Firstly, I know the headline seems counterproductive but there’s great truth to fact that many of us have been fighting for success with the wrong attitude and game plan. There’s tons of literature online regarding visualizing your objectives and end goals and always keeping a positive attitude about whatever it is we hope to achieve. Negativity destroys dreams and every negative thought we entertain from within ourselves and the people around us, subtracts something from our progress. We’ve got to stay focused and keep the dream in sight, whether it’s acquiring that million dollar mansion, launching the next Facebook or building a high earning and insanely popular blog. While positive thinking and maintaining an optimistic attitude to whatever we’re doing has great merit, there’s a vital set of instructions missing from the practical application of goal setting and achievement.
Though many through being positive and focused have indeed achieved massive goals, there is an even greater number of us who are still struggling and will continue to struggle until we change our game plan. Blogger burnout, depression, hopelessness and frustration can be a thing of the past if we change our attitude towards the small steps we must take on our journey to success. Indeed, the cliche, “it’s not winning that counts, it’s the journey” will have more meaning to you after reading and executing this.
Why & How to Develop a Winning Process
Imagine an army of 100,000 ants; do they not always seem to work in perfect unison? They do not speak, they don’t have a vast array of technologies at their disposal to help achieve their tasks and yet they always get the job done regardless of how large or technical it may be. They achieve this through execution of processes that the entire colony knows and acts on day-in, day-out. An individual ant doesn’t have to think about the success of the entire colony, he’s just focused on completing the small tasks assigned to him coming from within his instincts and his DNA. He doesn’t dream, he doesn’t question “why” and yet they achieve what they must. That’s the power of consistently executed processes.
How does this apply to your blogging success? The fact is that we’re creatures of habit and if we can form the right daily habits that are necessary for achieving positive outcomes we’ll be well on our way to success. The problem here is that we’re trying to “save the world everyday” and when we fail to do so we burn out, we’re disappointed and are tempted to give up because failing can be such a horribly emotional event. Fortunately, there’s a better way and what we have to do is change our approach and attitude towards our goals.
Here’s how to achieve this:
Focus on small daily tasks – Forget about the goal of earning $100,000 from your blog by the end of the year. Certainly, within your heart you know that’s what you want to accomplish but it’s not what you need to be thinking about all the time. It’s too much to handle and it becomes tiring everyday imagining that huge mountain of a task you need to scale; it’s the fastest way to get fed up.
Instead, as you start this new journey, set yourself a few minimal tasks that need to be accomplished daily. Whether it’s writing 200 words per day, connecting with 2 new bloggers daily or adding a page to that eBook you’re working on. What you’re doing here is laying the foundation to form new habits but in the beginning it’s important that you do not overwhelm yourself – doing more is not necessarily better at this point. Initially, make your minimum set of tasks simple and easily attainable. This will guarantee your daily success to fuel doing more in the future. Remove yourself from the emotions associated with achieving that big goal and just establish a routine of meaningful work.
Reward yourself for accomplishing each day’s tasks – At the end of each day ensure that you schedule some time to do something special or fun for rewarding your minimal achievement. If you didn’t achieve your minimum, skip the reward.
Increase your minimum daily tasks – After a few weeks of achieving your minimum daily tasks you’ll be well on your way to forming new success habits. Start gradually increasing the quantity or intensity of the small tasks you’ve assigned yourself. Slowly adding more to your daily accomplishments.
What’s happening here is that you’re taking the easy route to forming new habits that will inevitably support your success rather than trying, from day one, to comprehend entirely how you’re going to earn $100,000 from tiny new blog – which is almost beyond comprehension. Give your mind and soul a break and think on the smaller daily tasks and wins. After a few weeks to months you’ll develop habits for success which you can execute with minimal effort as it will be a natural part of your daily life. While others are struggling to understand the bigger picture, you’re conquering each task, one step at a time that will get you there – minus the burnout.
Set the Goal & Forget It
I’m not saying that visualizing your objectives is not important, however, it does not belong in your head every minute of the day. It’s not magic and since we’re so emotional it gets frustrating setting our mind and hopes on something that’s not immediate before our eyes – again, that’s why so many of us burnout before reaching close to our dreams.
Set the goal, write it down once, establish the minor tasks you need to achieve daily to get there and focus each day on knocking off those tasks. You’ll do yourself a huge favor by easing the stress and pressure of the ultimate success; you’ll have more breathing room to actually enjoy the journey.
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Evaluate
At the end of 3 months or so, or however long it takes for your new habits to form, assess the work you’ve done, feel good about what you’ve accomplished so far, evaluate your market to identify what needs tweaking and repeat the habit building process. Evaluation will be vital since our environment changes so frequently and these can impact the work you’re doing.
Conclusion
Ultimately, after spending some time on this approach you’ll realize that things aren’t as serious as they’re cut up to be and you’ll have more freedom to relax, work and believe in what you’re doing because you’ll be continuously achieving something positive each day. That’s the best high you can ever get addicted to. Remember, start small, win each day and before you know it, the time and effort you’ve consistently invested will almost magically start paying off as you work to tangibly secure each day’s work.
Good luck!