Have you ever found yourself working on a project or pursuing a goal, but despite your time, effort, and best intentions, you haven’t made any significant progress? It can feel as though you are spinning on a hamster wheel, rather than running forward toward your goals.
It is challenging to stay motivated, consistent and hopeful when you aren’t able to see tangible fruit from your efforts.
Stop spinning your wheels, repeating the same actions (or lack of action), hoping that your luck or circumstances will change, EVALUATE YOUR PROCESS.
The PROCESS with which we approach our projects and goals has a direct effect on the PROGRESS we make towards achieving those goals. Our work process is made up of two primary components: mindset + practice.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET, CHANGE RESULTS
When it comes to goal achievement, your mindset refers to the thought patterns you maintain surrounding your goals. It is what you THINK about the goals that you have and the work that is required to achieve them.
According to psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck, truly successful individuals work to form and strengthen a positive growth mindset which propels them forward towards their goals, rather than stunts their progress. These men and women form patterns of thinking in which they consistently remind themselves, “I can! I will!” Check out my post, Mindset Matters, for practical tips on developing a growth mindset.
Just as maintaining a positive mindset can have a tremendous impact on your achievement, a negative mindset also has a significant effect on your progress. If you are feeling stuck as your work towards your goals and aren’t able to identify substantial headway, there is a good chance you might have fallen into a mindset trap that is holding you back from genuine achievement.
Common Mindset Pitfalls
- Making Excuses
Planning for projects and working towards your goals takes determination and consistency. However, when faced with long to-do lists or complicated tasks, it’s easy to focus on all of the reasons why you won’t be able to accomplish the task at hand.
We may find reasons to put off progress because the work required to accomplish our goal is daunting, and success feels far off. According to psychologists Tara Thatcher and Donald Bailis, we often make excuses as an effort to prevent failure.
Excuses, such as “I’ll get to it when I have more time,” or “When I make more money, I’ll start working towards my goals” need to be reframed in your mind if you hope to make real progress towards your goals.
Instead of looking at these obstacles as problems that prevent progress, choose to reshape your mindset and view them as challenges to work around. Choose to be accountable to yourself and your promises.
- Comparison Insecurity
Whatever your goal is, there are probably other people who have also worked towards and accomplished a similar objective. Social media is filled with photos of ambitious go-getters, achieving their weight loss goals or building the businesses of their dreams. And what about all the successful individuals you already know.
While seeing the success of others working towards similar goals can be inspiring and motivating, it can also be daunting and in some cases, discouraging. According to Forbes magazine, measuring yourself against the success of others can leave you feeling insufficient and unworthy.
These feelings will undoubtedly affect every aspect of life. It’s easy to fall into the comparison trap and begin thinking “I’ll never be able to accomplish what he did” or “I’ll never be as successful as her.”
We stop making progress when we stop believing that we are capable of success.
As you look at your own life, are there areas or relationships that are consistently leading you to compare yourself and your success to others? Is this comparison harming your progress? If so, CUT IT OUT! If scrolling through Instagram is leaving you discouraged, stop scrolling through Instagram.
Dealing with Perfectionism
- It is not uncommon for ambitious goal setters to also struggle with perfectionism, or the refusal to consider anything less than perfection to be a success.You may be thinking, “Isn’t having high standards for my work a good thing?” While it is good to take pride in your work, placing too great an emphasis on attaining perfection can be debilitating.
“There is nothing more depressing than feeling like a failure. And people who suffer from perfectionism often feel like failures when others around them perceive them to be examples of excellent performance.”
– Margaret Wehrenberg Psy.D
When we focus too much on obtaining perfection, we stop making progress. We are not able to recognize our individual growth or plan ways to keep moving forward.
Even worse, perfectionists can become so discouraged when their efforts aren’t achieving perfection, that they give up entirely before reaching their ultimate goal.
Instead of making perfection your goal, choose instead to focus on PROGRESS. Ask yourself, “Am I growing? Am I moving forward?” Take a tip from Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, when she says, “Done is better than perfect.” Believe in your ideas and run with them before you succumb to perfectionism.
REFINE YOUR PRACTICE
Your practice is just as important as your mindset. By practice, I mean what you are DOING. The ACTIONS you are taking to make progress towards your goals.
As professional women, we’ve got a lot on our plates. Between work demands and home life responsibilities and tasks, it is tempting to “wait” on our goals. To delay action, hoping our circumstances will change. THEY WON’T UNTIL YOU DO.
Pick ONE objective and focus on it. Be obsessive and look for the small steps you can take in between everything else. Do not let yourself off the hook. If it matters to you, you can find AT LEAST 15 minutes two or three times during the day to act. (Swear off social media for an afternoon or evening and see how much time opens up.)
The actions you take and the way you go about accomplishing your goals has a significant impact on your overall success. The actions you choose can either make achieving your goals easier and more efficient, or your actions can make your work and your life harder. YOU CHOOSE.
Tips for Refining Your Practice
- Make a weekly task/goal list
What do you need to accomplish this week? Think about your work goals, home responsibilities, and any other “to-do’s” that need to get done. Instead of letting these tasks get lost in your head, take some time and WRITE THEM DOWN. - Schedule your goals
After creating your weekly task list, set aside 20-30 minutes at the beginning of each week to map out exactly when each of those tasks is going to be accomplished.
Plan for success. SCHEDULE time to work on your goals. - Create a successful work environment
The physical environment that you work in matters. Certain factors such as noise exposure and lighting impact on your productivity.Check out my post Activation and Environment for tips on creating a work environment that works for you! - Be Accountable
Everyone needs support. Even the most motivated individuals will inevitably have a moment where they find themselves in need of some assistance, encouragement or advice. Establish routines that reinforce accountability.Whether it’s a weekly phone call or a daily text message, accountability is essential. WHO are the people you will go to when you need some help? WHEN are you going to touch base with your accountability partner? WHEN will you sit down and review with yourself?
Are you tired of hoping to make greater progress towards your goals and finally ready to see results? Are there mindset traps you need to work through or changes in your practice that would make your efforts more efficient? As a Sherpa and life coach, I’d love to support you in creating a customized PROCESS that WORKS so you see the results you want!
Click HERE to schedule a call to discuss your goals and how coaching might help you transform your process and build success!
References:
https://www.amyporterfield.com/2014/02/mindset-pitfalls/
https://moz.com/ugc/changing-mindset-critical-thoughts-on-achieving-progress
