We all have something we want to achieve in our lives: lose some extra weight, build a successful business, raise a family, write a book, retire early, and the list goes on. But are you aware of how to get there? To be useful in setting the right goals, we need to evaluate the system that surrounds us. Too often, the system we have doesn’t work well for our goals. Going up against a wrong system makes it harder to become achieve your goals and become consistent in making progress.
Imagine a train line. There is the train, the tracks, and a different stop to reach. Your goals become the train, where they give you direction on where to go. The tracks become your system, where they become a process on how to get there. Each train stop you land on becomes progression. If you arrive on a different track, you end up in a place where you didn’t intend to go. Without a sound system, you have no direction, and your progress is limited. It’s why focusing on a system is the best way to reach the desired outcome.
Achieve Your Goals By Connecting To Your Environment
One of the key ways to get your goals in line with a system is to connect them to your environment. We often make choices based on the environment we are in, positively and negatively. For example, if you train at a local gym around the corner, and you decide to move two hours away, the challenge of driving to exercise is more significant. Although you possess the ability to travel the distance, the likelihood of doing it would be lesser than if the gym was around the corner. Because more accessible alternatives surround you, you are more inclined to choose those. The alternative options are often negative because, during the early stages of building a behaviour, there is only so much willpower you have before giving in. The choices you make in your daily life, whether it’s personally or professionally, are moulded by the options available to you.
Measure Your Goals
Making progress on your goals requires an evaluation and calculation of where you currently sit. When there is evidence of progress, it helps us to keep pushing forward. The human mind loves progression. When there is positive feedback from where you started to where you are heading, feel-good chemicals release into the brain, and you continue to keep believing and to keep striving. Here are some measurable outcomes that I have applied:
When I measured the number of rounds done on the boxing bag, my fitness increased.
When I measured how many words I was writing per day, I wrote more.
When I recorded how many pages I read per day, I learn more.
Measuring your goals works for breaking negative patterns as well:
When I measured the amount of junk food I was eating during the week, I ate less.
When I recorded how much time I spent on social media, I consumed less.
When I measured how little time I spent with my friends and family, I spent more.
The Result
Through tracking and measuring, you get an idea if you are getting better, or worse. Recording your progress is not about results, but understanding and discovering. It’s to make sure your train is on the right track and heading to the right destination to achieve your goals
Related: 5 Stage Plan To Set Goals Like An Athlete