“What does it take to achieve success? Three Things:
1. A clear goal.
2. A specific plan to accomplish that goal.
3. The discipline to invest the time, energy, and effort to execute that plan.”

John Lee Dumas

I have been thinking a lot about goals, failure and success as I struggle back and forth towards my vision of a desired future self.

I came across the above quote from John Lee Dumas with some simple, sound advice. But in reality, it is much harder to follow. It’s hard to pull back and create the space to do this correctly. 

We know we should spend more time working on ourselves, but why don’t we?

Goals

Let’s start with goals. We have vague impressions of what we want to achieve, but often we are not clear on these goals. They’re muddy. We can start by setting better, more precise goals:

• Goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based)
• Goals should be positive. We are excited by their attainment, and we want to move towards them. 

Plans

Next up is setting a plan. Let’s say you have a clear goal. Do you have a specific plan of how to get there? How will you accomplish that goal? We need to break our goals down into actionable bite-sized chunks so we don’t get overwhelmed. And we need to schedule achievement dates.

Execution

Finally, perhaps the hardest one of all is the execution stage. You know the familiar story… You have a great goal, you developed the perfect plan, and you flawlessly execute day one and day two. But by day three, you wake up late and unmotivated, you have emails to catch up on, you have sick kids, you get called into another project, or bright shiny objects are calling you. Suddenly before you know it, you’re two weeks in, and you are woefully off track from your plan. That goal isn’t going to achieve itself. So you bury your head in the sand and ignore it.

There’s no point in having an incredible goal and plan if you are never going to achieve it. Someday never comes.

So how do we combat this?

The right goal

Make sure that goal lights you up. Are you intrinsically motivated? How will it change your life for the better if you achieve it? If you don’t feel that fire inside, maybe it’s the wrong goal, as it won’t generate the energy for you to push through the inevitable challenges that arise.

Time-block your calendar

Often we overestimate what we can achieve. We have a monster to-do list without considering the time required to complete those actions. We get buried in to-do’s and raise the white flag to surrender. We walk away demotivated.

Instead, estimate the required time for each action and block it out on your calendar. Then stick to the schedule. This takes discipline at first, but it gets easier over time as you exercise the muscle and start to see some progress.

Journal

To maintain that focus and energy, complete a short daily journal. Although simple, it can have a profound impact. 

Take two minutes each morning:

• Restate your overall goal.
• List three key action steps to move forward on that goal today. 
  

Take two minutes each evening:

• Review your performance. 
• Celebrate any successes.
• Outline solutions setbacks.

Reflection

Have I set the right goals?

Do I have a plan, and have I time-blocked my calendar?

I will keep a daily journal to maintain focus on the path to success.