11 Comments

1. 

   Aniket

   May 1, 2015 at 7:32 am

   Wow!!! Great advice…
   Thanks Carla

   Reply
2. 

   Amelia Critchlow

   Mar 29, 2015 at 10:05 am

   This is great. The steps I’ve found to achieve my goals is definitely to know why I need to do what I need to do (art). By knowing that it was impacting my health negatively by not doing my passion. Believing that the greater risk was not doing it all (life is too short and I didn’t want to end up old and full of regret about what I didn’t do!).
   Amelia

   Reply
3. 

   Merlene Campbell

   Feb 19, 2015 at 10:27 am

   Very well expressed! I think maximizing your potential is about doing things you never knew you could do and reaching heights that you can only dream about. It’s about pushing yourself to become a better and stronger person.

   Reply
   • 

     Carla Schesser

     Feb 25, 2015 at 3:05 am

     Yes! Be the best YOU, you can be 🙂 Thanks Merlene for your comment.

     Reply
4. 

   Stephen Reed

   Feb 12, 2015 at 9:40 am

   Hey

   Thanks for posting this article. You bring up some good points. I love that Simon Sinek TED talk, and his book is awesome too.

   I’ve struggled for much of my life to actually make progress and see success, until relatively recently. In fact, I think the stats show that almost NO-ONE reaches ant of the goals they set for themselves in their lives. I think that is a crying shame that billions of dreams and aspirations are resigned to the virtual waste bin every day, people choosing more of the same, a life of mediocrity and low level depression, because the goal just seems too hard. Easier to give up and ‘make do with your lot’, than to battle through.

   Another great book is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, where he explains that the reason most people (all?) fail to make progress is because every micro-decision and action we make, whether taking us closer to the goal or further away, is as easy NOT to do, as it is to do. And on that day, or even that week, the visible results won’t look much different.

   For someone who’s goal it is to lose 50 pounds, eating a salad, or choosing a Big Mac with a Big Gulp 7-Up, and why not? extra fries on the side, is not going to have any meaningful impact on their waistline. Just as eating one cake does no a diabetic make. 🙂

   So, once that realisation is in place, it becomes easy to evaluate each choice you make, and consider if it takes you closer or further from the goals iin question. The problem here is that the instant gratification society we live in doens’t really like the idea that anything worth achieving takes time. But it does, but there is good news.

   As with the compounding effect of interest on your bank balance, regular, small, seemingly insignificant actions has a compounding effect over time. The idea that you need to take MASSIVE ACTION to achieve success is not realistic, especially when you are just starting out. I recommend small, easy to do actions every day, breaking things down into doable chunks as you recommend.

   But what if you struggle to do those small things? There is a mindset issue for many people, but I’ve put in place a simple yet effective system to get my ass into gear and actually get shit done. They are called Trigger Actions, and are nothing new, but sometimes we miss the obvious altogether.

   Here is an example. I recently wrote a book called LEAN IN (shameless plug). 20 something thousand words. The goal was to write it in a month, all edited and published on Amazon Kindle. Problem was, it seemed like a tight deadline. And I know that when I work at home, I get terribly distracted.

   So, I chose to write it ALL in a cafe, where I know I do actually put the work in.

   So, my trigger action, 4-6 times per week, is to only focus on getting the laptop into my bag, and leaving the house at 9 am. I know that if I do this, I will get in the car, go out, and as if by magic, I’ll come home 3 hours later with 2000 words added to the book.

   I forget about the endgame, as long as I get in the car each morning, the book will be written. I was talking to a guy who wears his gym shorts to bed before gym day, and has his shoes right by where he gets out of bed. He knows that wearing the shorts will ensure he gets out the door.

   So, to add to this great article, breaking goals into daily activities is awesome, and then set a trigger action that acts as a pre-action to the actual activity. This has made me far more productive in a short space of time.

   Oh, and make sure that the goals you set are for things you genuinely love to do. Trying to force yourself into habits for stuff you hate rarely works, and hell, we all owe it to ourselves to be happy.

   Thanks again, enjoyed the article.

   -S

   Reply
   • 

     Carla Schesser

     Feb 25, 2015 at 3:06 am

     Wow – awesome comment Stephen, thank you. Loved reading your thoughts. 🙂

     Reply
5. 

   Tejaswi

   Feb 11, 2015 at 3:28 pm

   Why…. Now and Divide… Thanks for such great advice…

   Reply
6. 

   Art

   Feb 9, 2015 at 5:12 pm

   Simon Sinek always has good ideas to present!

   Reply
   • 

     Carla Schesser

     Feb 10, 2015 at 8:27 am

     Yes he does! 🙂

     Reply
7. 

   Aly Shah

   Feb 8, 2015 at 8:31 am

   Practicality is quite difficult to find now a days online but this post you have written is just too good!! Truly amazing no filler crap but practical advice on a subject which many people try to ignore and most people just day dream instead of working on their dreams today. Would like to add a fourth step which is to know when to say NO. We get so many request that are some time detrimental to our own success, but most people are sacred to say NO because they think it will decrease their good will with the person who requested something from them.

   Reply
   • 

     Carla Schesser

     Feb 10, 2015 at 8:40 am

     Thank you for the awesome props Aly, means a lot! So cool to know people value what others are passionate about. 🙂 I agree! Let’s add that forth step to the list. Reminds me of what Steve Jobs said…”It’s only by saying “no” that you can concentrate on the things that are really important”.

     Reply