fbpx

goals

What are SMART Goals and How do they help you?

If you are looking for the answer to this question, What are SMART Goals? Then you are in the right place. In this blog post, you will find what are smart goals and how they help you. You will also find how to know whether the goals you set for yourself are Smart goals or not. So, stay till the end.

Happy Reading!

Everyone sets goals for a better future. 

You make plans, you make strategies to make everything work perfectly, but life doesn’t always happen the way you wanted. 

You work so hard to make things happen and to get results, but sometimes you fail to achieve the goals you set for yourself. You make several excuses for why you failed, why things didn’t work out, what didn’t work out, and so on.

But have you ever wondered that it might be the point you started was wrong which eventually led you to get no results? 

Tell me one thing… Can working in the wrong direction lead you to the right results? It cannot happen, Right? It’s like pushing a wall and expecting it to move. It’s a waste of effort. 

Think about it this way, if you want to reach a destination and because of X reason you put the wrong address in Google Maps. Now can you expect to reach your destination without troubling yourself? No, you cannot. The same is the case with Goal setting. 

this image is about setting smart goal

Goal setting is the most important exercise that everyone must do if they want to accomplish something in their life. I don’t know why, but many people don’t pay much attention to this, and then complain about not getting quality results. I mean it’s foolish.

Goal setting and most importantly smart goal setting is the most crucial part when it comes to getting good quality results. And in this blog post, we are going to talk about the same. 

Let’s start with figuring out what actually smart goals are. 

SMART Goals are nothing but the goals that are set to achieve quality results in a given period of time. Usually, they are a group of small tasks, which together help you go one step ahead to achieve the major goal you have in your life. 

Let’s get into this a little deeper, imagine your goal is to write an article. Now, there are several things that come into consideration when we talk about writing, and that are research, case studies, keyword research, grammar check, making the article inspiring, and so on. 

Now, if you sit to do everything at once, you will go nuts and nothing valuable will come out of it. So it’s better to divide this goal into smaller tasks or short-term goals which eventually contribute to writing the article. 

These small tasks that you set for yourself like keyword research are what we call a smart goal. Now the question is, how will you find out if the goal you are setting is a smart goal or not? 

There are 5 criteria that come into consideration when we talk about setting smart goals and it’s nothing but this acronym

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Realistic/Relevant

T – Time-bound

How to know if the goals you set are smart goals or not?

S – Specific

The goal you set for yourself should be specific. This is the first and the most crucial part of setting a smart goal. It’s like, if your aim is not right, then how can you expect to get the right results?

Now, let’s talk about what makes a goal Specific. 

Imagine you have a website and you want people to come and visit it which will eventually contribute to the growth of your business. Now, if you plan and strategize to increase your website traffic then it will just be a goal, but if you want to make it specific then switch it and decide the number of visitors you want on your website. Is it 5000, 10000, or 50000 visitors per month? Just select a number and start working towards it. 

If your goal is not specific that means you don’t have clarity about what you want to achieve. In a situation like this, you won’t be able to decide what to do, and when to do and you will get nothing in the end. Setting a specific goal basically gives you a clear direction to where to land. 

M – Measurable

this image is about measurable goal

The goal you set for yourself should be measurable.

When I say measurable, that means getting the results that you can count in numbers. As we all know numbers are very easy to track and you can use them to figure out what’s working and what’s not. According to this analysis, you can make the necessary changes to your plan. 

If we take the previous example of increasing your website traffic, then setting a goal to get 5k, 10k, or even 50k visitors is a great way to track your growth. You can track the no. of visitors to your website using Google Analytics which is a free tool used by almost every marketer in the world. By tracking the no. of visitors to your website, you can make decisions on what to do next. 

A – Achievable 

The goal should be achievable. 

Set a goal that you can achieve by putting in your efforts and hard work. Don’t set a goal that is unachievable because it will do nothing but make you feel horrible when you fail. 

Like setting a goal to get 5 million subscribers on YouTube overnight. It’s not achievable and to some extent, it’s insane. Yes, you can do it providing you post some extraordinary content that goes viral and makes you a star overnight. But in 99.99% of cases, it doesn’t happen. So don’t set a goal is which you cannot achieve. 

If you really want 5 million subscribers on Youtube, then plan everything in advance. Put in all your efforts and make good quality content, built-up your audience, and then scale it over time. You surely can do it providing you do all your work perfectly. 

R – Realistic

The goal should be realistic and relevant. 

You cannot set a goal that is impossible to achieve like becoming a swimmer who can breathe underwater. Obviously, you can do it with all those oxygen cylinders that you can carry with you but you cannot do it on your own. It’s beyond human potential. It’s not realistic. 

Setting an unrealistic goal is just a waste of time and effort. You don’t get results and you feel bad about it too. So, what’s smart about it? Just think to yourself.

T – Time-bound

this image is about time limit

The goal you set for yourself should have a time limit. When you set a goal without any time limit, you are more likely to fail to achieve that goal. 

When you set a goal and have no time limit, you tend to procrastinate and keep delaying it because you don’t have any pressure on yourself to take action. It’s not your fault, it’s human nature. You will get involved in your daily household chores and will find gazillions of reasons why you couldn’t take action. But let me tell you this doesn’t help you get any further to achieving your goal.

If your goal is to write a book then set a time limit and commit to yourself that you are going to complete the first chapter in a 2 or 3-month period. Because if you don’t do that, you won’t be able to complete that book ever. It’s a fact, and it doesn’t matter how much you are committed to writing that book. 

So whatever your goal is, set a time limit to complete that goal and try to follow up with that.

How setting SMART Goals can help you?

this image is about setting smart goal

Setting smart goals can help you in many ways. 

It gets you quality results

I believe this is the main difference between setting a goal and setting a smart goal. Smart goals help you get quality results. You can track them and can tell what’s working for you and what’s not. And then you can make changes to your strategies accordingly. This is what you cannot do by setting a random goal.

It increases your productivity

You often have heard from others that they can’t find momentum and the rhythm to keep going. But when you set a smart goal and get quality results for yourself, what actually happens is you create momentum for yourself. 

You put in the right efforts and you get quality results and the cycle goes on and on. Though it’s not as easy as it may sound but it’s not impossible too. 

It gives you mental peace

When you are stress-free, it gives you mental peace; there is no doubt about this fact. You feel a great level of satisfaction when you are stress-free. 

Smart goals are easy to achieve because it is not something that’s unrealistic. You can achieve them without any stress on your mind. It works like this, you set a goal, you achieve it and then you move forward and this just keeps happening, providing you don’t miss putting in the effort. 

Conclusion

Goal setting is the easiest and the most difficult thing, both at the same time. If you know what you are upto, then it’s the easiest and if you don’t then it’s the most difficult thing to do. 

In the above post, I talked about what are smart goals and how to know whether the goals you are setting are Smart goals or not. Also, we discussed how they can help you. 

Now, do let me know in the comments below, what your takeaways are and what techniques you use to set the goals that work for you. 

Keep Hustling!

Here’s what you should read next

By Nisha Kohli, ago

5 Secrets to achieving goals 

Achieving goals…Sounds like a hell of a big deal. Isn’t it? 

Many people get scared just by the thought of it, which eventually makes them give up so easily on the goals they have. They get so overwhelmed and intimidated by this whole thing and they go like, Ohh… It’s not my thing. I can’t do it.

But tell me one thing, do you want to be one of them? I know you don’t want it and so do I. I don’t want you to be one of those who give up so easily because it sounds scary. 

Yeah… it does sound scary. You can also say it’s hard and sometimes very very hard but it’s not IMPOSSIBLE. You can achieve anything you think of; you just have to believe it. It’s like the first rule when it comes to achieving your goals. Because if you can’t believe it, you can’t achieve it. 

After all, if YOU don’t believe in your goals and dreams, how could you even think that someone else will? No one will give a damn to it. 

Here in this blog post, I will give you 5 secrets that will help you achieve your goals. Know that these secrets are not actually secrets but the mental shift that you have to do within yourself and obviously putting on effort. 

These 5 mental shifts might sound easy to you at first but it’s not. I’m not trying to scare you by saying this but think of it yourself if this would be so easy, then everyone would have been successful by now and they would have accomplished all their goals. So first, prepare yourself for this mental shift, and let’s begin with 

1. Mindset

There are two types of mindsets. The first one is Fixed Mindset and the other is Growth Mindset. And the main difference between them is, the belief that YOU CAN. 

This image is about changing your mindset

People with a fixed mindset always get excuses about how NOT to do something, and on the contrary, people with a growth mindset find ways how to do the same thing. 

Now ask yourself, which one of them is you? What type of mindset do you have?

To save you some time, let me tell you this, it doesn’t matter what mindset you carried till now, you can always change it. And to accomplish your goals and become successful, you have to develop a growth mindset. 

The growth mindset starts with this belief that everything you think about and everything you want to achieve in your life is actually possible. You can do or get anything in your life if you set your mind to it. It’s the starting point of everything you wish to achieve, before even starting it. 

It doesn’t matter how big or small your goals are, mindset is the first thing that you got to develop because, without that, you cannot even imagine starting anything.

Here are some books that you can read to develop a growth mindset.

This pin is about 5 secrets to achieving goals

2. Grit

Everyone wants to accomplish their goals and want to live the life of their dreams, but why are only a few of us able to actually make it possible? 

How are these people different from the others? What do they do that others are not doing? What is it that actually makes them different from the crowd?

There can be so many answers to these questions. One of them is Grit. Grit is the sense of mind that a person develops in him/herself to not give up at any cost. It tells that it doesn’t matter what challenges you are facing in your journey toward success, you got to be courageous enough, become fearless and fight against them.

If you are a person who is losing sleep dreaming about the goals that you wanna accomplish in your life, then you gotta be gritty. You have to become a person with a strong mindset who says no to giving up. A person who is passionate about his/her work and is ready to take risks and become limitless.

3. Perseverance

this image has a quote explaining the relation between failure and success

Where failure lies, success flows.

The journey to success cannot be completed without failures. They are like twin sisters. You cannot expect to become successful without failing. Every successful person about whom we read in books and listen to their inspiring stories today, failed once, twice and so many times. 

We all know J.K. Rowling; she got rejected 12 times before she got Harry Potter published. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, they are the world’s most successful and wealthiest people. They didn’t get success in one go. They tried and they failed; some even faced huge losses too. Their stories are surely different but one thing is common between them and all the other successful people on the planet. That’s Perseverance. 

When you Google the term perseverance, you will get this: to keep putting effort without regard to discouragement. If you really want to accomplish your goals then you have to keep pushing yourself, even after failing multiple times. Learn from the mistakes that you made in the past and keep going. Always keep an eye on your goals and envision them becoming true one day. 

You can read stories of people who went from failures to successes here.

4. Resilience

this image says learn from failure

As you now know that failures are part of your journey towards success, you have to learn to deal with them. You cannot sit and cry for the mistakes that you have made or for the things that didn’t work out the way you wanted. 

Problems and difficulties are part of your life, they are gonna come whether you like it or not. Now it’s up to you, how you take them. Do you let them affect you or will you stand strong and fight against them? The choice is yours. 

Life always gives you two choices at every given point. Leave it or Live it. Many people just do the first one, they leave it, and then they complain about how things are unfair to them. But the people who choose to live it are the ones who are incredible. They are the ones who create wonders, they are the ones who are different from the rest of the crowd.

You have to learn to make yourself comfortable with the loss and the mistakes of the past. You have to make yourself comfortable dealing with these uncomfortable situations. So, don’t lose hope. Fight against the odds and be resilient.

5. Discipline

this image says discipline

Discipline is one of the most important things when it comes to achieving your goals. If you have big dreams and goals, you have to be disciplined enough to pursue them. 

Let’s take an example of a boy who aims to become a world-class swimmer. Now, being consistent or disciplined means that he has to make an effort every single day that will help him get one step ahead of his goal. Being disciplined or consistent applies in every part of your life, whether personal or professional. 

I know it is very difficult to develop the habit of making efforts continuously, especially when you are just starting out and you don’t see any results coming. But you have to fight against this battle going inside you. Commit to yourself that no matter what, you just have to take action. 

Many times we just focus on our goals and plan everything but fail to execute it. In such a case, instead of focusing on the theoretical end which includes all the planning and structuring, focus on developing the habit to take action. If you want to become a writer, then nothing will help you achieve that goal but to practice writing; and to practice writing, your clear goal should be to write every day. You have to be disciplined to write every day which eventually helps you become a master of writing.

Here’s a quote by Tony Robbins, he says, Repetition is the mother is the mastery. So, be disciplined and consistent enough to pursue what you dream of.

Conclusion

Let’s end this blog post with this quote, 

Success is no different than any other skill. Duplicate the actions and mindsets of successful people and you will create success for yourself.

– Grant Cardone

You just have to find the ways that HOW you are going to do it, what you want to do. And in today’s digital world with Google and YouTube, it’s not that difficult. Also, read a lot of books to learn from someone else’s experiences.

But the HOW part is secondary when it comes to achieving goals. First, develop a mindset that will lead you to take action. Because without taking action, there will be no difference between you and the one who doesn’t even know what we are talking about.

So, which of these mental shifts are you going to try first? Do let me know in the comments below.

Here’s what you should read next.

  1. How to develop a strong mindset to become successful
  2. 5 things to do to change yourself to achieve your goals
  3. How to become an Entrepreneur in 2022
  4. 5 qualities every entrepreneur must have

Love the post. Save this Pin Now

This pin is about 5 secrets to achieving goals
By Nisha Kohli, ago

5 reasons why writing is crucial for your growth

Have you ever tried writing? If not, then you should. 

Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to become another Shakespeare and write novels. Just try writing what’s inside your brain which they call Brainwriting.

If you ever attended educational seminars, webinars, or even conferences, you would know that it’s very important to take notes so that you don’t forget things and scratch your head later. It’s a very common practice to write to not to forget.

Studies have shown that writing things can increase memory power by upto 70%. When we start writing things with our hands, the sensory nerves push that information to get stored in our brains in a detailed way for a long period of time.

That’s a reason why people make a to-do list that helps them to remember important things. Tools like Trello or Asana help them with that.

Here’s a quote by Brian Tracy, he says it quite often by the way.

When you think it, ink it.

– Brian Tracy

Writing not only helps you with your memory but there are other benefits too. Here are 5 reasons why you should start writing that will help you grow.

1. Tracking progress

This image is shows progress

Tracking your progress is very important for your professional growth and personal growth too. Whether you are working out and pouring out your sweat in the gym or sitting in a chair trying to solve a problem, it is very necessary. And the habit of writing can really help you with that. 

Writing your weekly or in many cases, monthly data or stats helps you figure out the leaks(if any) so that you can cover them up on time. 

For example, if you want to become a world-class swimmer and break records, you should practice competing with yourself first. You surely have seen a timer-clock the coaches have when their trainees are practicing, they keep records that help their trainees track their progress so that they can improve their performance. 

Also when you are a business owner or an entrepreneur, tracking how your business is doing is very important to grow. Tools like Google Analytics help you track your performance for a period of time that helps you to make necessary decisions. 

2. Reduce stress and anxiety

Studies have shown around 73% of the world’s population suffers from mental health issues and stress and anxiety are two of the main causes. There can be several reasons that can cause stress and anxiety including unhealthy work-life balance, lifestyle, career issues, personal & emotional issues, relationship problems, health issues, hereditary, etc.

This image is about stress

Now don’t feel intimidated by this scientific data because every problem has a solution. It’s just obvious when your problem gets solved, you become stress-free. And in this case, writing will help you do that. 

Take a piece of paper and write down your problems on it. Now, try to find solutions by writing every thought that comes to your mind, you will also notice that as you start writing, your mind will get clarity and you will be able to see things from different angles. As your problem will get solved, so do your stress and anxiety.

This pin is about 5 reasons why writing is crucial for your growth

3. Enhances creativity

If you haven’t tried doodling, then you should. It really helps you enhance your creativity and it’s another benefit that writing can provide you. This is a very effective technique to keep your creative juices flowing out of your head. 

This image is about creativity

Artists use this technique all the time to create masterpieces. They create one piece of art and doodle it with something else to create another. The same thing happens with the non-artist group, they get ideas by writing down what’s already in their head. Brainwriting is always better than brainstorming. 

4. Decision-making

Decision-making is one of the most performed tasks in our day-to-day life. Each and every part of our lives includes decision-making from deciding what to have for dinner to making important decisions for your business. 

But in today’s hectic world, our minds are always busy. There is always something roaming around in the barren streets of our minds related to our work, personal life, and stuff that does not even have any value. It makes us can’t even think properly which affects our thought process and ultimately our decision-making ability.

But don’t worry, writing can help you with this, on a massive scale. 

This image is about decision-making

Take a notepad or a piece of paper and try writing everything that is making you crazy or things that you want to make a decision with. Now, write the pros and the cons of every idea and fact that you came up with, regarding the problem you have, and then make a decision that suits you the best. This practice will give you clarity and soothes your mind, which helps you make the decision on a factual basis.

5. Dear Dairy

This image is about writing

Everyone feels sad and lonely sometimes, no one can deny it. And it’s fine, it’s just an emotion like we have others such as happiness, joy, cheerfulness, shock, surprise, etc. 

You might be thinking, am I crazy or what? Comparing positive emotions with negative ones. But believe me, life is incomplete without them.

Can you imagine yourself just being happy? I don’t know about you… but I can’t. Life is all about experiencing different kinds of emotions and feelings. 

What do you think inspirational books are about? It’s all about a person experiencing certain things in his/her life, and writing them down in a form that others can read and learn from it. I’m not telling you to write a book and showcase it to the world (which you actually can, if you want to), but do it for yourself. 

Write down how your day went, good or bad; any fears you overcame, fighting with the odds, how good you felt after an achievement, or in short, what you experience in your day-to-day life. 

Writing every feeling, emotion, or experience in a diary helps you to fight against the upcoming fears and challenges in your journey towards growth. You can just read them afterward when you feel low or whenever you need them.

Conclusion

There is a saying that every problem has a solution, you just have to look for it at the right place, and in many cases, the answer lies within ourselves. Writing down stuff out on a paper really helps, 

We looked at the 5 benefits writing can provide to you. Let’s recall it once again, they are

  • Tracking your progress
  • Reduces stress and anxiety
  • Decision making
  • Develops gratitude
  • Enhances creativity

Don’t keep everything in your mind, put it on paper and let your mind relax. 

Here are some related posts that you might like

Like the post, Save the Pin NOW!

This pin is about 5 reasons why writing is crucial for your growth
By Nisha Kohli, ago

How to boost your self-confidence?

Self-confidence is one of the most important traits to have as a human being, whether it’s in your workplace, at home, or in your everyday life. It counts everywhere.

But do you even know what makes a person confident? Well, there is no one-stop shop where you can get the recipe and all the ingredients that you will need to prepare the food item called self-confidence. 

Then what is it, that matters the most when it comes to being self-confident? It’s the personality you carry, it’s the way you behave or act with the general public.

Have you ever been in a situation where despite being capable and talented, you didn’t get the opportunity to lead a group of people? I know it feels really bad when you have the capability but still, it happened. 

You know, the reason lies within you.

There might be a possibility that you are not very good at dealing with people and your boss knows it. Therefore, he decided to give this job to someone else and not you. 

These little but huge things together make you feel that you lack self-confidence. But don’t worry, here are 5 ways that will help you boost your self-confidence. They are basically little shifts that you have to make in how you see and visualize things, and you are good to go.

1. Know your worth

Self-esteem is one of the most important factors when it comes to increasing your self-confidence.

Oftentimes people don’t see themselves as worthy enough to do what they feel. They don’t really believe in themselves which makes them dependent on others. People with low self-esteem don’t celebrate their life, they are the one who always feels that everything bad is happening to them only. 

Well, I want to tell them, it’s not true. Here is a quote, that goes like this

Life is happening for you and not to you.

– TONY ROBBINS

Know, that you are one of your kind and your views and opinions matter too. Think of yourself as a unique personality who is provided with unique gifts by the universe. Know, that there is something that only you can offer to society and you have the power to make a change. So, know it. Know your worth.

2. Learn when to say no

Have you ever been in a situation where your boss wants you to take on certain responsibilities for an upcoming project and despite being tight on schedule and having a lot to do on your list, you just say YES to him because you don’t want to sound rude? 

It happens to a lot of people. You are not alone.

A lot of people feel hard to say no to others for things they don’t want or feel like doing. And because they want others not to hate them or like them even more, they just nod in their favor, even if it costs them a lot. They might not see the consequences but they are putting themselves in trouble only by doing so, by being the people pleaser. This puts them into stress; the stress of how will they manage everything properly, or what if they won’t be able to, or what if, what if, what if.

Saying a clear ‘NO’ acts as a lifesaver in situations like these. I’m not saying you to be rude to your seniors and say no directly to their faces. But you can tell the truth; you can tell them politely that it would be very nice to be a part of this project but you have a lot of other stuff to do and you won’t be able to do this as your top priority. 

This way you can come up with a clean-green signal. And even if they push you to take that responsibility anyway, you won’t be the one who would be responsible for the mess. You know what I mean.

This is not applicable in just workplaces but in your everyday life too. It works with everyone whether it’s your friend or one of your family members. Just say no when you feel it; it gives you a tremendous amount of self-confidence, and it increases your self-esteem too. 

This pin is about how to boost your self confidence

3. Don’t take discouragement seriously

You often have heard this saying, you cannot please everyone and it’s an absolute true fact. By the way, in my opinion, you should not even try to please everyone around you, it’s just a waste of your time and effort.

Studies have shown that women are the ones who have more of this people-pleasing instinct compared to men. Roughly about 7 out of every 10 women have this. 

Discouragement is a part of living, don’t take it seriously. You cannot expect anyone literally anyone, whether it’s your family, friends, colleagues at the workplace, your spouse, children, or any other dear one, to encourage and appreciate you all the time. There will be times when they don’t and there is no need to feel bad about it. Instead, take this as feedback and improve accordingly.

If you take it seriously, then there will always be this thought in your mind, what if they don’t like it? And guess what, this thought won’t let you be yourself. You will always try to do things that make them happy and not you, which is not good.  

And when it comes to self-confidence, these things help to lower it down and you absolutely don’t want it.

4. Talk to yourself

This image says talk to yourself.

Have you tried self-taking? If you haven’t then you should do it. Self-talking comes out to be a very good way to increase your self-confidence and it also helps manage your stress levels.

Everyone talks to themselves in their mind, but when it comes to increasing your self-confidence, you should consider talking to yourself – OUT LOUD.

It’s a very effective way to let everything that’s in your heart come out which by the way is very necessary. Talking to yourself increases your self-confidence and gives you mental peace, as now you have yourself to whom you can talk about anything you feel like.

You can practice talking to yourself in the mirror for about 10-15 minutes every day. This practice will give you an effective boost in your confidence as it’s you only whom you are talking to. You know what your flaws are and you can work on them accordingly. 

5. Stop doubting yourself 

Often times people say certain things that they truly believe in and think about it the very next moment. Their mind goes like, Oh…did I say it right? Did I do the right thing? I shouldn’t have said that. 

And some are even worse, they don’t believe in themselves. They don’t believe that they can be right, that they can have a unique point of view. People like them don’t really expect themselves to be good at something. They are always doubting themselves which sometimes makes others take advantage of them.

This image says believe in yourself.

I mean come on people, you haven’t done anything wrong. So, just stop questing and doubting yourself. Just be brave enough to stand strong. Take a stand for yourself and fight for what you believe in. If you don’t take a stand for things that you believe are right, you will just find yourself doing what others want you to do.

If you don’t believe in yourself, then how can you expect others to believe in you? No one even cares how good you are at what you do, they only care about how you present yourself and get them the results. 

So, just be bold and brave, you haven’t done or said anything wrong. If you believe in certain things, then just be courageous and take a stand for yourself. 

Conclusion

There are actually no typical steps that work for everyone that you can also follow and it will boost your self-confidence to the sky. No, it doesn’t work like that. Every individual is different and hence their strengths and weaknesses are too. 

A person might feel it hard to talk to others confidently while the other may not. They both might have different points of view when it comes to being confident.

And here, the 5 ways that I talked about, are more on a broad-level basis to help as many people as possible, which are

  • Know your self-worth
  • Learn to say ‘NO’
  • Don’t take discouragement seriously
  • Talk to yourself 
  • Stop doubting yourself

Hope this will helps you to boost your self-confidence. What are the others ways that you apply to your life that boost your self-confidence? Do tell me in the comments below.

Here are some posts that you might like to read next.

Love the post. Save the Pin NOW!

This pin is about how to boost your self confidence
By Nisha Kohli, ago

7 effective ways to double your productivity

Hey, do you struggle when it comes to productivity? Do you need a lot of time for completing a small task? Are you the one who is always been asked to complete things on time and gets to listen: Hey, how much more time do you need to complete this small thing?

If any of them is you, then this post is for you as I’ll share 7 ways that are super effective and will double your productivity at your workplace and in your career in general.

Now, if you are among them, the very first thing I want to say to you is, don’t worry; there is nothing in this world that you can’t improve. There are so many people in this world who work their a** off to get things done but don’t get the desired results on time. You are not alone, we together can figure this out or should I say it as Marie Forleo do, Everything is Figureoutable.

Now, let’s talk about those 7 effective ways that will help you double your productivity.

1. Setting clear goals

There is no need to say why setting goals is important to get things done. But it doesn’t help to just set goals when it comes to productivity. You have to set clear goals if you want to work faster and increase your productivity to get things done on time.

You might be wondering what’s the difference. Well, setting goals is for overall growth but setting clear goals is basically for one particular day or for the next couple of hours doing a particular task. In other words, creating boundaries for your daily tasks. 

Think of it this way, you have an article to write about increasing stress and anxiety in today’s world. Now, there are several small tasks that come into consideration when you create something like that including research and development, keyword research, working on grammar, making the article inspiring, and XYZ.

Now the main goal is to write the article but the clear goal is what you are going to do in order to achieve your main goal. What clear goal/s are you going to set for yourself to work on for the next couple of hours that will take you one step ahead?

Let’s say you have decided to work on making the article inspiring, so it becomes your clear goal now. Therefore, when it comes to increasing your productivity focus on setting clear goals instead of setting random goals.

This graphic show the difference between setting goal and setting clear goal

2. Do one thing at a time

When you finally sit and start your work, there is a lot of stuff (both work-related and non-work-related) comes to your mind, like pending tasks, upcoming tasks, problems to be solved, new thoughts & ideas, and other kinds of crap; and it becomes very difficult to concentrate on your work which eventually affects your productivity in a bad way. It also makes you feel overwhelmed, and overburdened and it makes you go nuts.

In a situation like this, you should try to focus on just one particular thing at a particular time. Imagine yourself working on a presentation but along with that, your mind is telling you about the upcoming tasks that you have to do, which actually doesn’t let you focus on that presentation. 

Usually, it would take around 2 hours to complete that presentation but with all the stuff in your mind, it took you 3 hours to complete the same. This is how lack of concentration decreases your productivity on a huge level. Now in this same case scenario, if you manage to train your brain and focus on the stuff that matters, you win. 

Focus on one thing only and not even think about other stuff until you are done with the prior one. Commit to yourself that you are not going to consider anything before you are done completing this one. 

PRO Tip: Focus on completing the important tasks first, it will take a big chunk of the burden out of you.

This pin is about 7 effective ways to double your productivity

3. Using the U-I matrix

Prioritizing your to-do list helps to increase your productivity and categorizing your to-do list using the urgent-important matrix is a great way to do the same. If you don’t know what the urgent-important matrix is, then there is no need to worry. It is a 2X2 grid matrix that looks like the graphic given below.

This is an image of urgent important matrix.

This matrix is used to set priorities by categorizing the tasks into 4 parts and that is,

#1. Urgent and important: Task/s under this category must be done immediately,

#2. Not urgent but important: You can plan or schedule the tasks that fall under this category,

#3. Urgent but not important: don’t waste your time and energy on these tasks and hire someone else to do them for you,

#4. Not urgent not important: eliminate these tasks from your list.

By doing so, you can focus on the things that need your time and energy the most and eliminate those that don’t. You can use apps like Trello, Asana, etc. to make the list.

4. Taking breaks 

Taking small breaks in the middle of the work is very important. It helps your mind to relax and think clearly. 

The Pomodoro technique is the best way to increase your productivity. It says to work with total concentration for 25 minutes and then rests for 5 minutes. Repeat this cycle four times and then take a long break for 15 minutes. You can also grab a cup of coffee or an ice tea if you want to. The graphic below shows exactly what you have to do.

This graphic shows how the Pomodoro technique works

If you want to know more about The Pomodoro Technique then you can check out this blog post: The Pomodoro Technique Explained.

5. Write

Writing is a great way to clear your mind and thoughts. Studies have shown that a human brain generates around 6000 thoughts in a single day which is a blend of everything including stuff that is important, urgent, crap, fun, sensible, non-sensible, and god knows what else. With this much going on in your mind, focusing on one thing and talking about productivity is next to impossible. And this is where writing can help you and save you a lot of time.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

– Horace

Writing helps you prioritize your tasks and take the burden out of your mind. It also helps you filter your thoughts which is a must for making important decisions. Tracking your progress and growth also becomes easy when you start writing.

This is an image of notepad and a pen

Get a journal or just a normal notepad, and start to write what’s going on in your mind. Then categorize everything based on the typologies you might have. When you start to write and develop it as a habit, it will also help boost your self-confidence and give you the opportunity for positive self-talk.

6. Take a good amount of sleep

This is an image of a sleeping girl

Sleep plays a crucial role when it comes to productivity. The sleep you take has a direct connection to your mind and body; you tend to feel dizzy and your body doesn’t respond very well if you don’t take a proper amount of sleep, which ultimately affects your productivity. 

Most people stay up late at night watching Netflix or scrolling on social media which makes their minds tired when they go to sleep and it’s not healthy for your subconscious mind. If you don’t know how your subconscious mind works, then I would suggest you read this book called The Power of your Subconscious Mind by JOSEPH MURPHY.

You might have observed how your productivity decreases when you didn’t take a proper amount of sleep. You feel sleepy all day, your mind keeps telling you that you’re tired and you need to rest. 

According to science, a sleep of around 6-7 hours is considered healthy for an adult. The best time for healthy sleeping is between 10 pm to 5 am. 

Did you know? There are 3 stages of sleep: Deep sleep stage, Alert stage, and Dreaming stage. Each stage lasts for 90 minutes and the sleep is considered sound sleep when you complete this whole cycle(90×3) twice without any interruptions.

7. Change the environment 

The environment you work in affects your productivity a lot. You cannot expect to give your best and get great results by being in an environment that is not work-friendly. 

There are several ways that you can make the workplace work-friendly that will give you working vibes.  

Keep your workspace neat and clean; using a minimum no. of items at your desk really helps focus on a particular thing only. Instead of using warm colored lights which give the feeling of comfort and coziness (which is a big no at the workplace), using blue lighting can help promote alertness and helps you concentrate. 

Using colors or shades of 

1. Orange which helps to concentrate, focus, and increase your creativity,

2. Blue which encourages the performance and brain’s thought process, and

3. Green at the workplace helps you to relax and refreshes your mind to clear your thoughts.

Conclusion

There are several factors that come into consideration when it comes to increasing your productivity. You have to experiment a little bit by trying several tricks and techniques and find the one that works best for you. No one can tell you that better than you do. 

Which of these 7 ways that we talked about, resonates with you the most, and which are you going to try the first? Do let me know in the comments below. 

Here’s what you might like to read next.

Love the Post. Save the Pin NOW!

This pin is about 7 effective ways to double your productivity
By Nisha Kohli, ago

6 habits of successful people that you can copy 

Everyone desires to become successful one day. But how many actually become one? 

A handful of people. 

But have you ever wondered what makes successful people successful, what makes them different from others, what habits they have, how they work, or how they do everything? If this is something that makes your heart says hell yeah! then you are in the right place. In this blog post, I’ll share 6 habits of successful people you can copy and paste into your life to become successful in your industry. 

Disclaimer: There are several other factors that come into consideration when it comes to becoming successful, and habits are one of those factors only. 

Now, the definition of success can vary from person to person. One might consider being successful by losing some weight, others might consider earning X amount of money and say proudly that they are successful. But it doesn’t matter what’s your definition of success, the procedure is all same. 

Here is a quote that goes,

Success is no different than any other skill. Duplicate the actions and mindsets of successful people and you will create success for yourself.

– GRANT CARDONE

Now, let’s talk about those 6 habits of successful people that you can copy and paste into your life.

1. Reading

Books are like soul mates for the people who are successful in their industry. They read, read, and read a lot. 

Elon musk, the world’s richest man who created SpaceX. Whenever anyone asks him how he learned to build space-traveling rockets, this is his three-word answer: “I read books.” Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in the world. He said once, he spends 80% of his day reading books and the rest 20% doing other stuff. This is how much books can impact your life.

This is an image of books

There is no wonder how books can benefit you as they are full of knowledge, motivational & inspirational stories, and whatnot. Learn from industry experts who have given many years of their lives to learning and doing things that you desire to do now and books can surely help you with that.

There are books available on every topic you can imagine whether it’s science, nature, health, fitness, mindset, psychology, food, technology, just name it. Develop a habit to start with one book per month and you are good to go. 

2. Setting goals

Goal setting is one of the main things you must do when you desire to become successful in a certain area. How do you think, you can achieve your goals when you don’t plan for them? 

Here’s a saying that goes, a goal without a plan is just a wish. 

Setting a goal is like setting your aim. If you are thinking about how it matters then think of it this way, when you don’t have a goal, what do you think you will work for or in what direction? Goals give you a way to proceed in a certain direction so you don’t get lost.  

Plan your long-term goals on a quarterly if not yearly basis then cut a particular task into smaller actions and plan them on monthly basis. If you are not a long-term planner, then just plan your next day or maybe for a week and take action accordingly. 

This technique will help you achieve your goals and also you can track them and make necessary changes (if any).

3. Don’t care about the society

One of the most common reasons why people fail to follow and accomplish their dreams is because they care about what others will say/think a lot. But let me tell you, people who are successful today are not successful because they do the same, but because they do the exact opposite. 

This makes them stress-free and contributes to their good mental health. There is no doubt and it’s actually needless to say why one should take care of their mental health. 

Related: 6 super easy ways to stay mentally healthy

This pin is about 6 habits of successful people that you can copy

4. Value their time above everything else

Time is the most valuable and precious asset we have as humans. And People who are successful and experts in their industry know this very well. They know that they can’t afford to lose their time, no matter what.

Normal people tend to worry about their money a lot. They give a good amount of thinking on what to spend their hard-earned money on but when it comes to time, most people don’t even consider giving it a thought. This is exactly what makes successful people different from common people, they think of their time as money. 

Use the urgent-important matrix to manage your tasks and take charge of your time.

This is an image of Urgent-Important matrix

PS: You can always earn more money, but it’s not true when it comes to time. You can’t get the time you wasted ever again. So, use your time well. 

5. Writing 

Writing is one of the most effective techniques successful people use to take the burden off their minds. Studies have shown when you write something, you are more likely to remember things and it also promotes your tendency to take action. 

When you are working on a particular project there are too many things going on in your mind including ideas, pending tasks, long-term goals, and some other important stuff that you don’t want to miss. Writing everything really helps in such situations. 

When you think it, ink it.

– BRIAN TRACY
This image shows a writing pad and a pen

Take a piece of paper and a pen and just start to write everything inside your head, don’t worry about organizing and managing things at this point. Once you are done writing everything, then only start to categorize things. If you try separating things at the start you might go nuts as I do. You can also use apps like Trello and Asana for this.

6. Never stop learning

Learning is a crucial part of your journey toward success and it should not end with your schools or colleges. If you want to become successful in any part of your life, you must keep learning. 

When you are open to learning new things, you actually welcome new opportunities and new possibilities for yourself which eventually contribute to your growth. Usually, new opportunities come along with uncomfortable actions, for which skillset is necessary.

Now, one thing that you have to pay attention to is that, don’t get too overwhelmed when you start learning something new. Remember all the experts today, started as a student only; they repeated and repeated what they learned which make them now masters and experts in their industry.

Alison, Skillshare, edX, Udemy, etc. offers a wide variety of courses to learn and upgrade your existing skills. The courses on these e-learning platforms are both in paid and free versions, choose what suits you the best.

Conclusion

Becoming successful is a journey, you have to learn and unlearn a lot of things throughout your whole journey. And to start with developing habits that successful people have, can be a good start for you. 

Let’s recall what we have talked about one more time, so as to get this inside your head.

  1. Reading more and more books
  2. Setting goals
  3. Don’t care about the society
  4. Value your time
  5. Writing
  6. Never stop learning

Now, there must be several other habits and routines successful people follow that help them to be who they are. Do you know any of them? Tell me in the comments below.

Here are some other posts, you might like to read

Love the post, Save the Pin NOW!

This pin is about 6 habits of successful people that you can copy
By Nisha Kohli, ago

5 qualities every Entrepreneur must have

Anyone can become an entrepreneur, including YOU. Yeah…it’s true. 

YOU can be the next successful entrepreneur in any industry you want, regardless of what skills you have, what strengths and weaknesses you have, or which career stream you are from. It doesn’t matter at all. It doesn’t matter if you are shy, if you lack confidence, or even if you are afraid of talking to people or in front of them. 

You might be thinking how is that even possible? So let me tell you, this is possible because all the skills I mentioned above are learnable. You can learn them and not only those but you can learn any skill you want. You can learn anything you want if you have the Desire to learn them. 

When you consider becoming an entrepreneur, learning new skills & upgrading your existing ones is one of the main things that are going to be on your list of actions. It’s okay if you don’t have the right knowledge or information about something; no one does and there is nothing bad about it, but what’s good about it is that you can always learn it. 

Today there are several online learning platforms like Alison, edX, Skillshare, Udemy, LinkedIn, etc. where you can learn, explore and upgrade your skills. There are teachers from all around the world and they are brilliant.

This pin is about 5 qualities every entrepreneur must have

But besides skills, there is so much more that you should work on if you are a struggling entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is not a cup of tea. It requires tremendous effort, patience, hard work, discipline, determination and so much more to be one. Mentioned below are 5 qualities that you must have if you are an entrepreneur or considering becoming one. 

1. Perseverance

This image says do it now.
Source: Unsplash

It takes time to build a business from scratch. You cannot become successful overnight, it’s a true fact. It takes years and years of hard work, patience, courage and so much more to make it possible.

You surely have heard of this saying – “Great things take time”, and building a business is one of those ‘things’. It’s not something you have started one day and then just put things on auto-pilot mode for the rest of your life. It doesn’t work like that. It comes up with a lot of challenges that you cannot even imagine and obviously cannot avoid. It’s not like you have planted a seed in a pot and just waiting for it to give you fruits the very next day. You have to give it the time that it requires to become a plant.

Running a business is not any different and perseverance is the top most quality an entrepreneur must-have. Actually, it is the most common reason why people who don’t have it, fail to achieve their goals because they quit so easily when temporary failures hit them. 

Talking about perseverance, what does it really mean? Well, a person who has perseverance, continues putting in the effort and the good work without taking care of discouragement. He/She keeps on taking the desired action to keep the ball rolling till they see results. He/She doesn’t care what others might say or how they might react, they never stop, they keep going.

2. Resilience

Success without failure does not exist, it is part of the journey. Not a single person who is successful today is successful without failing, they failed so many times before they made it possible. 

It is the part of the process; you try something, you suck at it, you learn from it, and then move on, that’s how it works. When you try and test different ways to get things done, you are not going to succeed at everything. And getting used to these temporary failures is what resilience is all about. 

Being resilient means having the mental ability and the strength to recover quickly from failures and mishappenings. When you try something new, there is a 50 % chance to succeed and 50% to fail, well not exactly 50-50% but you get the point. Right? So why even worry about something that you have known from the very beginning. You just have to train your brain to always be ready for situations like this and be okay when something doesn’t work out.

When you fail at something, you just need to ask yourself

  1. The reason why you failed/What you have done wrong?
  2. What are the lessons that you have learned from the failure?
  3. What are you going to do next?

And after that stop thinking about what happened in the past and focus on the future. Start taking action based on the answers you just got from questing yourself. 

3. Creativity

This image says get the creativity flowing
Source: Unsplash

There are hundreds of businesses starting up every day but how many of them become actually successful? A very few of them. A handful of people are able to convert their start-ups into successful businesses and then into brands. 

Creativity is one of the answers to how they make it possible. They are creative enough to create a product or a service that is different from everyone else in their industry. They come up with their own USP which stands for Unique Selling Proposition, which separates them from the crowd. This is one of the main reasons why they are able to create an audience of their own who is ready to buy from them every time.

Creativity is what you need to stand out from the crowd. If you are doing the same things other hundreds of people in your industry are doing, then how are you different; why will anybody buy from you and not from your competitor? Think about it.

4. Flexibility

Entrepreneurship is a journey with a lot of ups and downs, highs and lows and you have to deal with each of them if you want to be successful at what you are doing.

It’s like riding a never-ending roller coaster and it’s turning left and right, up and down, and you are moving along with it(obviously). Now in such a case, a person with a flexible body will say WwooHhooo!!! and enjoy and a person with a non-flexible body will complain about backache, stomachache, throwing up, etc. So, what type of person do you want to be?

Obviously, the flexible body wins and you want to have one. Being an entrepreneur is kinda similar to it. You need to be flexible if you want to win. But in this case, being flexible means having the ability to adapt to challenges and become versatile. Flexibility talks about the ability to fight against the challenges you face throughout the journey and pivot yourself accordingly to keep growing.

Challenges and problems are going to come, that’s for sure. You can do nothing about them, but face them and become flexible.

5. Problem-Solving 

This image is about problem solving
Source: Unsplash

Although it’s important for a business to run profitably all along, it doesn’t happen. No business can run smoothly all the time, speed breakers and pit holes always come up throughout the journey. 

But you know what, they should not be there for a very long time. It’s not healthy for your business. The problems you face need to be solved on time; as you cannot move ahead without the same. That’s why it’s a must for an entrepreneur to be a problem-solver. 

Everyone knows there is always a solution to every problem, but not everyone is able to see it. A problem-solver on the other hand not only sees but is also able to give solutions real quick. It needs good observation skills to analyze the problem and come up with great solutions accordingly.

They focus on the root causes of the problem such as why and how the problem arises, the basic elements involved in the situation, what makes the problem out of control (in case), etc., and then give multiple solutions and find the ‘situation saver’ solution that works for their team. They don’t panic when a problem arrives, they stand up there and face it.

Conclusion

Being an entrepreneur is not as easy as it may sound. It takes a lot of effort to be one. 

When you are an entrepreneur, you are like SUPERMAN for your team who is powerful and have all the answers to every question they have. They rely on you for almost everything. So, it’s your duty and responsibility to be a Superhero if not SUPERMAN, and even if you are a solopreneur, it’s your responsibility towards yourself to succeed in something that you have started.

Since there are several qualities that you must have if you want to become a successful entrepreneur, I mentioned 5 of them and to remind it again they are 

  1. Persistence
  2. Resilience
  3. Creativity
  4. Flexibility
  5. Problem-solving

Now, which of these qualities do you have? Tell me in the comments below.

If you might like to read more about being an entrepreneur

Save the pin NOW!

This pin is about 5 qualities every entrepreneur must have
By Nisha Kohli, ago

5 tips to convert your dreams into reality

Hey, Are you a dreamer; who always dreams about accomplishing your dreams and goals? If yes, then read this blog post till the end as I’ll be sharing 5 tips that will help you convert your dreams into reality and live the life you always wanted.

Happy Reading!

Imagine, you are a successful business person who is generating a good amount of annual revenue, driving your favorite Lamborghini, and living in your dream house. Tell me how you’re gonna feel?

Surely, not only you but anyone would feel great. It’s like dream comes true. Isn’t it? But you know what’s sad, most people don’t even believe that this really Is Possible. And if you are among them then I want to tell you this – When you set your mind to something, Everything is possible, Everything is achievable. 

A dream is not the thing you see in sleep but is that thing that doesn’t let you sleep.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Well, there are several tricks and strategies that will take you to the other side of the story. And here I have mentioned 5 of them that you can use to convert your dreams into reality. 

1. Believe in yourself

Everyone dreams. Some dream about becoming a successful businessman, some about achieving financial freedom, some about becoming a world-class athlete, and so on. But how many of us are actually able to accomplish them? 

You guessed it right; a very few. Only about 7-8% of people in the whole world actually achieve their goals and the rest keeps on dreaming. Do you know the reason behind it? 

This image is about thinking why.
Source: Unsplash

Although there are several factors why people fail to achieve their goals, and to start with the most important and probably the first one – it’s the lack of belief. It is the lack of belief that stops you from accomplishing your dreams and turning them into reality.

How do you think you can achieve your goals if you don’t believe in them?

People with a lack of belief always think and act negatively when it comes to their goals. They don’t believe in themselves and think that it’s just a dream and they won’t be able to accomplish it ever. They made a lot of excuses why they can’t do it.

And if you are among them and want to get out of the status quo, what you need is a belief that everything is possible and you can achieve anything. A belief that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to. 

Here is a saying that says, ‘If you can believe it, you can achieve it.’ And the opposite is also true, ‘If you can’t believe it, you can’t achieve it.’ When it comes to turning your dreams into reality, believing in them and believing in yourself is the first step you have to take. 

So, start Believing in yourself right away.

2. Always be positive

There are two types of vibes and energies that exist in this universe: Positive and Negative.

You might have heard about the Law of Attraction which says you will only attract something that you put yourself into. When you think positively and surround yourself with positivity, all that you get is positivity. It’s like you are attracting positivity from the universe for yourself.

On average, a human brain creates around 6,200 thoughts in a single day which is a blend of both positive and negative. Thinking positively calms your mind and relaxes your nerves. It also promotes the release of Dopamine: a ‘feel-good’ hormone in your body.  

This image says stay positive.

On the contrary, thinking negatively increase your stress level which serves you in no way. It makes you feel that you have zero worth which doesn’t let you focus on anything. And it’s just obvious that if you don’t feel good, you can’t do any good which serves as a hindrance in your growth. 

So, when it comes to becoming an achiever and accomplishing all your dreams, being always positive and vivacious is what you should focus on. 

3. Don’t wait for the right time

Oftentimes, you think the timings are not perfect yet and you keep on waiting for the right time to take action. You keep on delaying things because of your insecurities and fear of being judged. 

You just keep telling yourself things like, ‘I’m not ready yet, so I’ll do it tomorrow. Every time you think about taking action, you just get caught in this vicious cycle that has no end. 

Keep this in mind that it doesn’t matter how much you wait for that perfect timing, it is not going to come and there will always be a reason why you can’t do anything. 

Waiting for the opportunities to come at you is not what achievers do. They make things happen for themselves by taking action and by being proactive. They don’t wait for opportunities to come to them, they go out there and create for themselves. 

Time is the most valuable thing to them and they can’t afford to waste it. And hence, waiting for the right time is not on their list of actions.

And if you also want to become an achiever, then don’t sit around and wait for the right time. Come out of your comfort zone and make things happen for yourself. 

4. Take action

One of the most common reasons why people fail to get what they want for themselves is that they don’t take action. They get the whole plan ready for the whole month but they don’t take action. Now, it doesn’t matter how amazing and actionable plan they came up with, it’s just a waste of time, effort, and energy if they don’t take action on that basis.

There are several reasons why it happens, some are only daydreamers who only enjoy dreaming about it and don’t give a damn about anything else. Some are afraid of what others are gonna say, some have their own insecurities and fears, some complain that they don’t have time, some procrastinate and keep on delaying because of no reason, and so on. 

If you really want to convert your dreams into reality then make sure that you don’t fall under any of these categories. You have to do 2 things: 1. Take Action and 2. Take Action NOW! 

Keep on doing what you get to do without over-thinking. I know there are some days when you don’t feel like doing anything, but that is the only difference between a man of actions and a man of words. Remember, nothing is going to happen if you don’t take action. 

5. Never quit

Failure is a part of the journey towards success; without failing you can never succeed. When you look at the most successful people in the world, none of them got there without facing challenges and failures. Each and every one of them made a tremendous amount of effort, sacrifices, trials and errors to get where they are today; that’s what makes them different from the crowd. 

The methods they use, the efforts, and the sacrifices they made can be different for everyone, but one thing that is common in all of them is to say no to quitting. 

I don’t know why people talk about accomplishing dreams and goals when they choose to quit. If you really want it, then quitting is not an option. 

When you choose to follow your heart and accomplish your dreams, challenges and hardships walk with you forever there’s no end to it. You have to fill yourself up with that courage, grit, and perseverance that will help you to come up with a solution every time, problems hit you.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

Nelson Mandela

Conclusion

If you really want to convert your dreams into reality, don’t waste your time sitting around; go grab it with both of your hands, work hard and turn them into reality. 

Believe in yourself and do take action. I believe in you.

What do you dream about that doesn’t let you sleep and which of these tips are you going to follow to make them come true? Tell me in the comments below.

Here’s what you should read next

Love the post? Save the pin NOW!

This pin is about tips to convert dreams into reality.
By Nisha Kohli, ago

How to stop procrastination and start taking action 

How many times do you procrastinate in a single day? I know some of you can’t even count it and some don’t even realize that they do it. It’s like procrastination is a part of your life and this is how you do all your stuff. You do everything like that without even realizing it. 

Do you know why? It’s because you have developed a habit of procrastination and your subconscious mind is responsible for it. It does it without you even noticing it. 

Did you know? Your subconscious mind doesn’t have the power to think on its own, it only follows the instructions given by your conscious mind. And like we perform all the sensory activities such as breathing, watching, and listening without realizing and still doing it; similarly, you procrastinate without even realizing it.

But here is a good thing, like every bad habit, you can change this habit too. You can change your habit of procrastination and make yourself do what you meant to be doing instead of pushing it for tomorrow.

Here’s the reason why you procrastinate

The human brain has 2 levels: Conscious and Subconscious. 

The conscious mind is responsible for thinking, feeling, and intuitions at a particular moment whereas the subconscious mind is responsible for storing the data and responding the way it is programmed. It only focuses on things that are stored within there and works accordingly. 

A conscious mind is like that strict parent who wants their kids to do what they want and follow rules and regulations. And the subconscious mind is like that poor little kid who can do nothing but listen to what their parents are saying. 

There are hidden powers within your subconscious mind and you can do wonders if you learn how to use them. You can’t rely on your conscious mind which just focuses on your everyday rut. 

Your conscious mind focuses on your survival and comfort only. It has nothing to do with any of your dreams and goals. That’s why every time you think about completing a task and trying harder than you can or working on something that matters, it just starts to give you thoughts like ‘you are tired; you need rest, so let’s do it tomorrow.’ And you know what, that ‘tomorrow’ never comes. 

Types of procrastinators 

 1. The one with a lack of Self-discipline

Everyone likes lying down on the sofa, eating popcorn, and watching Netflix all day. But that’s not what achievers do. 

A person with a lack of self-discipline usually doesn’t know how to manage their time. They keep themselves busy doing unimportant tasks and waste their time, and at the end of the day, they say things like, “Oh, I couldn’t make it today, so let’s do it tomorrow”. And the other day, they do similar things and procrastinate like a Pro. 

Doing what’s important first is what makes you more productive and gives you the confidence to keep going. So, learn how to manage your time properly, it’s a skill that will help you in every aspect of your life. 

2. The one who has decision paralysis

One decision can make a massive impact on what your future is going to be. I guess, no one will deny this. But when it comes to making a decision, many people fail at it. Sometimes they are confused, sometimes they get attached to one thing so much. They procrastinate and keep on delaying and pushing it for the other day. 

Making the right decision at the right time makes a huge difference between where you are and where you want to be. So screw everything and make that damn decision that is still pending in your head. 

3. The one who doesn’t take action

Oftentimes you procrastinate in taking action because something is stopping you from doing what you want to do. There can be several reasons why you do that, you might be scared of what others will think about you, or maybe you are thinking you are not ready yet; excuses are endless. 

But only thinking and not taking any action is worthless. It’s not going to make any difference. If you want something to be done, then stop procrastinating and take action. 

3 steps that will help you stop procrastination

1. Setting a goal

This image is about setting a goal
Source: Unsplash

The first step that will help you stop procrastination is to set a goal for yourself. Setting a goal is like putting a destination in Google Maps, without which you can’t decide which route to take.

Your goal can be learning a new skill, starting working out, studying at night, learning a new language, or anything else. Whatever your goal, write it down on a piece of paper. According to research, when you write down your goals on paper, you are more likely to take action and achieve your goals. 

Write down briefly what you want to achieve and make an action plan for it. The action plan should contain small but achievable tasks. Create imaginary deadlines for yourself and stick to them. Follow the plan and the deadlines sincerely to achieve your goals.

2. Break a task into small chunks

Can you have a whole large pizza in one go?  I guess no one can. That’s why they slice it down into several pieces so that you can have it easily and enjoy it. 

Then why do you think that you can get everything done in just one go? Why do you want every task to be completed in one sitting? It can never be done that way. When you try to do everything simultaneously, you can’t focus on one thing altogether, leading to nothing but dissatisfaction. 

Stop being a multi-tasking person and focus on one thing at a time. When you focus on one thing at one time, productivity increases and you are more likely to complete that particular task in lesser time. 

Try to break a task into small pieces of work and focus on one thing at a given period of time and then move on to other. This way it will be easier for you to analyze your progress for a particular task and you can make the right decision at right time. 

3. Reward yourself

We humans always crave appreciation and rewards in any form we can get. We love it when someone appreciates and praises us for our work. If you look closely at what you do and why you do it, there is always a reward waiting in the end. 

The work you do is directly proportional to the craving you have. 

If you work hard at the office, there is a craving for raise in salary or a promotion. If you work out in the gym every day that’s because you want to be in shape. These are all cravings and there are a lot of examples if you look closely in your life. So, why not use this human psychology to help you stop procrastinating?

Always give a reward to yourself when you set a goal and accomplish them. The reward should be something that you love; for example, a chocolate chip ice cream or your favorite pizza or watching your favorite Netflix series, it can be anything. 

This image is about rewarding yourself
Source: Unsplash

Set a goal and follow all the rules you set for yourself. After accomplishing your goal, gift yourself something you love. But the gift is valid only if you follow all the rules and if you would be able to make it up till the end. 

You can set a goal for a week and after accomplishing it, gift yourself a date night on the weekend with your favorite Netflix series. This technique makes you work even harder to accomplish your goals as there is a craving attached to it. 

Conclusion

If you want to achieve your goals then you must change your habit of procrastination.

A habit of pushing things on tomorrow. And you know what’s an exciting truth about tomorrow, that it never comes and when it comes, it becomes today.

Change your habit of procrastination and develop a habit of taking action because that’s what it takes to accomplish any goal you have in your life.

So what type of procrastinator are you? And what are the steps that you are going to take to move ahead? Tell me in the comments below.

Here’s what you should read next

By Nisha Kohli, ago

5 things to do to change yourself to achieve your goals

Everyone wants to achieve their goals and wants to live the life of their dreams. But not everyone could make it possible. Do you know why? Because for your life to be changed, you need to change yourself first. 

And in this post, I’ll share 5 things that you need to change, if you want to accomplish your dreams and achieve your goals and live your life your way. 

Happy Reading! 

Change. It is a crucial part of life. It’s gonna happen, whether you like it or not. No one can stop it. And you can’t even imagine your life without changes.

It’s an old saying, ‘Change is the only constant thing in the world’.

And I can bet on this, that there would be something in your life that you want to change.

It can be anything. It can be as small as changing the route which takes less time to your work or as big as changing your career. You might want to change a bad habit and want to develop a good one. 

It can be anything that just clicked your mind a few days back or something that you are thinking about for a very long time, but somehow you couldn’t make it. 

Let’s say, you are not feeling motivated to get started or you might want someone to give you a little push or maybe you are just procrastinating and wasting your time watching those cat videos.

And after giving so much time thinking about it, you decided to get up and take the first step. So now you start exploring the internet. The HOWs, the WHYs, the ways to get this, the ways to get rid of that, and whatnot. 

But if you are just watching videos after videos for the sake of getting motivation. And taking a hell lot of courses to develop a skill or a habit, but are not taking any action. Then I’m sorry to tell you that it ain’t gonna happen. Yeah, it’s never gonna happen.

Here’s a reason why you couldn’t make it. It’s because of this fact that says, ‘If you want to change something in your life, you have to change yourself first.’ 

Many people are scared of change. It’s true, no one likes change. But this is not how a person who wants to achieve his/her goals would think. Don’t you think so?

If you want to get success whether it’s personal or professional, you gotta change yourself. Here are 5 changes that you must do within yourself if you want your dreams to be accomplished and you want to be successful in life.

1. Decide

When it comes to making a change. First, you need to decide ‘WHAT’. What do you want to change in your life? 

Is it making a schedule for workouts? Is it following a healthy diet routine? Or is it about quitting a bad habit or developing a new one? Sometimes there are a lot of things that you want to change in your life but couldn’t make it because you are so confused. You don’t get how and where to start. 

So first, you must decide what you want to change.

This image says decide what you want to change

Deciding what change you want is the same as defining your aim. How would you take an action, if you don’t know what it is for? How would you take the first step, if you don’t know where to go? 

Therefore, deciding what you want to change in your life is going to be the first thing you do.

If you are someone who has a long-term vision, then don’t worry. You don’t need to decide each and every step at first. Just decide what are you going to do first and focus on that only. Rest, just keep them at the back of your head and work out later in the future. 

Always set short-term goals and analyze the progress quarterly, half-yearly, or after a particular time period. It will also help you to increase your productivity. 

2. Say no to excuses

Making an excuse is the easiest thing a person can do. You can make excuses for anything, literally anything. But this is not what the achievers do. Right?

In general, people make excuses for something, they don’t like to do or they are bad at, or things that make them suffer in some way. 

There is a reason why you do it. It’s because the human brain always finds a way to survive. It is designed this way. Every time you are stuck somewhere, it will try to save you from the upcoming trouble and pokes you to ignore the problem. That’s the reason why we do it.

That’s the reason why you always find ways to ignore the problem, rather than solve it. But if you practice and train your brain to go to the next level and find the solutions to the problem, you can achieve anything you want. 

You have to muscle up your brain to get the most out of it. Make your brain feel excited and involved in the task that you are doing. This way your brain will work harder on its own and finds new ways to solve a problem.

So, next time when you are stuck somewhere, don’t make excuses to ignore the problem but try to find the solution. 

3. Believe in yourself

Question: What type of person are you? 

The answer to this question totally depends on what types of beliefs you have. 

Beliefs are so powerful. Your beliefs are something that has the power to make or break you. If you want to change yourself and achieve your goals and become successful in life, you must believe in yourself. Believe in each and every possibility that you see for yourself.

Start by reminding yourself that you are capable of achieving whatever it is that you want to achieve in life. You have the ability to do it. You have the power to make things work in your life the way that you want them to.

Don’t let anyone or your own insecurities let you down and make you give up on your dreams. 

Never say things like ‘I’m not good at this, I can’t do that, or I won’t be able to make it happen.’ When you keep saying things like that, your brain starts to absorb it and makes you believe what you just said. So, never say negative things, not even in a joke. Rather say, ‘I’m able to achieve anything I set my mind to.’

Practice this for a week, and you will start to observe the difference in the way you feel, and that ultimately will change the results.

4. Switch to positivity

If you want to change yourself to achieve your goals, then you need to switch your thoughts to the positive. This is the most powerful tool that you have.

This image says stay positive

If you think positively and practice gratitude regularly, you are more likely to do and feel good and positive in every situation of your life. You will experience the same energy and vibes everywhere you go. You attract the same things into your life. 

On the contrary, if you think negatively, similar things start to happen to you. You see negativity everywhere. You will start to pick up only negative things in everything you come around with. And without even realizing it, you will be a statue of negativity.

This is because of the Law of Attraction. According to which, whatever you think and give yourself into, similar things start to happen to you. The universe provides you with the same kind of things. So, when you think and feel good, good will happen to you. And when you do the opposite, you know the results now. It’s very simple. 

5. Become fearless

Being successful is a journey and failure is part of it. You can never be successful without failing. 

Every person in this world, who has accomplished their dreams and are successful today, is because they failed so many times. But that’s not what matters, what matters is how many times you failed and stood up to try one more time. 

You have to develop a thick skin for this and commit to yourself that you are not going to give up. Think of it this way, if you failed at something, it means you actually came one step closer to your success.

If you fail, try something else; again you fail, try something else; again you fail, try something else, and so on until you find a solution to the problem.

There is no one recipe for success, there are a lot. Every individual is different, and so is their way of thinking and analyzing stuff. And your job is actually to find your way to success.

You sure have heard of the saying, ‘Diamonds are made under pressure.’ And it’s so true. If you wanna become that person that you’ve been dreaming of your whole life; if you wanna shine like diamonds you have to bear the pressure. 

Conclusion

Only you have the power to change yourself. You must have heard the saying which goes like, One small change can make a big difference. So, change yourself and achieve whatever you want in life. 

Are you ready to do whatever it takes to be what you want to become? Are you ready to change yourself to change your life?

Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s what you should read next…

Love the post? Save the pin now…

This pin about things to do to change yourself to achieve what you want
By Nisha Kohli, ago