Staying Determined to Reach Our Goals
As we venture further into January and the New Year, we want to keep our focus on goal setting and achieving for our students and families. The past couple of weeks, we’ve discussed how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals, and how to make sure you are able to accomplish every goal we set. This week, we are going to be discussing some tactics to help our students stay determined and committed to staying on task on completing goals and objectives. Let’s get right into it!
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Finish What You Start
Whenever you begin a new task, try your best to make sure you are able to finish it before moving on to something else. Unless the task calls for you to do work over multiple hours or days, or otherwise requires you to work on it periodically, make sure your responsibilities are finished within an appropriate time period from when you started. This is especially true for quicker or simpler objectives, such as chores, practicing skills, or most homework assignments.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t pause or take a break. However, be cautious, because taking too many breaks or pausing for too long can delay your progress. Furthermore, be careful not to start working on something else during your break, as that may distract you from your original task. Keep your attention to one task at a time, and if you need to take a break, try to keep it to 5 minutes, one or two times.
It is important to finish our responsibilities in a timely manner, that way you get it done and no longer have to worry about it. “The sooner you do it, the sooner it’s done,” is a great saying to remember this concept. It may sound a little silly to say at first, but they are very true! If you start something right away, you will surely complete it earlier than you would have if you had waited. This way, you will also save more time throughout your day for other tasks and activities on your to-do list.
Don’t Get Distracted
Another great strategy to completing tasks and reaching your goals is limiting or even completely removing the distractions around you. When doing work at home, try to find a quiet room or area. Once you locate an area with minimal distractions, make that your base of operations for any and all work at home! This will condition you to view that area as a place to get hard work done productively, without any distractions.
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Removing distractions is super important to finishing goals, because if we allow ourselves to get sidetracked, it will take our focus away from completing the task at hand. Consequently, getting distracted will add to the amount of time it takes to finish our work.
One key takeaway here is to remember that a 1 minute task should take 1 minute, or less. If it takes more than that, that means one of two things: we weren’t working efficiently enough, or we got distracted. Conversely, if it takes you less than 1 minute, that means you stayed focused, and determined yourself to finish even faster. However, be careful that you don’t rush your work and take shortcuts just to finish faster.
This philosophy is true no matter how long the task takes you. A 10 minute task should take 10 minutes, an hour-long responsibility should take 1 hour, and even a 1 second job should take 1 second. Focus your eyes, mind, and body, and don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked!
Believe in Yourself!
The last tip that we want our students and families to keep in mind is to always believe in yourself! Like we said last week, goals we set are goals we get, which means we have to be confident in our ability to do whatever it is we set out to do.
When you tell yourself you can do something, you put yourself in an optimistic mindset. That enables you to do whatever is necessary to succeed and reach the goal you set out to accomplish. However, the opposite is also true. If we tell ourselves we can’t do something, then our mindset disables us from being able to complete our objectives.
Not to worry, though, because the power of believing in yourself is always greater than that of self-doubt. Always tell yourself that you are able. Repeat it over and over, until you truly believe in yourself, and you will see the difference! When you set out to achieve a goal, keep reminding yourself that you are strong and capable, and that there is nothing that can stop you from succeeding. Oftentimes, the “doubts” we come up with are just made-up obstacles that our minds create. Don’t let your brain fool you; you are able to accomplish anything you put your mind to, through hard work and dedication!
In Classes…
In our classes this week, we will be continuing our character talks on goal-setting, and how determination and focus play a role in making sure we are able to complete our objectives. We will be going over these three tips with our kids, and making sure they get to practice each one. Whether we’re doing warm-up drills, partner activities, or forms/sparring practice, we will make sure to keep our students on track by reminding them to stay focused and not get distracted. We will also be going over the importance of completing tasks on time, and why a 1 minute task should not take more than that. Our goal is for our kids to be able to accomplish their objectives and tasks in a timely manner, while remembering to stay focused and to believe in themselves!
In Conclusion
In summary, it is important to finish the goals we set out to accomplish, because a goal we set is a goal we get. Always remember to finish what you start, don’t let yourself get distracted, and always believe in yourself! Following these three steps is a surefire way to make sure you succeed at your goals. Practice these tips at home, at school, and wherever else you go!
What other tips are important to making sure your goals get completed?
How do YOU stay focused and determined?