Being able to achieve a goal means staying focused on going positively forward.
Sounds simple enough yet I’ve found focus can become one of the toughest obstacles to goal achievement. A key question in goal achievement becomes: Why do we lose focus and end up losing interest in achieving our goals?
Logically we know we need to accomplish those things that will keep us growing, paying the bills, heading toward the future and giving us motivation to keep going forward day-to-day. Why then, do so many of us lose interest in working a well-thought out plan that can take us step-by-step toward what we want?
American Heritage Dictionary defines focus as: Close or narrow attention; concentration.
- When I think of focus and concentration I think of giving a task my “undivided attention.” In order to give something undivided attention it has to be important and be of value. If you’re not achieving goals then ask yourself, “How important is this task or goal to me personally, professionally, emotionally or spiritually?”
- I believe we also lose concentration when we are not focused on the emotional “payoff” of achieving the goal. It’s difficult to work on a goal for an extended period of time if we can’t imagine the joy or satisfaction of completing it. Could this inability to experience satisfaction stem from not feeling deserving of achieving and enjoying your goal?
- Then there are some on us who seem to thrive on the disorganization and drama of making goal setting and achieving an emotionally draining experience. Why the drama? It’s almost as if feeling uncomfortable and stressful about going forward has become an acceptable comfort zone.
I’m not criticizing – I’m just asking you to take a look at why you may be losing focus when it comes to working day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month on achieving your goals.
Here’s the goal setting/achieving bottom line: It’s a fact of life that every day you’re going forward toward the next day, the next month and the next year. You have choices, you can either go forward with some control and direction or you can wander around without a plan and see where you end up.
Working toward your goals gives you some control over the direction you’re taking and the outcomes you’re expecting. I’ve found a key to goal achieving is focusing on the outcome, the “prize” at the end of the journey. Stay focused on what you want and why you want it. That laser-beam focus will see you through and help make goals reality.
Copyright © 2009 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved
For over twenty years Sharon Michaels has been writing, speaking and empowering women to achieve greater personal and professional success. Sharon mentors/coaches women entrepreneurs about learning to recognize the things they’re doing that may be keeping them from the things they want.
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