{"id":9310,"date":"2012-02-27T22:58:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T06:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=9310"},"modified":"2013-09-17T13:09:06","modified_gmt":"2013-09-17T21:09:06","slug":"7-powerful-ways-to-set-yourself-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-powerful-ways-to-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Powerful Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Whatever goals you\u2019re working towards in life, whatever dreams you have, you\u2019ll want to give yourself the best possible chance of success.
\nYou might be trying to lose weight, start your own business, write a book, redecorate the house … these tips apply to almost any sizeable project.<\/p>\n

#1: Get Help and Support<\/h2>\n

Having a bit of help from family, friends or colleagues \u2013 or simply some friendly support \u2013 can make a world of difference. Sometimes, this means direct assistance: your best friend might come over at the weekend to help you redecorate.<\/p>\n

Often, though, the help and support from the people around you comes a little more indirectly<\/strong>. It might be your parents taking care of the kids for a few hours so you can work on your book, or your spouse taking care of the chores while you write your business plan.<\/p>\n

#2: Have Money Available<\/h2>\n

Not all projects need to cost money … but having some spare cash available is still a good idea. If you can save up a small emergency fund, unexpected crises are much less likely to derail all your good plans. And if you find you need to invest in some software for your new business, or your redecorating costs end up higher than expected, you don\u2019t have to worry about spending the money.<\/p>\n

If you set aside just $10 each week, you\u2019ll have $520 at the end of the year<\/strong>. It\u2019s not a fortune \u2013 but it could easily be enough to make the difference between failure and success.<\/p>\n

#3: Take Care of Your Body<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t push yourself too hard. In order to be at your best mentally, you need to be in good physical shape too. That means eating healthy foods that give you sustained energy as well as exercising on a regular basis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s often tempting to cut back on sleep when you\u2019re working on a lot of different goals. Try to avoid this: you\u2019ll be putting your health at risk, and you may not really gain any extra productive time \u2013 you\u2019ll end up working slowly (or procrastinating more) because you\u2019re tired.<\/p>\n

#4: Be Positive<\/h2>\n

As you\u2019re working towards your goal, you might find yourself thinking things like \u201cI\u2019ll never be thin, so I might as well give up and eat this huge slice of cake\u201d<\/em> or \u201cI\u2019ll never find a publisher for my book, so what\u2019s the point in writing it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Replace these negative voices with more positive messages.<\/strong> You might even want to write down some encouraging thoughts, like \u201cI know I can lose weight successfully. Every pound I lose makes me healthier\u201d <\/em>or \u201cI really enjoy writing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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#5: Write Down Your Goals<\/h2>\n

Whatever you\u2019re planning to do, write it down \u2013 ideally, somewhere you\u2019ll see regularly (perhaps on a small card in your wallet, or on your computer\u2019s desktop). It\u2019s easy to let days go by without working on any of your goals … but a written reminder will help keep you on track.<\/p>\n

Writing your goals down is also a great way to truly commit to them.<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to keep saying \u201cI want to lose weight<\/em>\u201d or \u201cI want to write a book<\/em>\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m going to start my own business someday<\/em>\u201d \u2013 but it\u2019s harder to actually take the first step towards that goal. You may even want to write a deadline alongside your goal to help you stay focused (e.g. \u201cFinish the first draft of my book before my next birthday<\/em>\u201d or \u201cLose 20lbs before our summer vacation<\/em>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

#6: Break Big Projects into Little Steps<\/h2>\n

Your goals are almost certainly too big to tackle in a single day or even a single week: you\u2019re going to be working at them over several months or even years. So that you don\u2019t get stuck or discouraged, break down each goal or project into small steps.<\/p>\n

For instance, if your goal is to run your own business full-time, your first step might be to write a business plan. <\/strong>Step two could be setting up a website, and step three might be getting your very first client. You don\u2019t have to get all the way to step twenty \u2013 quitting your day job \u2013 in one big leap.<\/p>\n

#7: Don’t Try to Do Too Much<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s often tempting to tackle a whole range of great goals at once: losing weight and<\/em> writing a book and <\/em>redecorating the house and<\/em> making time to catch up with old friends … and while you might keep up your enthusiasm and energy for a week or two, you\u2019re quickly going to run yourself into the ground.<\/p>\n

Rather than trying to achieve ten goals, only to give up on them all, aim for just one or two big goals at a time. <\/strong>This helps you stay focused and it also gives you sufficient down-time \u2013 essential if you\u2019re going to be successful in reaching your goals over the long-term.<\/p>\n

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Do you have any great success tips to add? Or is there something from this list that you want to try in your own life? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whatever goals you\u2019re working towards in life, whatever dreams you have, you\u2019ll want to give yourself the best possible chance of success.
\nYou might be trying to lose weight, start your own business, write a book, redecorate the house … these tips apply to almost any sizeable project. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":9311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6,31],"tags":[318,1917,66,4629,4640],"yoast_head":"\n7 Powerful Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s often tempting to tackle a whole range of great goals at once: losing weight and writing a book and redecorating the house and making time to catch up with old friends ... and while you might keep up your enthusiasm and energy for a week or two, you\u2019re quickly going to run yourself into the ground.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-powerful-ways-to-set-yourself-up-for-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Powerful Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success - 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