How do you stay focused on a goal without an immediate reward?
Marina K
6 replies
It is incredibly hard to stay on track while pursuing long-term goals which do not give visible results right away.
There are some options to do it:
šāāļø Just make a system and let discipline help you, for example do your task every day from that time to that time; use habits instead of doing stuff only if you are motivated
š„³ Daily do 3 work things and 1 fun thing to reward yourself (as Erin McGoff suggests)
š Do what you like and don't do what you don't -- interesting advice I heard bloggers use, but in my opinion not always applicable, especially if you cannot outsource the tasks you don't like to do
š Put paper clips or marbles from full jar to an empty one after each task (from Atomic habits book, old school version of task tracker, which I find more enjoyable for brain)
š¼ļø Create a mood board to visualize your goals and dreams to help you go in the right direction, put it in a visible spot (screensaver works too)
But there are still moments of struggle.
ā How do you cope with the lack of motivation and desire to do something while building a product or posting content?
Replies
Susan R. Pruitt@susan_r_pruitt
I remind myself of the long-term benefits and why the goal matters. Keeping the bigger picture in mind helps me push through even without instant rewards.
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Hi Marina!
I think that's a great question, and I've thought about it a lot too.
The best strategy might be to evaluate each long-term goal on a case-by-case basis, as strategies can vary. Sometimes, a long-term goal might not be achieved simply because it's not that important, which can lead to procrastination.
Based on my experience, two approaches work for me:
01 Break it Down: For long-term, strategic goals, I break them into smaller, tactical stages which I can quickly complete. Seeing progress on these tactical tasks keeps me motivated, even if I'm only loosely aiming for the bigger strategic direction.
02 External Motivation: Sometimes, external pressure is necessary when internal motivation isn't enough. I try to create conditions where it's easier and cheaper to complete a task than to avoid it. Delegating unpleasant tasks can also be effective, as it creates external motivation for someone else to complete the process :)
And I'd love to hear if anyone else has strategies that work for them!
@georgestrunin Hi George! Thank you for such a detailed answer. I like your strategies. Usually use the first one solely for work-related tasks, but now I see it's a great idea to apply them in any endeavours.
About the second -- looks like a good idea too, how do you usually create such conditions?
BodySherpa
1) Chop the long term goal down into a series of intermediate and shorter term goals.
2) Reframe. The journey is the goal!
1. You gotta look at the long run
2. You gotta look at the long run
3. You gotta look at the long run
4. Now you're just gonna do it for the best