Do you ever find that you set your expectations on yourself too high? The humans I know always seem to be so busy, always trying to get so much done in the shortest possible time. But that just makes them feel overwhelmed by their to-do list and then they feel like failures when they don’t achieve everything they’ve set out to do. Sound familiar?

Well, there’s a very simple way to switch that around so you can always feel as if you’re smashing your goals and really succeeding in everything you do.

Instead of writing the world’s longest to-do list, which you know you’ll never be able to complete all in one day – set yourself the smallest possible goal for the things you want to get done.

For example, my human, Annie, is trying to write a novel. I’m sure, if she set herself the target of writing 2000 words per day, her plan for finishing her first draft would look very impressive. But, the first time she failed to meet that goal, she would feel discouraged and less likely to make progress the next time.

Instead, if she sets her goal as adding just 10 words to her manuscript, she’s much more likely to sit down at her desk and get started. And, once she’s on her way, she’s very likely to do a lot more than 10 words – and that will make her feel really accomplished!

The one tricky part to this strategy is that your goal has to be a sincere one – you have to truly believe that it would be absolutely fine only to complete that smallest task or step – otherwise it doesn’t work. And, if it turns out that the tiny step is the only thing you manage to achieve, you have to be satisfied with that, rather than berating yourself for not doing more.

Trust me – if you can get your brain to work with you on this, it’s a really great way to get things done and feel really proud of yourself – as well as increasing your motivation for doing more the next day!

Why don’t you give it a try and see what happens?

Don’t forget to let me know how you get on, or if there’s anything in your life you’d like my thoughts on!

 

You can email me at wisebearstanley@gmail.com

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