Do you tell yourself that “I never seem to find the time to work on my goals.” Or maybe you tell yourself that “I have no focus.” Each one of us has great goals. Maybe you’ve even written your goals or created a vision board. Maybe you’ve enthusiastically started taking action. You can feel the power and the excitement. You know that this time you’ll be successful; this time is going to be different than all those other times. Then it happens… Life gets in the way!
Maybe you or a family member gets sick; or things at work become more demanding. Maybe an unexpected financial crisis occurs. Whatever it is, the interruption takes over your life. Your plans are put on hold. You may feel disappointed or frustrated or even angry that you were not able to do what you set out to do. Your dreams become a painful memory of what could have been. John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans”. Life gets in the way of everybody, but successful people have a way of keeping their focus and getting things done.
Successful people know how to concentrate their energy and efforts on what they want. They are able to eliminate anything that threatens that focus. Since all thoughts are creative, they only think about what they want, not about what they don’t want. In As A Man Thinketh, James Allen writes, “Having conceived of his purpose, a person should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor left.”
A sea captain sets his course and does not deviate. Even though the destination is not in sight, the captain trusts that if he stays on course, he will reach it. But what if the captain doesn’t need to reach his destination by a certain time? He may take detours along the way to do other things of interest. If it wasn’t important to reach the destination, he may end his trip at any place along the way.
Maybe you’ve experienced a lack of focus with some of your goals. Maybe the goal (the destination) isn’t really as important as you originally thought it was. Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore. You must have a desire for your goal; a desire that is consuming and obsessive. The desire must be like a fire in your belly. If you’re having trouble staying focused, you need to look at your goal and ask yourself some questions.
Consider if this is really your goal, or if it someone else’s goal for you. Ask yourself if this goal is really important to you. Why is it important? Imagine how you would feel if you are not able to achieve the goal. Imagine how you would feel when you achieve it.
Your answers to these questions may tell you if you’re ever likely to develop enough focus on that goal to be successful. James Allen also told us that all successful people “hold fast to an idea, a project, a plan, and will not let it go; they cherish it, brood upon it, tend and develop it; and when assailed by difficulties, they refuse to be beguiled into surrender; indeed, the intensity of the purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered.”
When you successfully find your focus, you’ll also solve your struggles with time management. You will find the time! You will make time for what is important to you. You may not have time to do everything you WANT to do, but you’ll have time to do everything you NEED to do. You decide in advance how you will spend your resources. You allocate your time, talent, skills and abilities to achieve your goal. When you’re focused, you will follow your plan.
Take action by focusing on the number one activity you need to do to get one step closer to your goal. You must take one step at a time. There is no elevator to success. Meditate on your goal. Engage in visualization. Remember the mind doesn’t know the difference between what you imagine and what you perceive to be reality. In the state of imagination, you are able to feel the positive emotions of successfully completing the goal. You are also able to feel the negative emotions associated with failure to reach your destination. These emotions add fuel to the fire of your desires. You will always find time for what it important to you. You will make time. Focus on completing the first activity necessary. If you haven’t taken any action on the goal, perhaps it’s time to go back to the question of why you want to accomplish it. Stop fooling yourself. If it was important, you would find the time.