This article was last updated on March 14, 2022
Do you have an important goal in your life that you’re burning for? Back in my days as a banker, I was obsessed with the idea of quitting 9-5 and founding my own business.
With a good portion of desperation, I incorporated a business within a healthcare niche. I had no idea what I was doing. I messed up the process and was soon overwhelmed by bootstrapping a business.
It was a painful and expensive experience. But it was worth every penny. I learnt an invaluable lesson about the importance of following a bulletproof process.
What Are You Burning For?
Take a moment and think about your life. What is the one thing you’re burning for?
– Do you want to quit 9-5?
– Do you want to publish a book?
– Do you want to master a new skill?
– Do you want to get fit?
– Do you want to start your own business?
At the end of the day the specifics of your goal don’t really matter. If you follow the right process, you’ll sooner or later accomplish your mission! Here’s how:
9 Steps To Achieve Your Most Important Goal
1. Have A Strong ‘Why’
Working towards your goal will kick you in the face at least once in a while. You will experience setback after setback. You will want to give up from time to time.
You need something that is stronger than your daily struggle. You need something that gets you out of bed early and pushes you through the day.
You need a strong “why”.
Be honest with yourself about your “why”. Don’t bother with any half-baked attempts. Want something 100%, or don’t want it at all.
2. Become Obsessed With Your Goal
There is lots of smart advice out there about multitasking and living a balanced lifestyle. The advice has in common that it won’t help you to accomplish your mission.
Your time and energy is limited. Achieving a remarkable goal will demand all of your attention.
You need to become obsessed with your goal to the point of madness. Put as much time and energy into it as possible.
Once you’ve achieved your goal, you can think about balancing your life.
3. Have The Right People In Your Corner
Your team either makes or breaks you. If everybody around you is killing it, you’ll be far more likely to do the same.
Surround yourself with people who have already walked the walk, people who live the life of your dreams.
Remove all negative people out of your life. Be hard with yourself and everybody else. Whoever provides negativity cannot any longer be part of your team.
4. Forget About Events, Think In Processes
Achieving your goals is never a magical event in someday land. It is everyday minor work. It is a process of doing what it takes as long as it takes.
It will take you months or even years to achieve your goal. If you hope for a quick event, you won’t make it.
Learn to focus solely on the process. Forget about the payoff and focus on doing what it takes. Sooner or later you will have what you want.
5. Build Momentum
I can’t put it better than Newton: an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion.
It will take you a large amount of energy to start moving in the right direction. Once you’re rolling, it’s almost an easy walk. You just have to keep doing what you’re already doing.
Start building a positive momentum today. Do whatever it takes to break through your inertia. From there on: protect your momentum as if your life would depend on it.
6. The Present Moment Is All There Is
Do you still regret the opportunity you missed last year? Do you still beat yourself up for failing your important goal two years ago?
Let me tell you this: this nonsense comes without any value and has to stop right here and now. Beating yourself up won’t get you anywhere. It does not do anything good for you.
Focus your energy on doing the right thing in this particular moment. Repeat tomorrow. Repeat the day after tomorrow. Repeat until you’ve achieved your goal and never look back.
7. Act Like The Perfect You
You don’t feel good today and you’re too busy anyway? Ask yourself what the “perfect you” would do.
Would the “perfect you” let a shitty day distract you from doing what it takes? Or would the “perfect you” break through all the boundaries?
Would the “perfect you” jeopardize the hard-earned momentum due to laziness? Or would the “perfect you” protect the momentum?
I think we both know the answer. Whenever you’re close to quitting, do what the “perfect you” would do.
8. Control Your Daily Actions
A good old-fashioned daily checklist will do magic for you. It will help you to detach your actions from your emotions.
No task is too small for your checklist. Analyze what it takes to achieve your goal and break it down into daily manageable tasks.
From there on: work towards your list no matter how you feel. Only go to bed once your work is done.
9. Use Leverage
Get yourself an accountability buddy. Put a painful amount of money on the line.
The pain of losing the money must outweigh the pain of doing what it takes. Boy, you’ll hustle like crazy if there is $10,000 on the line.
Report your progress once a week. Screenshots, face-to-face talks, video logs…be creative.
Simply put – Know what you want, do what it takes.
Photo credit: Mish Sukharev
