Procrastination, passivity at its best!

It’s impossible to present a method for becoming more efficient without tackling the subject of procrastination. Procra-what?! If you’re reading these lines and you’re not familiar with personal development or efficiency methods, this word may seem completely twisted to you! So what is procrastination? Well, it’s the art of putting everything off until tomorrow.

The word “art” isn’t chosen at random: for some people, phrases like “I’ve got to do that” or “I absolutely must do this” are so recurrent that procrastination could be compared to art: the art of always putting everything off until tomorrow, the art of doing nothing, the art of being passive! By putting off what you need to do, you either never achieve your goals, or you accomplish them hastily and at the last minute. In both cases, this is not the right solution!

How to combat procrastination?

Fighting procrastination means becoming more efficient and productive in the tasks we set ourselves. The key to efficiency is to draw up a list of goals and commit to achieving them. At first glance, drawing up a list of goals may seem like a very simple thing to do, so it would be pointless to detail this activity in a dedicated article.

Before going any further, think of all those people (perhaps you’re one of them?) who make good resolutions every New Year. Think of all those who pledge on December 31 to take up sport, stop smoking, lose weight, get a job or carry out any kind of project. How many succeed? The answer is clear: very few. So why? Well, quite simply because the concept of a “resolution” (or goal) is far too abstract to be truly effective.

A resolution is a phrase that represents a goal to be reached, but does not express the means to get there. So, if your good resolution is to stop smoking, you know what you want, but you don’t yet know how to actually get there.

In the rest of this article, I’m going to show you my method for correctly defining a goal and achieving it. This method is simple to implement, pragmatic and effective. It won’t take you very long, but I hope it will do you a lot of good. It works for me, and I use it every day to achieve the goals I set myself.

The four keys to defining a goal

KEY N°1 – BE CONCRETE: THE OBJECTIVE MUST BE CLEARLY AND PRECISELY DEFINED.
We don’t say “I want to do sport”, but rather “I want to run a marathon”. In this way, the objective is clearly defined, you have a goal and you can commit yourself to it without spreading yourself too thin. “I want to do sport” is a good New Year’s resolution, whereas “I want to run a marathon” is a clear objective that you set yourself.

KEY N°2 – BE MEASURABLE: ONCE IDENTIFIED, THE OBJECTIVE MUST BE MEASURABLE.
You need to be able to see whether or not it has been achieved. In the case of our example, it’s easy to tell if the objective has been reached, because you’ll need to run 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers). If the objective is “to work out”, I encourage you to go and ask at your nearest fitness club what proportion of the people registered never come

KEY N°3 – BE LIMITED IN TIME: THE GOAL MUST DEFINE AN END DATE.
Of course, no time limit is imposed – it’s up to you. However, once the end date has been defined, you commit yourself to this time constraint and will do everything in your power not to exceed it.

KEY N° 4 – BE PERSONAL: FOR A GOAL TO BE ACHIEVED, IT HAS TO COME FROM YOU.
By committing to yourself and only yourself, you are not subject to any external constraints. It’s your goal, set by you, for your own personal fulfillment, for your own benefit, and you know you’ll get great satisfaction if you succeed.
If your goal corresponds to these four criteria, you’re already well on your way, but that’s far from enough… Follow the guide!

HOW TO OPTIMIZE THE PROBABILITY OF ACHIEVING A GOAL?
The most important and most difficult factor in achieving a goal is motivation. Most of the books and websites I’ve consulted explain that, to stay motivated, you need to imagine that you’ve achieved the goal you’ve set yourself. This is known as “positive thinking” or “self-actualizing thinking”. Although there is a lot of convincing work on these self-influencing techniques, it’s important not to limit yourself to this simple aspect. I’d like to make it clear that I have nothing against this work; on the contrary, I’m very interested in this field, and it will be the subject of future articles on Full of Happiness. But that’s not the point of this article, so… let’s get back to business.

The most important factor is motivation. To stay motivated, you need to be able to reach your goal quickly. Let’s take our example again: if your goal is to run a marathon, you’re likely to find it insurmountable, especially if you’re not particularly athletic.

To overcome this problem, stay motivated and increase the likelihood of achieving the goals you set for yourself, the most effective solution is: decomposition.

HOW DO YOU BREAK DOWN A GOAL?
Breaking down an objective into sub-objectives is essential for efficiency and productivity. This method is well known in engineering circles, and is often referred to as “divide and conquer”. The advantage of a sub-objective is that it is much easier to achieve, as it is less ambitious than the main objective. The other essential aspect of decomposition is that each sub-objective must be accompanied by an end date. This date must be close in time, on the order of a few weeks or a month maximum. At first sight, this may seem very restrictive. Don’t worry, it’s very easy to implement. Let’s take our marathon example and break it down into sub-objectives:

Week 1: run 30 minutes on Mondays and Fridays ;
Week 2: Run 30 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday;
week 3: run 45 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday;
And so on…

The list of sub-goals turns out to be a list of concrete, easily achievable and quickly measurable tasks. Each passing week brings you closer to your real goal, which is to run a marathon. By breaking it down, you are ..:

Demystify your goal: when you’re working on a sub-goal, the most important thing is to focus only on that sub-goal and not on the main goal. That’s why you’ve drawn up this list. So if you’re in week 1, the goal you have in mind when you run is not to run 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers), but only to run for 30 minutes. And when you’re in the middle of an effort (physical or intellectual), it’s important to have a precise, attainable goal in mind.
Demystifying a goal is essential, and applies to all areas of life. The main symptoms of people who don’t demystify their goals are noticeable in the following phrases: “I’m lost”, “I don’t know where to start”, “I don’t have the time”, “I’ll never get there, it’s too complicated” and so on. Do you want to set up a company, become an ace seducer, circumnavigate the globe or break a record? Start by demystifying your goal, making sure you understand it, internalize it, break it down and then act on it! Demystification is directly linked to key number 1: making it happen.

Maintain your morale: every time you reach a sub-goal, you’ll need to make it a physical reality. The best solution for me is to tick off or cross out the sub-goal. This action is extremely important, as it marks your progress towards your main objective. At first, checking off a box may seem pointless, but I assure you that after a few months, when you look back at that list of checked boxes, you’ll realize the work you’ve done, and a feeling of fulfillment will come over you: you’re doing personal development, you’re not being passive, you’re taking action!

Measure your progress: each time you complete a new sub-goal, you’re one step closer to your main goal. Be careful not to look too far ahead, or you’ll fall into the typical “I’ll never achieve it” trap. When you tick a box, the resulting feeling should only be positive, marking progress, success, and you should focus exclusively on the next sub-goal.

To achieve the goals you set yourself, remember to demystify them, keep your spirits high and measure your progress.

HOW DO YOU PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE?
In this article, I present you with a method centred on the establishment of goal lists, and to illustrate it, I use the example of a marathon. What do you do when you have several parallel objectives in different areas? How can we manage several lists at the same time without having a negative impact on our schedule? How can we update these lists and track their progress efficiently? Finally, how can we archive these lists so that we can keep track of what we’ve achieved?

Many solutions exist for drawing up lists of objectives that respect the various points mentioned in this article. From a sheet of paper to the most complex computer software, everything exists. In this jungle of solutions, The great thing about this service is that it’s online, so you can access it at any time, wherever you are on the planet. All you need is an Internet connection to access it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
While you’re waiting for the next article, you can already start demystifying and dividing up one of your objectives by following the method explained in this article.

What goals would you like to achieve? Have you ever tried to achieve a goal and failed? Are there any methods you’d be willing to try again? What tips do you have for keeping your spirits up and motivated when you want to achieve a goal?