How to Stay Consistent and Focus on Your Goals All Year (Using 7 Simple Steps)

Last year, you were convinced that you were going to be the girl who gets stuff done. The girl who’ll check all of her goals off her list. The girl who was going to lock in. However, somewhere along the line, you lost consistency and focus because life happens. As a result, leaving you discouraged. I’m here to tell you that this year doesn’t have to be like last year. Follow these seven simple steps to stay consistent and focus on your goals.

Step One: Ditch the “Hot Girl Fantasy” Goals and Set Identity-Based Goals Instead

Sis, let’s have a chat. The reason why it’s hard for you to keep focus on your goals isn’t that they aren’t achievable, but because they are fantasies in your head that you never tied to an identity, therefore, making it hard for you to accomplish. Hence, make your goals more desirable by making them identity-base, rather than fantasizing them.

When you have goals such as ‘I want to be successful,’ ‘I want to write a book.’ These goals might seem desirable, but your brain can’t figure out how you will accomplish them because they aren’t identity-based.

Instead, attach your goals to your identity: “I am a successful woman” or “I am a book writer.” You are more likely to stick to your goals and take action when they align with your identity. As a result, causing you to stay focused on them.

Step Two: Break Your Goals Down Into Bite-Size Actions

Our goals can look intimidating when they are not broken down into digestible pieces. Hence, causing our brain to panic because it doesn’t know where to start, which can lead to procrastination and discouragement. We begin to postpone working on our goals, losing focus and consistency on what we want to accomplish in the year.

Psychologists call this task aversion, when we procrastinate on a task that seems too big or unpleasant for us to do (Blunt & Pychyl, 2000).

However, we can break our goals down into tiny, bite-sized actions that almost feel like we’re doing the bare minimum.

These tiny actions will give you the momentum needed to stay consistent and focus on your goals. Moreover, each time you check off a task on your list, your brain releases dopamine, which can be a rewarding feeling.

Some micro-actions can be laying your gym clothes on your bed, walking for five minutes, or writing one paragraph. It might seem ridiculously easy to do these tiny actions, but they can accumulate over time to achieve big rewards.

Step Three: Use System, Because Willpower Isn’t A Reliable Source

If you want to learn how to stay consistent with your goals this year, then babyyy, believe me when I tell you, willpower isn’t gonna get you there. I can’t stress this enough: willpower isn’t your buddy, pal, or friend when it comes to staying consistent and focusing on your goals. You need a system.

Having a system makes it easier for you to be consistent and keep focus on your goals because you’ve already planned ahead of time the actions you’re going to take to execute them.

Routines, structures, habits, and environments are all systems that you can use to keep you on track to accomplish your goals.

Your systems will make your actions automatic; you won’t have to think about what to do, how to do it, or when to do it, even on your ‘worst days’, because you’ve already pre-decided your actions.

Step Four: Stop Staring At Your Computer All Day and Get Some Rest

Throughout the day, it’s only natural that you take breaks and rest from your work. Do you want to know why? Because you’re human.

It’s unrealistic to stare at your screen for 10 hours a day nonstop. Your brain won’t allow this.

Our brains are incapable of having limitless concentration.

An article written by Harvard Health Publishing states that we should work in 10 to 52 minutes periods before our brains get sidetrack (Harvard Health Publishing, 2020).

When your push past this limit, you tend to get burned out, which leads to procrastination and losing focus on your goals.

When we give our brain time to rest, we give our brain permission to refresh and recuperate. As a result, when we return to our work, we can perform better, be more creative, and our attention is more focused.

Step Five: Learn How to Pick Up Where You Left Off, Instead Of Quitting

Sis, I’m here to tell you falling off your goals doesn’t make you a failure. It’s just a part of your journey. Dust yourself off, refocus on your goals, and pick up where you left off.

The truth is, life happens to all of us. Having low energy days, feeling unmotivated, caught up in your work or personal life, etc. These are all things that shy us away from our goals.

So, don’t quit; instead, pick up where you’ve left off. Slipping away is a common reason why people lose focus on their goals, not because they are incapable of achieving them. They feel ashamed and discouraged because they broke their consistency streak.

Show yourself some compassion and have the courage to continue where you left off. So, if you miss a week of working out, instead of quitting for months, ease your way back in by working out for 10 minutes, or if you haven’t written a chapter for your book for the month, next month, write one sentence each day until you build momentum again.

Step Six: Remove the Pressure of Feeling Behind

Another reason why people quit on their goals is that they feel pressure making up for lost time. A busy week, family obligations, life etc., all of these things can get in the way of us achieving our goals.

When this happens, you feel under pressure sending your brain into panic mode because your goals start to seem too big to accomplish, so you end up avoiding and losing focus on your goals altogether.

Instead of panicking, allow yourself to make up for lost time by taking it one bite at a time and showing yourself grace in the process.

Step Seven: Separate Your Identity From Your “Off” Days

Just because you didn’t have a good week doesn’t mean you’re not succeed your goals. Off days are normal. When you tell yourself that you’re lazy or incapable of accomplishing your goals, your brain views this as truth.

Social Psychologist, Daryl J. Bem tells us that, however we perceive ourselves, we begin to act like it (Bem, D. J. 1972). So, instead of telling yourself, ‘I will never succeed,’ tell yourself, ‘Just because I had a bad day doesn’t mean that I won’t succeed.’

Your consistency and focus on your goals don’t go away just because you have a bad day, week, or even month.

To Sum Up

As the saying goes, “A lot can happen in a year.” Make this year count by being consistent and focus on your goals. Follow these seven simple steps to keep you grounded and on track to accomplish your goals.

Reference

• Blunt, A. K., & Pychyl, T. A. (2000). Task aversiveness and procrastination: a multi-dimensional approach to task aversiveness across stages of personal projects. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(1), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(99)00091-4
• Harvard Health Publishing. (2020, February 1). Focus on concentration. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/focus-on-concentration

• Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-Perception Theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6(6), 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60024-6

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