Focus on your Future
Vanessa Sipapela
Staying focused on your goals is hard. In the beginning, we’re certainly motivated. But we all know how that motivation wanes over time. We get caught up, stuck, frustrated, overworked, distracted, and we simply just veer off track. Clearly, it’s hard to stay focused when we have so much going on.
Or is it?
When obligations stretch us thin, and we’re pulled in every direction, it’s easy to let life overwhelm us. It’s easy to get inundated by emergencies and crises that feel almost unavoidable, so losing that all-important focus feels largely, well, unimportant.
If you have some lofty goals that you set for yourself (and who doesn’t really), you’re likely beating yourself up wondering how you can keep your eye on the prize, so to speak. But does it really have to be that hard? Is it really that difficult to stay focused on something we’re trying to attain, or are we just not taking the right approach?
I know that I’ve gotten frustrated with my progress towards my goals in the past. Nothing that I’ve ever wanted to achieve was simple or easy. But, then again, I wouldn’t have wanted it if it were simple and easy. Big goals are usually so far off from where we are that it can almost be frightening.
But there is a system to staying focused on your goals. There are methods and techniques that you can implement to help you avoid getting sidetracked or veering off course too much. The key here is to put a plan in place before you lose that all-important focus.
There are 7 very powerful methods that you can employ to help you retain your focus on your dreams. Employ one or many, it’s entirely up to you. But make a plan and stick to that plan. Not losing focus on your goals will be much easier if you do.
Writing out your goals is also the first step in the SMARTER goal setting method. If you want to stay focused on your goals, then you need to ensure you’re tackling them in the right way. This is also called active goal setting, which is the direct opposite of the passive goal setting that most people engage in.
If you’re serious about your goals, you need a mission statement. Companies create mission statements all the time, so why shouldn’t you? The mission statement should help direct your time and energy towards the things that matter most to you and help you stay focused on those all-important goals.
When you get distracted or lose your focus, re-read your mission statement and re-envision why you’re doing what you’re doing on a daily basis.
It’s virtually impossible to stay focused on your goals if you can’t manage your time. Become an effective time manager and you’ll see yourself progressing rather than falling behind. Pick a time management system that works and work it.
You should create a long-term plan to help you reach your goals, but realize that it can and should change along the way. What shouldn’t change are your goals. You can reach your goals as long as you can follow a plan. If you see the plan isn’t working, all you have to do is slightly change your direction. It doesn’t take much. But it does take consistency.
One crucial way you can stay focused on your goals is to track and analyze your progress. In fact, how else would you know just how far you’ve come towards achieving your goals or just how much there’s left to go? It’s certainly much harder to do so, that’s for sure.
Use your smartphone or a spreadsheet on your laptop to plot your results on a daily basis. If you can track more often than daily, and it makes sense, then do it. The more data you have, the more you can analyze and determine just which of your efforts are paying off and which ones are being wasted.
Yet, if we want to reach our goals, we need some strategies in place. How can we avoid procrastination all together and stay focused and on track? One simple way to do this is to use the 15-minute rule. Simply grab your smartphone or any other device with a timer and set it to 15 minutes.
Focus on your goals and implement any number of available motivational techniques to help keep you on track. Now, what inspires you might be different than what inspires someone else, but motivation is far more straightforward.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s up to you to stay focused on your goals, and not someone else. The only person you would be cheating by not putting in the effort every single day to achieve your goals, is yourself. Do your best to avoid distractions and time wasters, and work towards your goals by staying motivated.
Don’t be afraid of failure. But don’t allow it let you lose your focus on your goals. Keep pushing, keep going, and never, ever give up.
* Vanessa Sipapela is a grade 11 learner at Hochland High School. She loves reading novels
Staying focused on your goals is hard. In the beginning, we’re certainly motivated. But we all know how that motivation wanes over time. We get caught up, stuck, frustrated, overworked, distracted, and we simply just veer off track. Clearly, it’s hard to stay focused when we have so much going on.
Or is it?
When obligations stretch us thin, and we’re pulled in every direction, it’s easy to let life overwhelm us. It’s easy to get inundated by emergencies and crises that feel almost unavoidable, so losing that all-important focus feels largely, well, unimportant.
If you have some lofty goals that you set for yourself (and who doesn’t really), you’re likely beating yourself up wondering how you can keep your eye on the prize, so to speak. But does it really have to be that hard? Is it really that difficult to stay focused on something we’re trying to attain, or are we just not taking the right approach?
I know that I’ve gotten frustrated with my progress towards my goals in the past. Nothing that I’ve ever wanted to achieve was simple or easy. But, then again, I wouldn’t have wanted it if it were simple and easy. Big goals are usually so far off from where we are that it can almost be frightening.
But there is a system to staying focused on your goals. There are methods and techniques that you can implement to help you avoid getting sidetracked or veering off course too much. The key here is to put a plan in place before you lose that all-important focus.
There are 7 very powerful methods that you can employ to help you retain your focus on your dreams. Employ one or many, it’s entirely up to you. But make a plan and stick to that plan. Not losing focus on your goals will be much easier if you do.
Writing out your goals is also the first step in the SMARTER goal setting method. If you want to stay focused on your goals, then you need to ensure you’re tackling them in the right way. This is also called active goal setting, which is the direct opposite of the passive goal setting that most people engage in.
If you’re serious about your goals, you need a mission statement. Companies create mission statements all the time, so why shouldn’t you? The mission statement should help direct your time and energy towards the things that matter most to you and help you stay focused on those all-important goals.
When you get distracted or lose your focus, re-read your mission statement and re-envision why you’re doing what you’re doing on a daily basis.
It’s virtually impossible to stay focused on your goals if you can’t manage your time. Become an effective time manager and you’ll see yourself progressing rather than falling behind. Pick a time management system that works and work it.
You should create a long-term plan to help you reach your goals, but realize that it can and should change along the way. What shouldn’t change are your goals. You can reach your goals as long as you can follow a plan. If you see the plan isn’t working, all you have to do is slightly change your direction. It doesn’t take much. But it does take consistency.
One crucial way you can stay focused on your goals is to track and analyze your progress. In fact, how else would you know just how far you’ve come towards achieving your goals or just how much there’s left to go? It’s certainly much harder to do so, that’s for sure.
Use your smartphone or a spreadsheet on your laptop to plot your results on a daily basis. If you can track more often than daily, and it makes sense, then do it. The more data you have, the more you can analyze and determine just which of your efforts are paying off and which ones are being wasted.
Yet, if we want to reach our goals, we need some strategies in place. How can we avoid procrastination all together and stay focused and on track? One simple way to do this is to use the 15-minute rule. Simply grab your smartphone or any other device with a timer and set it to 15 minutes.
Focus on your goals and implement any number of available motivational techniques to help keep you on track. Now, what inspires you might be different than what inspires someone else, but motivation is far more straightforward.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s up to you to stay focused on your goals, and not someone else. The only person you would be cheating by not putting in the effort every single day to achieve your goals, is yourself. Do your best to avoid distractions and time wasters, and work towards your goals by staying motivated.
Don’t be afraid of failure. But don’t allow it let you lose your focus on your goals. Keep pushing, keep going, and never, ever give up.
* Vanessa Sipapela is a grade 11 learner at Hochland High School. She loves reading novels
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