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How to Stay Focused

Written on May 5, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Goals, Personal Growth

Have you ever met someone who really seemed to have it all?

‘Cause they’ve got personality … walk!

Personality … talk!

Personality … smile!

Well you get the idea! So ends our tribute to Lloyd Price and the song You’ve Got Personality. Back to our regularly scheduled program …

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You know they could be a bigg success, but they just can’t stay focused. They start a project but then something else captures their attention. Kind of like the interruption we just had with the song.

Bright, shiny objects

Liz Strauss calls it Shiny Object Syndrome. It’s easy to succumb to bright, shiny objects. We must overcome these distractions if we want to reach bigg success and live our lives on our own terms.

It begins by creating a vivid image of what you want your life to be. With this long-term vision in mind, you’re ready to break it up step-by-step and set a due date for each step.

That’s called a milestone. It’s our exclusive focus day-to-day. We develop a plan to get to the next milestone. It’s helpful to break that milestone down into terms – a quarter or a month.

Then begin each week by thinking about what you need to accomplish this week to reach your goal for the month. Now that helps you determine what’s most important to get done each day of this week.

Then all you have to do is everything you can every single day to get there!

Today is all that matters

It begins with a prioritized list – what must I do today to hit my goal this week?

By having this focus, it keeps us from being distracted by those bright, shiny objects. Here’s how we do it:

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george I love spreadsheets so that’s what I use. I divide my tasks every day by priority – “A priorities” are those things I must do, “B” are what I need to do, and “C” are things I want to do. Then I order the tasks within the categories. So the first thing I work on is my “A1” item.

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marylynn Sounds like a steak sauce, George! I like the old-fashioned pen and paper. For me, it works better to write out everything on a legal pad. Then every day, I pull off the most important things I have to do from that paper and put it on a sticky note. I have everything on my main list but I put the most important things front and center. Another thing that I really like about this is getting to crumble up those sticky notes when I’ve finished these important tasks.

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george I’m glad you pointed that out, Mary-Lynn. I highlight each item in my spreadsheet as I complete it for the same reason. As the day goes on and I see more and more lines highlighted, I get a tangible sense of accomplishment.

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Avoid bright, shiny objects so you can focus on the bigg prize. Start with your vision of what life on your own terms means to you. Then focus today on what’s most important to get there.

Doing the right things leads to bigg success!

How do you keep yourself on task?

Share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

Thank you for sharing your time with us today.

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Next time, we’ll discuss how opportunity is like a flower. Please join us! Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Are You Talking to the Right Person

(Image in today's post by sachyn)

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This Word Helps You Keep Your Resolutions

Written on January 3, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Goals

We found a list of the thirteen most popular New Year’s resolutions. It’s a great page full of links to tips on how to keep them.

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The list itself doesn’t contain any real surprises:

lose weight
manage debt
save money
get a better job
get fit
eat right
get a better education
drink less alcohol
quit smoking now
reduce stress overall
reduce stress at work
take a trip
volunteer to help others

As we discussed this list, we realized that there is one word that can often make all the difference in keeping our resolutions.

That word is … No!

You can’t keep putting yourself, or your goals, on the back burner and expect anything to change. You have to say, “No!”

Say no to everything that doesn’t help you achieve your goals.

Say no and get fit

For example, assume your resolution is to “Get fit.” Depending on your commute to your preferred fitness center, it will take at least an hour every time you work out.

But it’s really important to you so you’re going to make time to do it.

Then a co-worker or a friend asks you to serve on a committee or join a club that has weekly meetings. Just say No!

Your “No” doesn’t have to be forever. It just has to be for right now while you fit (pun intended) exercise in your daily routine. Once you’ve made it a habit, then you can consider something else.

Say no and get out of debt

Another common resolution is to “Manage debt.” Of course, the first step is to stop getting further in debt.

Since this is really important to you, you’ll find ways to control your spending.

Two common things that hurt our budgets are major purchases and daily decisions. Get in the habit of saying no to things you don’t need so you stop getting further in debt and save money to pay your debt down.

No – it’s a negative word that will positively help you reach your goals!

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