A three part framework to help you in achieving your goals, no matter how grand or ambitious they may be!
What Are Goals?
Goals are the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
Goals are something that you want to achieve, something that you work towards consistently.
The most famous instance of goal setting is New Years Resolutions.
Thousands, if not millions, of people across the globe set themselves personal goals to achieve sometime during the next year.
However, despite the collective action to set the goals, it is rare that people actually achieve them. Why?
Why Do People Fail To Achieve Goals?
There seems to be a universal difficulty that comes in achieving goals, forming new habits and making a change. There’s a great bunch of reasons that can factor into this.
Reasons such as:
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of consistency
- Setting the wrong goal
- Being too ambitious
- Giving in to procrastination and distractions
- Making the change in the wrong way
However, the main factor delved into in this article is a lack of 3 P’s.
A lack of clarity on these 3 P’s can be one of the main factors in preventing you from achieving greatness.
Without a strong sense of these three aspects, you’ll find goals extremely hard to achieve.
The Framework
The 3 P’s are absolutely imperative when it comes to long lasting habit formation and goal achievement. Cultivate a strong sense of these 3 aspects.
P — Plan
P — Purpose
P — Preparation
Plan
Map It Out
Before you start on any goal or habit, you must have some general direction.
Of course, it would be impossible to know everything and everything about where you’ll end up, but the stronger idea you have, the better.
You cannot afford to act carelessly and thoughtlessly. Rather, you must prioritise planning it out, as specifically as you can.
To be able to map it out, you need to:
- Know what you want
- Know, generally, where you want to be
- Know, generally, how long it may take
- Cultivate an open mind
You may need to experiment and leave the comfort zone to figure out some of these aspects.
How To Figure It Out?
Study those that have come before you!
Study, with a great intensity, those that have achieved what you desire.
Study the top 1% in whatever you are looking to improve: discover their habits, practices and routines.
From this, you can implement those same practices into your life.
From your studies and experiments, if you know the key details, cultivate a strong plan of action that is tailored to them.
Stick To It
With a well thought out plan that, in the best case, is thought out right to the end, stick to it.
Stick to this plan like there is no other option. Of course, with an open mind, a few alternations may be needed from time to time. Make them and carry on.
Do not listen to other people, the incessant noice trying to distract you and get you down.
Stick to the plan, keep moving forward.
Purpose
What?
Your purpose is the reason behind why you do what you do.
It acts as your higher good, your full potential.
Your purpose is the thing that keeps you going when you don’t see results. It keeps you going when you want to give it all up and quit.
Your purpose keeps you going. This is why it is so essential.
The Important Questions
What is the why behind your actions?
Who, or what, are you doing it all for?
Before any major goal is set, these questions must be asked. And you must answer them with true honesty and acceptance.
With a strong sense of why, you must then focus on reminding yourself of it.
Reminders
There will be times of turmoil. This is expected but also necessary: there will be no true growth without a struggle.
In these difficult times, your purpose becomes absolutely essential. Do not let yourself slip into the tempting darkness.
Instead, make a conscious effort to remind yourself of your purpose, your why.
Remind yourself why you started, why you invest so much time and energy, why you’ll be better off if you keep going.
When you take this conscious time to remind yourself of your purpose, you often let go of the insatiable desire to give up.
It may even provoke the opposite; you’ll likely get back up and keep going.
Preparation
Take the time to prepare. Emotionally, physically, mentally.
What?
Preparation is the act of getting yourself ready for it all, the good and the bad.
Preparation is a mental, physical and emotional process that you must undertake before you dive right into any change, big or small.
Lack Of Preparation
Without preparation, it’s likely that all your hard work regarding planning and purpose may come to nothing.
If you are not prepared, for both the good and the bad, a bunch of problems arise:
- You’re more likely to stray off the course
- You’re more likely to give up
- In the face of any hardship whatsoever you may struggle and become disheartened
Without true preparation, you may stray off the course and struggle immensely to achieve your goals.
Importance Of Preparation
It all lies in this very fact; achieving exceptional results is not going to be easy.
No matter how much you may try convince yourself otherwise, that is the harsh truth.
Achieving your goals will be no walk in the park. If it were to be so easy, what’s the point?
In fact, it may be the most challenging journey you’ve ever embarked on.
Moreover, it may not even initially work!
Your efforts to achieve your goals and make changes may be entirely wasted in the first stages.
You may commit mistake after mistake, and you may become inclined to give up and resort to the easy path once again.
There is no guarantee, even, that your plan may work. It may need to be revisited, altered and developed.
You must prepare yourself for all of that.
Prepare yourself for the worst; embrace the stoic idea of premeditatio memori.
Prepare yourself for the obstacles, for the adversity, for the turmoil. Prepare for it all to come crushing down.
With these obstacles and adversities, embrace them. Embrace the growth that they provide.
Go into it all with a strong, positive outlook.
Remember that you can handle it, that you can come out stronger, that you can achieve your goals.
In Conclusion
When it comes to achieving your goals, follow the 3 P framework like there’s no other option!
P — Plan
P — Purpose
P — Preparation
