There are many reasons why it is difficult to achieve high levels of success. One of the most challenging issues to face is the feeling of being overwhelmed by the size and complexity of your goals. As you set bigger and bigger goals, you WILL have the feeling that your goal is impossible to reach. If you don’t have that feeling, you may not have big enough goals…
Goals can overwhelm you quickly if you leave those feelings unchecked. Big projects, intimidating tasks, and a far-away end result can swarm in your mind and drag you further away from your goal, eventually causing you to give up or set smaller goals. It’s time to get control of those feelings and find ways to push through in order to reach the biggest of your goals! Here are 5 steps you can take any time your goals feel overwhelming or impossible to reach.
1) Mindfulness. Deep breathing, meditating, yoga, soft music, journaling, and so much more… Mindfulness means focusing on the present. You feel overwhelmed because you are focusing on the negative possibilities of the future. The more your focus drifts from the present, the more likely your outcomes will be negative later on. Find ways to bring yourself back to the moment and tend to what needs to get done today, instead of worrying about what may be tomorrow.
2) Plan your actions. It’s not enough to set goals. Set actions that you can take daily to lead you to your goal. The more you can turn these steps into habits, the easier it will be to reach your biggest goals. Massive effort on one day followed by no effort on another day is the least effective way to reach your best goals. Keeping things consistent will get you better results.
3) Motivate yourself. Have a vision board. Keep motivational quotes handy. Have a mentor that you can go to for a pep talk regularly. Don’t allow your motivation to come and go. Take control and do something every day to keep you motivated.
4) Get mentally tough. This is as simple as a change in language. When challenges come in the way of your goal (and they will) learn to use language that keeps you pushing forward. Reframe obstacles into opportunities for greater growth. Take failures as lessons to propel you past your goals. Embrace difficulties and look at yourself as a competitor, always ready to prove yourself and fight past the barriers to your success.
5) Focus on things you can control. You can’t control a deadline that suddenly moved. You can’t control a boss telling you the wrong information or not being clear with expectations. You can’t control a test that has information on it that you weren’t taught and didn’t know to study. What can you control? Your attitude, energy, and aggressiveness. Remain positive, stay upbeat, and give your full effort with every task. If you do that, you will never worry about the results because you will have prepared as best as you could have.
Refuse to let big goals overwhelm you. If you are reaching for the impossible, you should expect a wide variety of challenges to stand in your way. Prepare your mind to handle those challenges every day and continue pushing forward. The only thing that can stand in your way is your own mindset!