{"id":54784,"date":"2018-01-23T19:21:24","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=54784"},"modified":"2018-01-28T20:19:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T04:19:40","slug":"how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Achieve Your Most Important Goal in 2018 Using 2 Simple Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Out of all the goals you have set for this year I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve got one specific goal that\u2019s been on the forefront of your mind.<\/p>\n<p>A goal that you know has the greatest potential to change your life &#8211; Your most important goal for 2018.<\/p>\n<p>But while you are motivated and generally hard working, most likely you are struggling with something most people are struggling with:<\/p>\n<p>Consistency.<\/p>\n<p>One week you\u2019re on fire, working on whatever you need to work on everyday with great focus and energy.<\/p>\n<p>Another week you kind of lose momentum, don\u2019t get much done and procrastinate.<\/p>\n<p>Making matters worse after a week of laziness it takes you another week to get back into productive mode.<\/p>\n<p>Effectively losing 2 weeks that you could be getting closer towards achieving your goal.<\/p>\n<p>Frustrating isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>Well, you\u2019re in luck &#8211; in this article I\u2019ll show you how to achieve your most important goal in 2018 using only 2 simple habits.<\/p>\n<p>They are effective, easy to implement, and immediately applicable right after reading this article.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s get right to it.<\/p>\n<h2>Habit #1: Pick the Low Hanging Fruit Everyday<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong> How do you stay consistent and work towards you goal almost 365 days of the year despite motivational slumps?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Answer:<\/strong> Find a task that\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can be completed in 5-10 minutes, yet effectively brings you closer towards achieving your goal<\/li>\n<li>Feels easy, low-effort and can be completed almost anytime, anywhere<\/li>\n<li>Exposes you to new learning material that will sharpen your approach towards achieving your goal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to Pick the Low Hanging Fruit:<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s my favorite way to pick the low hanging fruit:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Read a book (related to your goal) on your phone every time you go the toilet <\/em><\/p>\n<p>I know it might sound a bit weird.<\/p>\n<p>But let\u2019s be honest: You already go to the toilet and you are already addicted (\u2018scuse me) to your phone.<\/p>\n<p>So what better way to kill two birds with one stone?<\/p>\n<p>The result: You\u2019ll be getting about 10 minutes of extra reading in everyday.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s be pragmatic\u2026<\/p>\n<p>If you read 10 minutes per day you will read 3650 minutes extra in the year.<\/p>\n<p>Divide that by 60 and you get about 61 hours of reading in this year.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming it takes 6 hours to read a book (most self-help books take you less), then <u>you\u2019ll be able to read 10 books this year.<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say your goal is to improve your fitness.<\/p>\n<p>Reading 10 fitness books will teach you invaluable stuff about how to reach that goal.<\/p>\n<p>Reading about fitness everyday will also make sure that fitness is on your mind 24\/7. As a result you\u2019ll learn faster and build unstoppable momentum.<\/p>\n<p>Now let me be clear:<\/p>\n<p>Of course your fitness (or any other goal for that matter) won\u2019t improve JUST by reading.<\/p>\n<p>Picking the low hanging fruit is just the base habit.<\/p>\n<p>You need to stack Habit #2 on top to take action and achieve your most important goal in 2018.<\/p>\n<h2>Habit #2: Plan Tomorrow the Night Before<\/h2>\n<p>To achieve your goal you actually have to take action in the real world.<\/p>\n<p>Not just once or twice\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 but consistently almost everyday.<\/p>\n<p>There is tons of self-help advice out there trying to help you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/3-ways-to-focus-on-taking-action\/\">take action.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stuff like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/5-morning-rituals-to-help-you-become-more-productive\/\">morning rituals<\/a>, to-do lists, waking up 3 hours early to work and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n<p>Now, if any of those work for you \u2013 use them! You always want to keep what\u2019s working.<\/p>\n<p>Just apply Habit #1 in addition to taking action and you are good to go.<\/p>\n<p>What I\u2019ve found though is that a lot of self-help advice on planning in your practice\/action time is too rigid.<\/p>\n<p>Life gets in the way quickly. Grandma might make a spontaneous visit for a cup of coffee and interrupt your perfect practice plan. Your strategy has to take stuff like that into account.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side completely winging it without any kind of plan is not the answer either.<\/p>\n<p>So to take action everyday towards your goal you need the right balance of flexibility and structure.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where Habit #2 comes in.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Plan Tomorrow the Night Before<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Define the action\/practice that will bring you most effectively towards achieving your goal<\/li>\n<li>Every night before going to sleep note down all the tasks you have to complete tomorrow. That includes your defined action, but also other stuff like grocery shopping, work, or friends visiting.<\/li>\n<li>Now give each task a rough start and end time<\/li>\n<li>Arrange and rearrange the schedule for tomorrow until it feels doable and convenient.<\/li>\n<li>The next day refer to your plan and if necessary adapt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Every night schedule in an activity for tomorrow that helps you achieve your most important goal for 2018.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s fitness it might be working out.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s blogging it might be writing.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s getting As at Uni it might be studying.<\/p>\n<p>The key is to be realistic and flexible. If you have other priorities for tomorrow accept it and just squeeze in 15 minutes of taking action towards your goal.<\/p>\n<p>If the day is relatively free maybe get in 2 hours.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve tried many productivity tactics and honestly planning the day ahead has been the most effective one for me personally. It provides just the right balance of flexibility and structure to make sure you take action every day.<\/p>\n<h2>Let&#8217;s recap the whole process<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Pick your most important goal for 2018<\/li>\n<li>Pick a book on a related topic and read it whenever you go to the loo<\/li>\n<li>Plan tomorrow the night before and schedule in an action that will help you achieve your goal over time<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Done.<\/p>\n<p>If you apply this simple framework Habit #1 will build momentum and accelerate your learning.<\/p>\n<p>Habit #2 will make sure you work towards your goal everyday.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks of procrastination will be a thing of the past. And when life gets in the way you won\u2019t feel overwhelmed.<\/p>\n<p>Instead you\u2019ll have a system to deal with it and make consistent progress week by week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Felix enjoys making complex self-development concepts simple and applicable. Check out his article <a href=\"http:\/\/felixdigests.com\/accelerate-learning\/\">&#8220;12 Ways to Accelerate Your Learning Now&#8221;<\/a> and\u00a0achieve your goals even faster.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Out of all the goals you have set for this year I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve got one specific goal that\u2019s been on the forefront of your mind. A goal that you know has the greatest potential to change your life &#8211; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12638,"featured_media":54786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[34,6,31,39],"tags":[6388,1756,4899,63,91,4631,66,4629],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How To Achieve Your Most Important Goal in 2018 Using 2 Simple Habits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Out of all the goals you have set for this year I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve got one specific goal that\u2019s been on the forefront of your mind. 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This article shows you how to achieve your most important goal for 2018 using 2 simple habits that you can apply today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Felixdigests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-24T03:21:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-29T04:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Achievement.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Felixdigests\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Felixdigests\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Achievement.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Achievement.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/\",\"name\":\"How To Achieve Your Most Important Goal in 2018 Using 2 Simple Habits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve-your-most-important-goal-in-2018-using-2-simple-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-24T03:21:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-29T04:19:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/13d603112ca3395254fbcf8e689fcf57\"},\"description\":\"Out of all the goals you have set for this year I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve got one specific goal that\u2019s been on the forefront of your mind. 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