Did you achieve everything you wanted this year? I didn’t, and the main reason is that I had a long, unprioritised list of things I wanted to do.
I have always been a superman when it comes to setting goals—improving my health, travelling overseas, completing an improv course, writing more blogs, improving my writing and blogging skills, going on more dates, increasing my business revenue, upskilling myself on minimalism, becoming a vegetarian… These were most of the things I wanted to work on in 2017 while still working a full-time job. It was a lot—too much. I did tick some of these goals off, but I also dropped the ball on a few. And the balls that ended up on the floor were the ones that were the most important: blogging and dating.
The problem wasn’t not knowing what I wanted; it was thinking I could achieve it all in 12 months. The second problem—the bigger problem—was that I didn’t prioritise the items on my list. I didn’t determine what was truly meaningful—what was going to have the most impact on my life. Instead, I was trying to juggle everything, which resulted in the important balls hitting the floor.
Today, I still have my list, but it’s a lot shorter. I now limit my focus to one to three goals that are going to provide the most growth and value—becoming a better writer/blogger, having more intimate relationships, and becoming a vegan. Every day, I work on one to three task that will get me closer to completing my goal. Once I finish a task or goal, I move on to the next one.
Setting limits on my goals has ensured that I am focused on achieving the things that have the most impact. Limits have also made working through my list more manageable, guaranteeing that the essential balls (only one to three) stay in the air. It is okay to have a list of goals but ensure that you set limits and focus on the goals that will add the most value. There will be more satisfaction in achieving one goal than in having a long list of unfulfilled achievements.
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