Do you get distracted easily? Do you want to move closer to achieving your goals?
Distractions are one of the top reasons why you’re never accomplishing your goals. Luckily, Benjamin Hardy has great advice for staying on top of your objectives.
Check out his advice on how to focus on your goals and avoid distractions.
Stick to Your Core Values and Goals
Hardy writes that learning how to focus on your goals and avoid distractions involves making choices that align with your values and move you closer to the goals that matter most. That requires gaining a clear understanding of what you value and want most in your life. When you start to think about your days in terms of the distances you can travel rather than the hours you can fill, you can more easily determine how it would be most meaningful to use your time.
For example, you might realize that one of your core values is spending time with your family and think about how frequently (or infrequently) you see your parents. You can do the “depressing math” to determine how much time you’ll likely spend with them if you continue to see them at your current rate. If you don’t like the results, you can choose to see them more often. You’re still looking at the same amount of time passing, but you’re figuring out how to use that time to do something you value: spending time with your family.
(Shortform note: Hardy doesn’t offer specific advice for determining your values and goals, but other writers have offered some practical advice. In The Happiness Trap, psychologist Russ Harris explains that values involve behaviors that continue throughout our lives, while goals are objectives we can complete. Harris contends that finding our values is an ongoing process. We don’t necessarily choose our values. Instead, we develop them as we face challenges and decide how to move forward. On the other hand, we actively choose our goals, and Harris notes that we have to intentionally select goals that align with our values. If you set a goal that conflicts with your values, you’ll just make yourself unhappy trying to reach it.)
Hardy recommends identifying which of your goals are most important to you and putting aside everything else, including work that you find unsatisfying or tasks that you consider unfulfilling. You might need to put aside things that seem meaningful or fulfilling, too: Hardy contends that, if you have more than three major goals, you need to narrow your focus. While this requires foregoing some opportunities, that’s a necessary part of pursuing your most important goals. Once you’ve identified your vision for your life, Hardy recommends committing to it wholeheartedly. But along the way, you shouldn’t be afraid to course-correct to keep yourself on track toward your goals.
(Shortform note: While three goals might sound arbitrary, Hardy isn’t the only expert to say it’s a good limit. Good to Great author Jim Collins contends that having more than three priorities is equivalent to having none. Similarly, Randi Zuckerberg writes in Pick Three that you can choose only three things to focus on daily among work, sleep, family, friends, and fitness. She explains that it’s not practical or sustainable to emphasize all five daily. On the other hand, The One Thing author Gary Keller contends that you should focus on just one task each day, treating it as one of the dominos you need to knock down in pursuit of your goal.)
