4 Effective Ways to Develop Persistence and Achieve Your Goals

 

4 Effective ways to develop persistence

One of the most admirable characteristics a person can possess is persistence. Without persistence, no great achievement is possible.

Everyone can set goals and make plans for success; however, only a few succeed in achieving their goals. Developing persistence is a way to ensure that you will reach your goals and achieve success.

Here are four practical ways that you can develop persistence and achieve your goals.

Identify What You Want

Before you can begin to develop your persistence, you have to know what you want in your life. Take some time to think about what you want and write down your answers on a sheet of paper. Really think about how you would like your life to be and what you need to do to get there. Write everything down, no matter how big or small the goal.

Whatever goals you write down, make sure you FEEL committed to them. I always say set your goals from the heart so that your heart is set on them. Otherwise, your commitment will be ‘half-hearted’ and you will not have the persistence to see them through to completion.

Recognize Your Motivation

To build persistence for accomplishing your goals, you have to have motivation. If you know deep-down, the reason for doing what you’re doing you will have more energy to keep moving forward towards your goals. Recognizing what is motivating you is a fundamental aspect of becoming more persistent.

Related: The Key To Success : Positive vs. Negative Motivation

It really comes down to the ‘why’ – what is the reason why you want to achieve your goals? Is it because you know in your heart that you truly desire this goal and the positive impact it will have on your life or are you doing it to please other people and meet their expectations? It is only when you are fully committed to your goals that you will have the persistence to do whatever is necessary to achieve them and overcome the inevitable challenges along the way.

Outline Your Plan

When you’ve identified what you want and have figured out your motivation for achieving your goals, you need to develop a plan for how to achieve the success that you desire. Creating an outline of your plan, that includes specific action steps, will help you know how you will be able to achieve your goals. When you know the steps it will take to get what you want, reaching your goals will become easier.

Be specific and detailed in each step so that it is easy to take the action needed to achieve your goals and you will be less likely to procrastinate and get discouraged. Remember, “a goal without a plan is just a wish” and having a clear plan is one of the most important factors in achieving success.

Shift Your Mindset

The road to success is never easy. In fact, you will face numerous roadblocks and challenges along the way. Everyone, from time to time, can get stuck in a negative mindset, succumbing to the negative thoughts and fear of failure. To develop persistence, you have to work to maintain a positive mental attitude, regardless of the situation.

Strive to keep your thoughts focused on continually taking action toward your goals and avoid the negative thoughts and emotions that can destroy your focus and persistence. Accomplishing your goals and achieving success isn’t an easy path to follow. You will run into countless obstacles and face numerous challenges, but with the right plan in place and enough persistence, you’ll realize your dreams and be ready to take on bigger and bigger goals and overcome every challenge along the way.

Goals vs Resolutions

Do you know that 80% of people don’t stick to their New Year resolutions beyond the first week of January? WOW! I knew the failure rate was high but that really surprised me.

Did you make New Year resolutions for 2023? What was your rate of success – any better than this? As we’re coming to the end of the year, it’s a good time to review the goals you set out to achieve in 2023 and how successful you’ve been in achieving them.

Related : Personal Development: Get a life! Passion and Goals

According to Dictionary, a resolution is a resolve; a decision or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something, whereas Dictionary, defines a goal as the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

If you’ve struggled to stick to your New Year resolutions in the past, then here are some quick tips that will help you commit to them more strongly, stick to them for much longer and actually achieve them in 2024!

Set Goals not Resolutions

The trouble with resolutions is that they tend to be vague and lack a specific target date for their achievement, which makes it much easier to let your good intentions lapse. They are often focused on something you don’t want in your life (I want to lose weight, I want to stop smoking) rather than something positive you want to achieve to add value and quality to your life. From a manifestation point of view, when you focus on what you don’t want rather than what you do want, guess what happens. You get what you focus on.

When you set specific goals, with clear targets for what you want to achieve and when, it will be much easier to stay on track. Plan out the steps you must take to achieve your goal and make them action orientated, with target dates for completion.

Don’t Overstretch Yourself

Don’t set too many goals at once. If you do you’ll set yourself up to fail. The temptation is to put together a huge list of all the things you’d like to achieve and be over-optimistic about how long it will take you to get there. (I know because I’ve done that too!) If you want to create a long list, that’s fine, but then you need to decide which are your top priorities and focus on those rather than trying to do too many all at once.

Make Your Goals Easy to Achieve

This doesn’t mean you should set goals that don’t stretch you; it’s really about approaching them in a way that won’t create resistance and procrastination.

Once you’ve decided on your top priorities, create a plan by breaking down each goal into manageable action steps and set realistic timescales that take into account all your other commitments.

Breaking down your goals into simple steps makes them much easier to achieve for several reasons:

• It is easy to get overwhelmed when you look at the big picture – it seems such a big leap from where you currently are at. Once you break it down into small steps you have a road-map to follow.

• Make each step easy to undertake and complete. If you make each step too big you are creating barriers that will make you procrastinate or avoid it completely.

• Every time you are able to tick off one of the actions that move you towards your goal, it will add to your motivation and inspire you to go on to the next task.

Stay Positive

If you find yourself slipping from your plan, don’t beat yourself up. Look at why this has happened – review and revise your plan if necessary and pick up where you left off. Just because you’ve lapsed for a few days doesn’t mean you have to give up completely. Every new day is a chance to start afresh.

Be Aware of Your Strengths and Weaknesses

The best way to make sure you stick to your goals is to play to your strengths and to find a way to compensate for your weaknesses. Often what we perceive to be weaknesses are due to our innate personality preferences. 

There is a big difference between trying to overcome weaknesses and developing your innate skills to a higher degree of excellence.  However, it is beneficial in some cases to work on consciously overcoming things you find difficult, especially if they are essential for your life and/or your business.  It was a great revelation for me when I discovered why I hated doing them; it was because my natural preference is to look at the big picture (the strategy) rather than go into minute detail (the figures in a budget spreadsheet). Once I understood that, I accepted that this particular task was not going to be easy for me, and I actually got satisfaction from completing it because I knew it was a stretch for me.

So whether you’re trying to improve your natural skills or achieve something that doesn’t come naturally, remember that it’s why we set goals – to stretch ourselves outside of our comfort zone.

Be Accountable

You are far more likely to stay committed to your goals and on track if you are accountable to someone else. This is the advantage of having a professional coach or a mentor who will support you, keep you accountable for the completion of tasks, and help you develop the right mindset for success rather than being critical or judgmental.

If you don’t have a coach, buddy up with your partner or a friend so you can keep each other on track. Make sure you choose someone you trust, and who you know will hold your feet to the fire, so you are motivated to take the required action and you can be honest about your issues and challenges.

Are you missing the one key ingredient for UNLIMITED success?

Unlimited success is something most of us strive for. By that I don’t mean huge amounts of stuff, I mean infinite possibilities for what we can achieve.

What does Success mean to you?

Success means different things to different people. To some people it means a full bank account, big house, luxury car and designer clothes. To others it is a secure job, happy relationships, healthy kids and fun leisure time. No two people are the same when it comes to their definition of success.

So what happens if circumstances change? What if you lose your job? What if the market changes and your business loses customers or demand drops for your product or service? What if your relationship fails or no longer satisfies you?

What I’ve been describing here is LIMITED success because it is based on external factors – it’s conditional.

For many people, conditional success is always based on some FUTURE state – “I’ll be successful WHEN I get a better job, WHEN I make more money, WHEN I find my perfect partner”. They NEVER feel they’ve succeeded because they always want something more or better than they have right now, so whatever success they’ve achieved feels limited.

How do you achieve UNLIMITED Success?

Unlimited success is a feeling inside and a mindset, not something that depends on the size of your bank balance, house or car. To me, unlimited success is not based on material possessions but on feeling happy, living authentically, fulfilling your purpose and enjoying life to the full. That doesn’t mean having material possessions is wrong or undesirable (they’re fun!), it just means you’re not dependent on them for your state of mind – your success is unconditional. 

Unlimited success is the result of having abundance or prosperity consciousness because when you have abundance consciousness you believe that you never lack for anything. Whatever the external circumstances, you have faith in your ability to thrive and prosper. That belief in itself attracts the right people, situations and opportunities that create more and more abundance.

When you work on developing abundance consciousness, you are flicking on an internal switch, just like a light switch, replacing darkness with light.

When the light is off, you’re afraid and groping in the dark, hitting brick walls, struggling to find your direction and everything seems to be a problem. When the light is on you look for the good in everything, for the positive message, for the lesson that will take you to the next level and you experience magical synchronicities. You meet the people you can help and the people who can help you, you are clear about your purpose and the goals you want to achieve. You see opportunities that lead to the achievement of your goals and you act on them.

Create UNLIMITED Success Today

To create that glowing feeling of UNLIMITED success right now, celebrate the smallest achievements you’ve made today.

Get a notebook or a journal and write down:

• the steps you’ve made towards your goals
• the outcomes you’ve achieved
• the people you’ve met or spoken to
• the problems you’ve overcome
• the lessons you’ve learnt.

Unlimited success is under YOUR control, not dependent on someone or something else. Choose to be successful today, and the positive vibes you radiate will bring more and more good things to you, day after day.

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