7 Simple Ways to Stay Focused on Long Term Goals

Do you ever get so stuck in your day to day responsibilities that even thinking about long term goals is too much? With everything we have going on, it can be hard to stay focused on long-term goals when we don’t see immediate or quick results.

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You add to this the fact that so much of our culture is, I want it now! We are used to having everything quickly. Microwave meals, fast food, even movies are made in short scene bites because our attention span is so short. Blog posts and internet articles “experts,” tell us to make them scannable, your readers won’t want to spend a lot of in-depth time. Any information we are looking for, we can find in an instant. We have instant access to whatever we want to know and no matter where we are, we are rarely without our smartphones.

It is easy to see why we can struggle to stay focused on long terms goals. So the question is how do we keep our focus, stay consistent, and overcome, the I want it now, mentality that is ingrained in our culture?

The solution involves seven simple steps:

1. Break Your Long Term Goal down into Small Measurable Goals

When you have a large goal that you are working on, breaking it down into small bite-size pieces will help you stay consistent. For example, your goal is to run a successful home business that provides you with a sufficient income to allow you to work exclusively from home. To succeed at this goal, you need to break it down into bite-size pieces.

Have you heard the joke: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. This is the philosophy behind achieving your biggest goals.

With your long term goal to own a home-based business, break that down into a smaller goal. First, decide on what type of home business. Your next goal is to research that small home business. After your research, you decide you want to start your own profitable blog. From there you make a goal to sign up with a blog hosting company. You get the idea, when you take your main or larger goal and break it down into small pieces, you have something you can work on every day.

By breaking your larger goal down into small bite-size pieces, you are able to give yourself little wins, those little wins will give you the motivation you need to keep going and stay focused on long-term goals.

2. Focus on the Process Not Results

By focusing on the process instead of the results we see immediate progress. Let’s say your goal is to get in shape. You go to the gym every day for two weeks. In the beginning, you have a hard time doing any pull-ups and your arms hurt. However, at the end of two weeks, your arms no longer hurt and you can do one pull up. You are motivated to continue working on your goal because you see the process working. Focusing on the process of consistently going to the gym three times a week and getting a little stronger each time, motivates you to continue pursuing your goal.

It is the same with any goal you set. You want a more organized home, at the end of the week you have cleared out one closet, you are on your way to conquering that larger goal. You start your blog, instead of getting discouraged because you don’t have 10,000 page views after your first month, focus on the process of writing great content. Focusing on the process allows you to see progress and be motivated to continue.

3. Focus on Little Wins

As I said above, when you break your goal down into bite-size pieces you are able to give yourself little wins. Focus on those little wins, rather than the larger goal. Little wins will snowball into success in reaching your long term goal.

Let’s say your larger goal is to get in shape. You go to the gym and hang on the pull-up bar, win. At the end of the week, you are able to pull yourself halfway up and your arms no longer hurt, this is another win.

You will stay motivated by focusing on little wins.

4. Build on Your Goal as You Achieve Each Level

I like to start all new goals on Sunday. At the end of the week, I can look back and reflect on how I did with that goal. Depending on how I did, I can then either build on it or adjust it down.

Let’s go back to our gym example, this Sunday you set the goal to go to the gym three times this week. Look at how you did at the end of the week. You made it to the gym all three times, now you can build on your goal. Your new goal is to do one pull up without assistance. On the other hand, you might find that going to the gym three times a week was too much for your schedule. That’s okay, you just adjust your goal to going to the gym two times during the week.

By reevaluating your goal at the end of the week you can easily determine what will best help you achieve your ultimate goal. As you build on your smaller goals, you get closer to achieving your larger goal and maintain the motivation and momentum to keep going.

5. Make Sure Your Expectations Are Realistic

There is another benefit to building on and reevaluating your goals at the end of each week. Regular evaluation of your goals helps you determine whether you have set realistic expectations.

One of the fastest ways to get discouraged in pursuit of your goals is if they are unrealistic and unattainable. I set a goal to lose 25 pounds by the end of the month. After two weeks of working on my goal, I find I have only lost 5 lbs. Chances are better than not that I am going to be discouraged. 25 pounds is a lot of weight to lose in one month and my expectations were not reasonable.

To avoid discouragement and feelings of defeat, you need to be realistic in your expectations. This is why implementing number #4 above is so important to keep on track and focused on long-term goals.

6. Be Consistent

Consistency is key to achieving any goal. I cannot stress this enough, if you are not consistently working on your goal you will be doomed to fail. Try to do something every day towards meeting your goal. At a minimum, set a realistic schedule where you can have time set aside to work on your goal on a regular basis. You can do something every day, or three times a week, or even once a week. The key is to do something consistently and regularly.

Let’s go back to the weight loss goal, I can’t eat a salad for lunch and then a large bowl of ice cream in the evening and expect to lose weight. By having the ice cream at night, I am not being consistent in working on my goal. Goals must be worked on consistently and regularly for us to see results.

Having a great planner like the Living Well Planner, pictured above, has really helped me stay consistent. By having monthly planning pages specifically for working on monthly goals you will keep focused on long-term goals. Click on the photo or here to learn more.

7. Seek Accountability

This one is huge for me. I DO NOT like to admit defeat. Tell others about your goals and what you are working on, then ask them to hold you accountable. When someone is regularly asking you about your progress, you will more likely do something regularly to achieve those goals. Telling others about your goal and asking them to keep you accountable is a great motivator.

Accountability has the added benefit of helping you maintain focus on your goal. When you have others asking you how you are doing, you are going to keep your focus. You will also be forced to eliminate any excuses for not working on your goal.

When you break your goals down into small measurable goals, learn to focus on the process, not results, and focus on those little wins you will stay motivated to maintain your focus. When you build on your goal as you achieve each level, double-check your expectations, work consistently, and seek out accountability, you will be sure to make it to the finish line.