When you’re feeling unmotivated about your goals or any other endeavor, it can be difficult to keep the bigger picture in mind and remember what you’re working so hard for. When the initial excitement for your goal or project begins to wear off and you find yourself losing focus and determination, it can be helpful to engage in a comprehensive review – not just of your current goals, but all aspects of your life.
What’s the Big Picture?
This process may seem like a lot of work at first, but it can serve as a powerful breath of fresh air that clears away stagnation and ushers in renewed clarity and motivation.
Start by using a blank sheet of paper to represent each area of your life, like financial, career, relationships, home, health and fitness, spiritual and so on. Write a general overview of your status in each area. Are you satisfied with the things you’ve accomplished in these areas of your life? Would you like to make further changes?
Then, based on that information, come up with some clear goals that you can set for each area of your life. They don’t have to be massive goals, just objectives you’d like to begin working toward gradually.
Once you’ve got some goals set, come up with a few simple action steps you can take in each area on a regular basis. These action steps might include things like reducing your consumption of junk food, exercising for 30 minutes daily, spending more quality time with your family, enrolling in night classes to get your degree, or starting a home business on the side to boost your income.
When you’ve completed this process for each part of your life, write all of those action steps on one sheet of paper, separated into sections. By the time you’re finished you should have a clear idea of exactly what you want to accomplish in each area of your life.
But you’re not done yet!
Now, take a look at the goals and action steps you’ve written down, and consider any possible obstacles you might face that would threaten your motivation. What types of problems usually come up that prevent you from doing the things you want to do? And how can you set up strategies to overcome them in the future?
For example, one obstacle you might face is procrastination brought on by a shortage of time. Rather than spending a few minutes at a time working on your goals, you tend to put it off until you have more time, which never happens. One possible strategy you could put in place is a written reminder that you must use the time you do have wisely, because small actions taken consistently will still help you reach your goals!
Once you have these strategies written down, be sure to keep them nearby and re-read them as often as necessary. If you do find that you’re losing steam again at a later time, simply start this entire process over again and allow it to usher in a welcome dose of clarity, focus and motivation.
