Consistency in Achieving Long Term Goals

Basavaraj M.Malagimani (bmmalagimani@coe.sveri.ac.in)

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering,

SVERI’s College of Engineering Pandharpur

 

"Life is a race..If we don't run fast.. We will be like a broken egg...” Most of we have watched the movie 3 Idiots and can easily recall this dialogue where the head of an institute was trying to teach a life lesson to students. Indeed, it's true and one must learn from it. Nowadays, competition is getting tougher day by day and the doorway into the best of the academic institutes is just not straightforward. It requires a lot of hard work, dedication and most importantly, consistent efforts. The reality of tough competition can be seen through this data.

 

Advantages

·         Early exposure to learning and competition builds confidence and sharpens skills which raise your level from other students on the same platform.

·         Competitive exams will enhance the skill of understanding the application of concepts, which is required in a broader context when we appear for exams like AIEE, JEE, NEET, Civil Service and many others.

·         Exams develop IQ, logical and analytical thinking and build a strong foundation for a career.

·         They open doors to enter foreign universities including worldwide number.

·         Competitive exams also help out in choosing a career as students start identifying their areas of interest while getting a deeper knowledge of subjects.

·         Awards, rewards and scholarships not only provide financial assistance in further studies but also boost morale while moving ahead in the future. There are no drawbacks of appearing for such competitive exams and it's just a myth that they can hamper regular studies. An early step will articulate your journey of success.

 Simple Ways to Stay Focused on Long Term Goals

Do we ever get so stuck in our day to day responsibilities that even thinking about long term goals is too much? With everything we have going on, it can be hard to stay focused on long-term goals when we don’t see immediate or quick results.

It is easy to see why we can struggle to stay focused on long terms goals. So the question is how do we keep our focus, stay consistent and overcome, we want it now, mentality that is ingrained in our culture?

The solution involves seven simple steps:

1. Break Our Long Term Goal down into Small Measurable Goals

When we have a large goal that we are working on, breaking it down into small bite size pieces will help us to stay consistent. For example, our goal is to run a successful home business that provides us with a sufficient income to allow us to work exclusively from home. To succeed at this goal, we need to break it down into bite size pieces.

By breaking our larger goal down to small bite size pieces, we are able to give ourselves little win, those little wins will give us the motivation we need to keep going and stay focused on long-term goals.

2. Focus on the Process Not Results

By focusing on the process instead of the results we see immediate progress.  Let’s say our goal is to get in shape.  We go to the gym every day for two weeks.  In the beginning, we have a hard time doing any pull ups and our arms hurt. However, at the end of two weeks, our arms no longer hurt and we can do one pull up.  We are motivated to continue working on our goal because we see the process working. Focusing on the process of consistently going to the gym three times a week and getting a little stronger each time, motivates us to continue pursuing our goal.

3. Focus on Little Wins

As I said above, when we break our goal down into bite-size pieces we are able to give ourselves little wins. Focus on those little wins, rather than the larger goal.  Little wins will snowball into success in reaching our long term goal.

Let’s say our larger goal is to get in shape. We go to the gym and hang on the pull-up bar, win.  At the end of the week, we are able to pull ourselves half way up and our arms no longer hurt, this is another win.

We will stay motivated by focusing on little wins.

 

4. Build on Our Goal as We Achieve Each Level

I like to start all new goals on Sunday. At the end of the week, I can look back and reflect on how I did with that goal. Depending on how I did, I can then either build on it or adjust it down.

Let’s go back to our gym example, this Sunday I set the goal to go to the gym three times this week. Look at how I did at the end of the week. I made it to the gym all three times, now I can build on my goal. My new goal is to do one pull up without assistance. On the other hand, I might find that going to the gym three times in the week was too much for my schedule. That’s okay; I just adjust my goal to going to the gym two times during the week.

5. Make Sure Our Expectations Are Realistic

There is another benefit to building on and reevaluating our goals at the end of each week. Regular evaluation of our goals helps us to determine whether we have set realistic expectations.

To avoid discouragement and feelings of defeat, we need to be realistic in our expectations. This is why implementing number #4 above is so important to keep on track and focused on long-term goals.

6. Be Consistent

Consistency is a key to achieving any goal. I cannot stress this enough, if you are not consistently working on your goal you will be doomed to fail. Try to do something every day towards meeting your goal. At a minimum, set a realistic schedule where you can have time set aside to work on your goal on a regular basis. You can do something every day, or three times a week or even once a week. The key is to do something consistently and regularly.

7. Seek Accountability

This one is huge for me. I DO NOT like to admit defeat. Tell others about your goals and what you are working on, and then ask them to hold you accountable. When someone is regularly asking you about your progress, you will more likely do something regularly to achieve those goals. Telling others about your goal and asking them to keep you accountable is a great motivator.

Accountability has the added benefit of helping you maintain focus on your goal. When you have others asking you how you are doing, you are going to keep your focus. You will also be forced to eliminate any excuses for not working on your goal.

 

So to conclude this blog I’m suggesting to all the readers of this blog to set your goals as early as possible and to work on that continuously by utilizing above seven principles effectively. When you build on your goal as you achieve each level, double check your expectations, work consistently and seek out accountability, you will be sure to make it to the finish line.

 

References:

1)      Google search.

2)      https://blog.iqmatrix.com/consistency-in-action

3)      https://retireby40.org/key-achieving-long-term-goals/

4)      https://www.itsmyfavoriteday.com/stay-focused-on-long-term-goals/