5 useful tricks that will help you not to abandon everything on the way to your goal

1. Don't take on too much

Some people like to think big and are guided by the motto "if to be, then to be the best." Losing 5 pounds or writing a story is too small. Better to win a fitness bikini competition right away or get the Booker Prize. To surely have something to be proud of and brag about.

But this approach - to set high, almost unattainable goals - is not suitable for anyone. Maybe only super-talented and super-productive people who clearly don't need to read this article. Well, fictional characters who win the ring in two hours of screen time, go to Harvard or become world famous. And all this accompanied by life-affirming music.

A difficult or unattainable goal can be demotivating and overwhelming.

Why do something, why try for a month, a year or two, if the result remains almost as far away as at the very beginning of the path? In order not to have such thoughts, it is important to take into account a number of points when setting tasks:

1. Start with small goals. That is, from those that you can definitely achieve in the foreseeable future. Not "learn English so that I am confused with a native speaker", but "raise my knowledge of the language to one level." Not "enter the Forbes list", but "create a company that will make a profit."

2. Break long-term goals into stages."Build muscle" sounds very vague and difficult. It is much more convenient if you have a multi-stage plan: “Check with the doctor if I can do strength training. Explore information about exercise and nutrition. Find a fitness club and trainer, draw up a training program. Pick up recipes for tasty and healthy food, start going to the gym three times a week. " This is one of the time management: "there are elephants in pieces."

3. Adequately evaluate your resources. Let's say you want to write a book. Consider what you need for this: time, knowledge, helpers, a good laptop, and so on. Make a complete list. If you do not have something from this list, think about how to solve the problem. For example, look for a nanny who will entertain your child twice a week while you write. Or contact an editor to help you refine the text.

2. Keep goals in front of your eyes

It would be great if everyone had a person who sat next to him and constantly said, “Come on! You can! You are doing great!" Or he just reminded me: “Look, here's a photo of an Australian beach. To go there and have a good time, you need to improve your English. Do not be lazy".

The good news is that we can provide ourselves with both support and reminders.

Hang a picture of your dreams above your desk. Write a motivating quote in your diary. Order yourself a T-shirt or mug with a funny phrase that is relevant to your job. In a word, surround yourself with kind and cheerful reminders and update them often. This will help to keep the goal in mind, but not to perceive it as a hateful routine.

3. Reward yourself

This is how we are arranged: we are not interested in doing something just like that. For every little bit difficult action, we want to receive a reward. And if no one gives it out for a long time, the mood deteriorates, I want to give up all these complicated things and go where we are guaranteed to get at least some pleasure. For example, on social media. Or the nearest pastry shop.

All of this is due to dopamine, which you've probably heard a lot about. In short, it is a neurotransmitter that gives us a sense of anticipation of pleasure and thus makes us strive for quick and simple joys: food, sex, YouTube videos.

The dopamine system can be tricked into rewarding yourself. For example, if you go to the store after a workout and buy yourself something cute, your brain will think that sports are not that hard, and will spur you on with a dose of dopamine before the next session. But here, of course, regularity is important. And the proportionality of action and reward.

If you eat chocolates after training, you can negate the entire effect of the sport.

Think about what can please you and at the same time will not harm your health and wallet. Here are some ways you can reward yourself after completing a difficult task:

Drink a glass of delicious coffee.
Read a book or listen to some new songs.
Buy some nice little thing - a nice notebook or stickers for a laptop.
Lie in a bubble bath.
Make a diary entry and praise yourself.
Put a bold tick in the diary (it is the pleasure of this process that lies at the heart of habit trackers).

4. Study yourself

Someone works great in the early morning, and someone nods at least until lunchtime. Some people need silence, like in a library, while others like to include music or sounds of nature in the background. There are those who love paper diaries and those who have kept a to-do list only on their phone for many years.

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for productivity. In order to find the right ingredients and make the right proportions, you have to properly study your characteristics and try to take them into account.

You can, for example, keep a mood diary: three times a day, write down in a notebook how you feel and how much energy you have. And after a couple of weeks, based on these records, determine the ideal time for work, study, sports or other activities. Experiment with different productivity techniques, see what works for you.

5. Wait for the first results

Few people give up a project in which there are only a couple of finishing touches left to do. Returning to the New Year's promises, most of us forget about them even before the end of January. That is, most often people stop at the very beginning of the path (while there is no experience, nothing is really clear, and business does not bring any joy). Without visible results and positive feedback, it is very difficult to believe that we will cope with the task and this goal is worth the time and effort invested in it.

But when you start to succeed, it will become easier to move on.

If it is very difficult for you and you want to give up everything, promise yourself that you will wait for the first result of your labors. And even then, if the first lost pounds, earned money or learned dance moves do not please at all, you with a clear conscience will be able to stop and choose another goal for yourself.