How To Stay Motivated To Your Goals And Avoid Distraction

Everything in life is meant to distract you - to get your attention.

I'm distracted daily. The yarn of life pulling at my thread - doing everything it can to get my attention.

You have it damnit. You have it.

When I succumb to its pressure, it's my fault. Usually, for these reasons.

My goals aren't good enough.

I have no passion for achieving them, no purpose to get them done, no drive to "crush" them.

Two, I have an undiagnosed disease, and it's called chase-the-next-shiny-object syndrome. 

I'm sure you have it.

Usually, one will lead to the other.

Before I had a system for my goals, I would set goals for life and business and half-ass them.

They were too vague, too simple, and unmotivating.

Here are several ways I’ve overcame that to stay motivated to my goals and avoid distraction.

Link your goals to your life plan.

A life plan is a document that states what your purpose in life is, the values that guide your behaviors, establishing six to ten priority areas for your life and the future actions you need to take within those areas.

If it sounds confusing, it's not. I promise. Read Michael Hyatt's book, Living Forward.

But if you're going to procrastinate, let me give you an example.

My Purpose: #THRIVE — helping myself and others optimize life's potential.

Values: In/Out — Shit in equals shit out. It doesn't matter where I am in life; whatever I put in will dictate what comes out. I am not okay with complacency or the status quote.

I have a total of nine life values like this one.

Priorities: Mind, Body, Soul & Emotions — a goal in this priority area was to get two hours of deep sleep each night. I've got to one hour and forty minutes a night but it took about eight steps to get me there.

Your goals must align with your life. Even if it's the future life, you want.

Create a purpose statement for your goals.

You need to have a purpose for your life's priorities.

Otherwise, what's the point?

If there's no purpose, then there's no reason to have the goals.

In my Mind, Body, Soul & Emotions priority mentioned in the previous section, my purpose statement is…

I'm on a mission to live to be 180 years old. I understand that without me, I have nothing. I must first take care of my mind, body, and soul before I can give my all to everything else.

Stay focused on your goals every week and every day.

It's great to identify your life's priorities and purpose, but if you flop around trying to achieve your goals, you've likely become unfocused.

Every week you need to identify the three to five things you'll do in the upcoming week that will push your quarterly goals forward.

One of my quarterly goals was to get an average of two hours of deep sleep each night.

One priority for the week was to research and buy sleep headphones and a sleep app.

Sure, your goals can be more complicated than this, but for me, great sleep is non-negotiable. If I don't get good sleep, I perform weaker throughout every area of my life.

Another quarterly goal I had was to restructure my sales team and hit our quarterly sales targets.

Then I established priorities each week to help me achieve this.

Once you have your weekly goals, you'll then have two to three priorities for your days.

Each day you should make it a priority to push your weekly priorities forward.

Break your goals into smaller tasks.

A goal without a plan is just a dream.

It's easy to say what you want to do. It's much harder to execute on it.

Think about a car.

Just because you say you want to go to a destination doesn't mean you'll magically get there. 

Poof. I'm here.

You have to get yourself ready, get in the car, turn the car on, get gas if it needs it, avoid all the idiot drivers, find parking, park, turn the car off — you get the point.

Your goals are no different.

The simplest way to achieve a goal is to break it down into small steps, milestones, or tasks. 

For example, this might be how to do it if you're in sales.

Goal: Surpass my sales quota by 20% and get a $2,000 commission check this quarter.

Steps:

1. Review where my sales deals are getting stuck. 

2. Determine skill/behavior I need to develop. 

3. Read two sales books to work on a skill. 

4. Create a habit to prospect for 90min a day. 

5. Create a practice to make 15/20/50 calls every day. 

6. Perform 15 role-playing sessions over the quarter. 

This is easily applied to any kind of goal.

Once if you've achieved your goals, then you need to…

Reward yourself.

I hate rewards.

It's just not how I roll.

Never has been.

I remember the day when we landed our first million-dollar defense deal. We popped a bottle of champagne, drank a glass, and got back to work.

I don't celebrate it. I know it's not a good thing. We have to take time to celebrate, individually and as a team.

I get to work on the next big deal, project, or goal.

But if you're someone who likes a little pat on the back, set a reward to your goals. 

What that reward is, is up to you, but it'll help you push towards your goals if you need the extra incentive.

I find having a purpose behind my goals works much better. Whatever works for you. Now you have no excuses, go crush your goals.