For many people, jumping into new projects without finishing the other one is the way to go. They keep having things in their head they want to accomplish. They want to improve on their job, start a fashion business on the side, start a family, link up with a cousin abroad to start importation...They want to do it all so they get into all these and lack the ability to see anyone to completion. At the end of the year they are left with unfinished goals. But they felt excited at start; they were motivated at the beginning only for the motivation to wane over time. They move on to other new projects and then the cycle repeats itself.
What anybody gets from this cycle is frustration. The way forward is to make a list of goals, assign priority to them and follow them through one at a time. You focus on the goal at hand. According to Robert Kiyosaki, focus means Follow One Course Until Successful. Focus has its power and lack of it dissipates energy.
The lion tamer has three tools to control the prowling beast: a whip, a stool, and a handful of tasty snacks. But which of these tools is most valuable? You might think it’s the whip, but it’s not. It’s the stool. When the lion tamer lifts the stool to face his snarling companions, the lions see all four stool legs and don’t know which one to focus on. As a result, they stand frozen, enabling the tamer to keep them at bay.
Unfortunately, the same can happen to you when you try to focus on too many things at once – you become unable to take action on any of them. Lack of focus significantly impairs your ability to lead and stick to your plan.1
When you try achieving too many different things, you end up completing none of them. Every goal cannot be your highest priority. You may need to postpone projects for a later date.
What is most important to you? What is that one thing? Start by deciding that and focusing on that. Yes we live in a society where people feel like they need to do it all now but that pressure hardly helps. When I decided to make major changes in my life, I figured out the things I wanted to do. I wrote them down and started working them to accomplishment one at a time. When I completed the first few goals, I could see that some few goals I had written down to accomplish would not serve me as much as another goal that came up as a result of completing the first few goals. I made changes and kept on tackling my goals one at a time. Over time when I looked back, I saw progress. Making consistent progress continues to propel me to take action. You do not make that kind of progress when you take on many projects at once.
When you focus on a goal and complete it, you get a reward that lasts long. The people we consider successful do this and after years, they get to sit back to enjoy the rewards of the various goals they have been able to accomplish.
As you complete one goal after the other, you form a mindset as well as habits that will aid your accomplishing the next goal. You also gain skills. So your knowledge, your experience, your strategy, your tools all come together as a formidable weapon to be deployed against the obstacles to the achievement of another goal.
You may want to do it all but if you want to see result, you may have to Follow One Course Until Successful.
Reference:
- Lee Colon, What Lion Tamers Know About Focus, Inc., www.inc.com/lee-colon/what-lion-tamers-know.html, Accessed January 25, 2016.