To stay focused on what you have planned for your future is to constantly remind your mind, “I Got This”! If your mind does not believe you are serious about your goal, it will encourage distractions.

Have you ever found yourself working on something you were passionate about last week, when you got an even better idea this week?

The next question is even more important – what did you do?

If you allowed yourself to be seduced by the second idea, then your mind is going to assume you were not serious about the first idea and allow more distractions. And we all know how distracting the world can be.

Here are 4 ways to make sure your mind knows you are sticking to the plan.

• Visualize. There is a reason companies like Google have visualization boards. They know continually looking at something is a constant reminder of where you want to be. In NASCAR, the drivers know not to look at the wall or else they will drive right into the wall. It is like those movies where someone is asked to walk across a narrow, dangerous passageway. What is the first thing their rescuer tells them? Don’t Look Down (and of course as soon as they say it, the person looks down).

In both situations, where your eyes are focused, your body will follow.

• Make a List. Believe me when I tell you, I do not like making lists. With that said, make a list of no more than three things you want to accomplish in your life. Whenever you are faced with a decision, see if they match with one of your life goals. If they don’t, say NO.
• Reward Yourself. Nothing crazy, but every so often it is good to reward yourself for staying on task. It is a technique that encourages us to keep going. If you are not rewarding yourself, your mind eventually thinks you are not accomplishing anything and grows discouraged. Discouragement turns into procrastination, which turns into disinterest, which kills your future plans.
• Be specific. Vague plans will be the death of you. You will be able to finagle yourself into thinking you are focused on your future plans when you are not. If you make your goals specific, you will have no choice but to face the honest truth. Imagine someone who has the goal to “eat healthier” vs. someone who says, “no more fast-food” or “no more than 2,000 calories a day”. Eating healthier could mean you had a healthy breakfast, even though you made horrible decisions about lunch and dinner. It could mean you skipped some phantom dessert, but ate a greasy dinner, or my favorite, ordered a Diet Coke with your meat-lovers pizza. You can see easily, vague plans are no plans at all.

Continued blessings,

Undre Griggs | Be More | Forecast Hope