Quit smoking, run a marathon, lose weight, write a book – sometimes we have good ideas, but we rarely undertake to implement them and almost never finish the job. What hinders us and how to overcome difficulties? Sports expert version.
1. Think Big
The biggest obstacle to success is ourselves and those around us. How often have you thought about doing something difficult and suddenly caught yourself thinking: “No, this is not mine, I am not capable of this!”
Even more often, we are not ready to support relatives – family and friends, they play the main role in the fact that we freeze in front of a difficult task, without even starting to solve it. “You won’t be able to cope, don’t torture yourself, you’ll only waste your time and energy” is a classic response to an attempt to share your ideas with loved ones. And this is the biggest trap.
Overcoming this barrier and clearly defining the scope of your task is the first step on the road to success. Make sure this test is important to you, that you have the time to plan and prepare, and that you have the resources—money, equipment, and so on. And only then tell friends and relatives about what you are going to do as a decided fact.
2. Set goals
Any difficult task at first may seem unattainable when viewed as a whole. The key to success is breaking it down into small steps—short-term goals. The completion of a few small tasks leads to the solution of the middle, intermediate goal, and the addition of the latter is the end of your journey, the fulfillment of the main goal and success.
Setting a goal is quite simple if you follow a few rules.
- The goal should be achievable, but difficult enough. It is very important to make sure that it lies outside your comfort zone.
- Don’t set the bar too low.
- Also, make sure the goal is measurable so you can keep track of your progress.
- And most importantly, celebrate your success. Every time you reach a new goal, find a way to please yourself with something.
3.Turn on the head
A lot of the challenges we face are related to exercise and physical coping—lose weight, run a marathon, get ready for beach season. But it is the brain, not our body, that is the key to success.
Rarely are our physical abilities an obstacle, more often we are hindered by a loss of faith, willpower and interest, which leads to failure. Believing that you can achieve your goal is the most important thing.
With faith comes excitement and the desire to invest time, effort, and resources to continue achieving short-term goals. And their achievement increases motivation, which, in turn, strengthens the belief in the achievement of the main goal.
4. Consider all factors
Achieving success is rarely associated with working on any one, decisive factor. The road to the goal requires a synchronous change in a number of things. For example, to improve physical fitness, it is not enough to squat many times.
It is necessary to think over a healthy diet system, train your endurance, strengthen all muscle groups, improve sleep, and so on. When drawing up a plan, it is necessary to take into account not only those factors that contribute to achieving success, but also all possible risks of negative influence.
For example, if your goal is to quit smoking, then the risk may come from friends who do not share your enthusiasm and constantly offer you cigarettes. The more detailed your plan, the higher your chance of success. If you fail planning, you will most likely fail the whole thing.
5.Sign a contract
For a person who does not have much confidence in himself and is not very motivated, it can be useful to simply agree with himself to complete a task. This approach may seem a little strange to you, but the more formal your agreement with yourself is, the higher the chances that you will take it more seriously.
A formal agreement provides the necessary motivation to keep going and maintain the required amount of work until success is achieved. Ask someone close to you to witness this contract, so you will take it more seriously.
Signing a contract will increase both the importance of the deal and the prestige of your well-deserved victory. Here is an example of a personal commitment that you could reformulate to suit your own purpose:
“I, the undersigned, hereby promise that I will not drink alcohol on weekdays and will limit my consumption to 12 units of alcohol on weekends.
Name:
Signature:
Witness Signature: … “
About the author: Greg White is a fitness and exercise expert and professor at the University of St. John Moores (Liverpool, UK) and author of Reaching the Impossible.