Tackling your resolutions head-on might seem like a sensible approach to take, but it’s often much easier to work on all the little factors that feed into your goals, rather than depend on heaps of willpower and determination to achieve success.
You’ll notice that making a tiny 1% improvement in several areas will eventually build up to create a powerful force you didn’t realize you can generate so easily.
This is my favored approach to becoming an early riser.
Whenever I decide to shift my schedule to a morning one, I don’t try to force myself to wake up early. Instead, I cut out caffeinated drinks from my diet, eat a light dinner, drink lots of water, avoid mental stimulation before sleep and go to bed early.
With every goal you have, ask yourself the question: What tiny things can I do to help me cultivate the right conditions for my goal to flourish?
Look for all the factors that influence your goal. The environment you work in, the people you connect with, your use of technology, what you eat, how you spend your time, how you plan your day, the breaks you have, etc.
Work on the conditions that surround your goals, rather than the goals themselves.
Aim for small changes and adjustments. Things that make the pursuit of your goals easier and more enjoyable.
Positive change can involve lots of hard work, but it doesn’t always have to. You shouldn’t feel guilty about making your goals easier to achieve.
So how can you create the right conditions to assist you in achieving your goals?
2 replies on “The Countdown – Day 26: Cultivating The Right Conditions”
This is a great idea. Big goals, no matter how exciting and desirable, can be scary and can sometimes take awhile to achieve. We get distracted, we lose our momentum, we get discouraged, we give up. If we follow your suggestion and take small steps, we can see success quickly and this will reinforce our commitment. It also keeps our attention on small steps that seem easy rather than on the big goal which might seem hard.
I will give you an example from years ago. I started smoking when I was young. Back then we thought it was cool and the health issues had not become so well-known. It wasn’t long before I was smoking 2-3 packs a day. And it wasn’t much longer before I started feeling the effects and wanting to quit. Well, any smoker knows that is not an easy thing to do. I tried every method I could think of, but nothing worked more than a day or two.
Finally I got up one morning feeling awful. I realized that part of my smoking ritual was how I held the cigarette between my fingers. I interrupted the ritual by taping those two fingers together. Every time I wanted a cigarette, rather than focusing on denying the urge, I focused on not taking the tape off. It is very hard not to have a cigarette, but it is easy not to take tape off your fingers.
It sounds silly, I know, but it worked. That was a long time ago, and I have not smoked since.
So I am a big believer in your approach. Just today I was telling some friends that I want to get over my technology phobia in 2011. We set up a schedule of taking little steps, learning just one new thing a month. I know I can do this–wish me luck!
.-= Galen Pearl´s last blog ..The Secret of World Peace =-.
Hi Galen,
Thanks for sharing your own experiences. 🙂
My next post will look at how our own expectations can lead us to inaction. You have technology phobia and I have kitchen phobia. I want to learn how to cook but I’m avoiding it like the plague.
That’s because we have an expectation that we shouldn’t make any mistakes. Other people are good at things we’re clueless about, and they will somehow think that we’re inferior if we reveal our own ignorance.
The point is to drop your expectations to match your skill level. If you’re not comfortable using technology, it’s only natural you won’t know what this or that button will do, or what all the terms people are throwing around mean. But you’re not expected to know, before you actually learn about them.
If you embrace your own level of know-how and bring your expectations down to that level, you’ll feel much more at ease and open to a new learning experience.
Oops, that was meant to be my next post! 😛