How to make the difference … that makes the difference!

You want to achieve your goal. You desperately want to achieve your goal. You’re committed to it, and you’re prepared to do whatever it takes. But even so, things aren’t working out for you. Or at least, not quickly enough. Here’s seven ways to get things moving, or, if they’re already moving, speed up their progress.

1 – Get up half an hour earlier

That’s right, just get up half an hour earlier. Make it a new routine. You know (or you should know by now) that it’s just plain foolish to expect to get something for nothing. So be honest with yourself – you want something (i.e. you have a goal), so you must be prepared to give something in return. This is one of the rules set down by Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich”. And it applies today just as strongly as it did back when he wrote it all those years ago. Achieving your goal is a two-way street; you must give in order to receive. And one simple way to make sure you’re putting in the effort is to get up a half hour earlier, and get busy. Now ‘getting busy’ might mean spending time organising your day’s work … or visualising your success … or actually starting right in – that’s up to you. But getting up a little earlier just gives you a head start. As well as giving you that bit more time to get started on the day’s business (or at least to get it organised), it demonstrates your commitment to your project.

2 – Define your project clearly

And what exactly is your project? I mean, could you write it down in a single sentence? Or could you answer the question, “what is your project?”, with a simple, brief, well thought out answer? If you’re hesitant, you may need to rethink your position. Define your project clearly. It’s essential to know exactly what it is you want to achieve, otherwise how can you realistically hope to achieve it? Having a vague and ill-defined goal is like taking off in a plane and hoping to get to ‘somewhere nice’. I don’t need to tell you that’s not the ideal flight plan! In fact, it’s more likely to get you into all kinds of trouble, and maybe even put your life at risk. You need to know precisely where you’re going. If you were an airline pilot and you didn’t have a clearly defined flight plan, Air Traffic Control wouldn’t let you get off the ground. And there’s good reason for that!

3 – Write it down

Okay, now you’ve clearly defined your project. Maybe it was a bit nebulous before, but now it’s crystal clear (or should be, anyway). If not, work on it a bit longer. Take the time to get it right; be specific. Aim to distil it to its simplest form, and word it so that it would be easily understandable to anyone.

Now that you’ve got it simplified, write it down! There’s a magic in writing something down; it gets it from your brain onto the paper (or onto the screen), and shows it to you in physical form, even though the physical form, at this stage, might only be physical words. Writing it down is the starting point for achieving your goal. Many a monumental project started out as a sketch on a table napkin or the back of an envelope!

4 – Set yourself a definite time slot for work … and stick to it!

How long are you willing to work on your project today? I don’t know … do you? I’m certainly not going to tell you how long you need to spend; that’s your business. But decide how long, and stick to it!

No use being vague about it, that won’t get the job done! Set yourself a definite schedule. If you’re willing to put in a couple of hours work, make sure that’s what you do. You owe it to yourself to stick to your own schedules and guidelines. If you cheat on them, you’re only cheating yourself, nobody else. Use whatever method works for you, but one option is an onscreen timer. A very useful resource (and it’s free) is TimeLeft. It really is a versatile piece of software, and includes a clock, a timer, a countdown timer, a stopwatch, and a reminder facility. In fact, you can have several of each, if you want them and have a use for them! Excellent software, and very useful, even if you just use the clock and, at times, the countdown timer. Another handy little piece of software is e.ggtimer. It’s at the other end of the software scale – very simple and dedicated to one simple thing, in this case, a simple online countdown timer. You set it by simply typing in, for example, “15 minutes”, and then click ‘Go’. You can have it open in one tab while you work in another, and it will alert you when the time’s up. Simple, and very effective. So if you’re aiming to put in a couple of hours, why not split it into easier, more do-able sections … let’s say 20 minutes each? Or maybe 45 minutes? Set the timer and off you go. When the time’s up, note down that you’ve done so many minutes and go for a coffee, or take a walk. After your break, set the timer again …

5 – Create a rewards system

We all respond far better to something positive rather than something negative (i.e. encouragement rather than punishment), so make use of that fact; give yourself a little bit of encouragement each and every time you complete a task. A very simple way that I’ve read about more than once is to have some paperclips (for example) on your desk , over on one side. Each time you do what you set out to do, just move one paperclip over to the other side. The beauty of this method lies in its simplicity. You’re not bribing yourself, or treating yourself to a cream cake or a chocolate bar every time you complete a project … you’re not putting yourself forward for a Nobel prize … you’re just moving a paperclip. It sounds silly, but it works. Those paperclips (or whatever you’re using) represent something very real to you … and the simple act of transferring one from one side of your desk to the other represents a job completed. And that’s reward enough – just knowing that you’ve done it, and seeing evidence of that fact. This method is beautifully explained by James Clear on this page about Trent Dyrsmid, who used it as a young man to become very successful and wealthy in just a few years.

6 – Split your project into chunks! 

We all know how daunting it can be to set yourself a tough task. Your goal, whatever it might be, might seem almost unattainable to you in the cold light of day. But there’s a simple way around this; just break it down into its constituent parts, and tackle them one by one, in isolation. I mean, everything, in the end, only gets done bit by bit, so all I’m saying is recognise the fact! Can you imagine how horrifyingly difficult the task would have appeared if you had been the project manager on the construction of the Panama Canal? Or the Hoover Dam? Or designing and building the first Boeing 747? (Incidentally, if you want to read about the creation of that astonishing modern icon of design, check out this fascinating page.) Or the Space Shuttle? These things were only completed because the people in charge broke the huge project into smaller chunks. And once a plan had been put together, with each smaller chunk broken down further into its constituent parts, work could begin. The same thing applies to you, and your project. Break it down into chunks. Break those chunks down further, into smaller ones. Plan how to work your way through all the chunks, bit by bit. Then get started! Don’t concern yourself with how big the project is, or what difficulties you might face further down the line – keep your focus firmly fixed on working through that particular chunk that you’re on right now.

7 – Visualise it being completed

Although you need to focus on the job in hand (see point No. 6, Chunking), you also need to take a bird’s eye view of the entire thing. This isn’t a contradiction; I’m not saying you need to focus on the entire project all day, every day. No, you should focus on the particular section of the work that concerns you right now. But at the end of the day, spend a few minutes reviewing the entire project. See it in its entirety, and view it as having been completed. Enjoy the feelings that arise when you imagine your goal having been achieved. Revel in that warm feeling of achievement! Feel pride in having done a good job! Feel the relief that will be yours when you can finally say “I did it!”. Creating these emotions will put you in harmony with the completion of your goal, and will speed you on your way towards it. This is an important point; don’t wait till the job’s completed to feel the emotions of satisfaction, and achievement, and pride … experience them now, and you’ll be turbocharging your progress!