time in the day to accomplish everything you want to, it’s time to go back and prioritize your goals. Once you’ve identified the most important things, schedule the activities that those goals will require, and set aside the rest for later.

2.     Create a daily schedule. Simply setting aside time in your calendar may not be enough to achieve your goals. I go the extra step and create a daily schedule. Additionally, I use the “Rule of 5.” Each day, I choose five specific tasks that move me toward my goals and ensure those tasks are included in my daily schedule.

A collection of top-five action sticky notes can help keep your list front and center. So if one of my daily tasks is to work on my book, I don’t simply resolve to work on my book. Instead, I designate the hours during which I will work on my book.

To stay motivated, I review my yearly goals once a week, and then I plan my week around those goals. I identify what I need to accomplish in the coming week in order to achieve my long-term goals, and then I schedule those activities. Each evening, before I leave my office, I finalize my schedule for the following day. Then, when I return in the morning, I can be productive immediately rather than wasting time trying to decide what to do.

3.     Focus on the “big rocks.” When planning my schedule, I sometimes realize that I have an unreasonable amount of work on my to-do list. This is when I turn to my list of “big rocks”—my most important priorities.These are the things I need to get done during the current quarter of the year. I keep a list of those priorities on my iPad. When my daily schedule is overbooked, the big rocks are the things that get done.

Your goals are important—and not only to you and your family but to the world. You have a purpose, and your goals are how you’re meant to live out that purpose. Use these strategies to get things done so that when this year comes to an end, you’ll be able to celebrate having accomplished your goals.

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Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com.


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