This post is all about how to focus on your goals.
It’s so common to talk about goal setting, but the less exciting part is figuring out how to focus on your goals. And the truth is, there are several different approaches you can take to sticking to your goals, and there’s a little trial and error involved to figure out what works for you!
Whether you’ve set some long-term goals or short-term goals, they’re just ideas until you actually start putting in the work to bring those goals to fruition.
Let’s talk about some specific ways you can make steady progress toward your goals to feel accomplished and finally see progress in all the areas of life that you’re hoping for.
Why can’t I focus on my goals?
There are so many potential distractions that pull us away from staying focused on our goals, and identifying what’s preventing you from staying focused will play a huge role in getting you back on track.
Here are some reasons you might be struggling to focus on your goals:
- You don’t have clear objectives: why are you setting the goals you’re setting? What is the ultimate outcome? You need to be able to articulate and visualize why your goals matter and where you want to go!
- Daily life is getting in the way: life gets in the way for everyone, and that’s unavoidable some days. But if your daily life is continually preventing you from moving forward on your goals, that’s a sign that something needs to change!
- Your goals aren’t specific enough: your goals might be too general. When you set a goal, you need to be specific; be able to really see and visualize the outcome of achieving it!
- You’re making goals you think you should have, not goals that are actually deeply important to you: don’t just decide that you need to work out more or journal more for the sake of it. Make sure these goals are really important to YOU. Not everyone needs to have the same goals, and you’ll never stay focused on your goals if they’re not deeply important to you and the way you want to live your life.
TECHNIQUES TO STAY FOCUSED ON GOALS:
1. Figure out how you work best
You’ll get better results with ANYTHING in life by figuring out how you work best.
For example, I know I’m the type of person who loves to write down my goals and track my progress meticulously. For someone else, the act of doing this meticulous type of tracking would stress them out and make them less likely to stick to their goals.
Do you work best under pressure? When you have flexibility? When someone is keeping you accountable or when you’re left to do your own thing?
Understanding how you work best is essential for your personal growth but will also help you understand what it takes to keep yourself focused enough on your goals to get to the finish line.
2. Write down your goals
Writing down your goals is the first step to getting focused. Whether you write it somewhere you can see it daily, or in a journal, or even your notes app, putting words to your goals instead of just keeping them as an idea in your head will help make it feel more tangible.
I also recommend deciding on which goals take absolute priority. You might have fitness goals, career goals, and financial goals, but which one is most important to you?
Understanding the level of priority will help you decide which goal to focus on first when life gets busiest.
3. Break your goals down into milestones
Breaking down your goals into milestones will help you stay accountable throughout the process of moving toward them.
Your goal describes the bigger picture of where you want to go. When you then break down the goal into milestones, you’re able to focus on smaller tasks that will actually move you forward.
Plus, when you accomplish each milestone, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment, which will help you build momentum.
For example, if I said my goal was to read 24 books this year, I know that’s two books per month. So, my milestones might be:
- 2 books complete by the end of January
- 4 books by the end of February
- 6 books by the end of March
- and so on.
These are smaller, more manageable milestones that I can focus on rather than just thinking of the big number (24) throughout the whole year. This will also prevent me from getting to August and realizing I’ve only read 6 books and might not ultimately hit my goal.
4. Find an accountability partner
Some people find an accountability partner super helpful!
This accountability partner could be your significant other, best friend, sibling, parent, or even a therapist. What I’ve found to be most effective with an accountability partner is setting specific times to talk about your progress. You could do this in person or through phone calls, but the important thing is that you’re carving out time at regular intervals to check in with your accountability partner and update them on how your progress is going.
Having an accountability partner will make you more likely to stay focused on your goals since you know you need to explain your progress to someone (and why you have or haven’t made progress).
My husband and I do a monthly goal review. It’s very low-pressure; just a simple checkpoint where we can chat about how our goals are going and different ways we might need to pivot to see better progress.
5. Make your goals visual
Creating a vision board is a super popular way to set goals! This is where you find a bunch of photos, quotes, and visuals that exemplify your goal. Make a collage and then put it somewhere you’ll see it daily (I like to keep mine as my laptop wallpaper).
6. Break your goals into individual tasks and habits
One powerful way to get yourself to a specific outcome is to break down your bigger goals into daily tasks and habits that you will need to maintain to achieve the goal.
Goals require consistent effort, and that effort doesn’t just come out of nowhere. So, figuring out the habits you need to establish is a great way to actually achieve your goals.
To go back to the example of reading 24 books in a year, I might know I need to read two books per month, but this also means I need to:
- Replace time scrolling with time reading
- Structure my schedule around reading (like making a habit of reading while eating breakfast)
- Making a list of books I want to read and adding to that list whenever I come across a new book that excites me
7. Make a detailed plan
Some people (ahem, me) THRIVE off making a detailed plan because it forces you to really see all the steps that will go into achieving your goals.
For others, this honestly might just add stress. But if you find that making a detailed plan gives you clear direction, then I highly recommend doing this.
You can create your plan in whatever format works best for you. Personally, I rotate between using planners/journals and spreadsheets (depending on the type of goal I’m planning).
8. Focus on 1-2 goals at a time
If you have high standards for yourself, it can be tempting to set tons of goals all at once. You want to get healthy and fit, save more money, dedicate more time to a hobby, advance in your career, move forward in your relationship, and so on.
Hear me when I say all of these are GOOD goals to focus on.
But the truth is, you’ll quickly lose focus if you’re trying to achieve too many big goals at once.
You can set as many goals as you want, but pick 1-2 of the most IMPORTANT goals to really set your gaze on until they’re accomplished.
9. Regularly visualize the results
A big part of maintaining unwavering focus is to regularly visualize the results of your goal.
Want to buy a house? Visualize the type of house you’re aiming to get.
Hoping to get fit? Imagine the types of activities you would do if you were the healthiest version of yourself.
Want to get a promotion? Visualize how future you would live your life after that promotion.
Visualization is POWERFUL!
10. Reflect regularly
Having regular check-ins with yourself is super important if you want to stay focused.
Reflecting regularly doesn’t mean you have to formally track your progress on every goal (although you can, if you’d find that helpful)! But it is important that you regularly reflect, thinking about:
- What has gone well so far
- What could have gone better (and why it didn’t)
- Adjustments you need to make going forward to make better progress
11. Uncover your deeper “why”
The only way to truly stay focused on your goals is to uncover your deeper “why.”
When you’re setting ambitious goals, the only way to stay focused enough to achieve them is if you really understand WHY they are so important to you.
For example, setting a goal to work out 5 times a week all year sounds great, but you’ll quickly fall off that habit if you don’t have a deeper reason why it’s really important to you.
If you know you want to work out five times per week so that you can do a challenging hike that’s on your bucket list, or so that you can stay healthy enough to play with your grandkids when you get older, THAT is a real “why.”
12. Focus on getting small wins to build momentum
A big part of how to focus on your goals is building momentum. This is why, earlier, I mentioned setting milestones and small, manageable tasks and habits!
When you have smaller, specific goals you can focus on along the way to achieving your bigger goal, these small steps start snowballing into bigger momentum because you’ve been achieving small wins which will motivate you to keep sustained focus on your bigger goals.
13. Learn how to get into a flow state
When I first learned about getting into a flow state, I was mind blown… this is SUCH a powerful tool for goal achievement.
What is a flow state?
Simply put, it’s a state of deep mental focus on an activity or task. This often naturally happens when you’re doing an activity you love (you get so immersed in it that it becomes all-consuming). But there are also ways you can encourage yourself to enter a flow state (or close to one) for tasks relating to your goal that might not come as naturally to you.
Here are my steps for entering a flow state:
- Turn off all distractions (no phone notifications, no trying to multi-task, for example by playing a show in the background while I work)
- Do a brain dump or some creative work (something you enjoy to get your mind working, even if it’s not related to the task you need to complete)
- Set a timer to focus diligently on the task you need to complete, commit to staying focused for that period of time
Usually, after a bit, I end up getting so locked in on the task (even if it’s not my favorite thing to be doing). Your process for getting into a flow state might look a little different, but that’s where I’d recommend starting!
14. Use a goal tracker
Goal trackers can be super helpful for many people. Whether you’d like to track habits or actually track your specific progress on each goal, this can be a great way to check in with yourself and make sure you’re moving toward your ultimate goal.
You can use my free goal planning template as a tracker, or make your own spreadsheet, journal, Notion template, or even just use your notes app to write down updates!
15. Prioritize good habits
At the end of the day, one of the most effective ways to stay focused on your goals is to focus on building the habits you need to achieve them.
Bad habits won’t get you anywhere. When you figure out what good habits you need to prioritize to achieve your goals and then focus on those, there’s almost no way you won’t see progress toward achieving your long-term vision.
Habits are the small things you do every day that change your life over time. So, consider what good habits you need to implement for the sake of your future self and then focus on those! You will then naturally get closer to achieving your goals.
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