Your Goals – Stay On Track For Slow And Steady Accomplishment. Progress consistently by setting realistic targets, remaining focused, and embracing gradual improvement to reach success. Keep yourself on target and on track with this great contribution from Marte Cliff. You’ll be able to use these tips over and over. Enjoy the read…
Your Goals – Stay on Track For Slow and Steady Accomplishment
By Marte Cliff
Getting side tracked from our goals is the easiest thing we can do.
Daily life is so full of little obligations, and our goals sometimes seem so far out there that it’s easy to think “I’ll get back to this tomorrow,” and let those other obligations fill our precious time.
Sometimes you have no choice. Just this week I was in the middle of working on a project when the dogs needed to go out. I stopped for just a minute to attend to them, and ended up spending my midnight hour washing skunk smell out of three furry creatures.
Most of the time, however, those little obligations are the things that can and should be put off until tomorrow. So what if you don’t get the windows washed? Will that matter a month from now?
What if you miss your favorite TV show? Will you really have missed anything?
What if you just don’t answer the phone for one or two evenings a week? Will your friends abandon you?
What if you get up a half hour earlier, or stay up a half hour later? Will you perish for lack of sleep?
No, but if you put off working on your goals, it will matter next month or next year.
With that in mind, I offer some advice from two marketing gurus:
- Mike Littman says “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.”
- Michael Masterson gives the same advice when he says “Ready, fire, aim.”
Action creates action, so once you’re in motion you’ll be hard to stop. On the other hand, inaction creates inertia, so if you’ve been putting off getting started, you may have to get tough with yourself to get going.
What can you do when your time is limited? It depends on where you are in the process.
If earning extra money is your goal and you’re just thinking about starting, why not decide which way you’ll jump. Will you create and market your own product? Will you set up an affiliate site? Will you create adwords sites? If you haven’t decided, do a little research into how each one works.
If you know which you’ll choose, why not start today by thinking about what interests you most and then researching the keywords you think will lead people to your niche. If you have a broad area of interest you might narrow it down by seeing what subject matter is most in demand.
For instance, if you love gardening you might learn that more people want to know about growing Clematis than Peonies. If cars are your thing you might learn that more people want information and advice about engines than about body work. (And no, I didn’t research those, they’re just examples of what you might find.)
If you’ve already started and have gotten stalled, take some action to get things moving again. Write an article, post to a forum, write a blog post on your own blog – or start a blog, or work on your web page.
Maybe your goal is more personal, and has nothing to do with making money. You still won’t get there until you get started. And you still will get there if you take one step at a time.
Do you want to learn something new? Start today to research classes you can take – on line or off line. Get on line and read some of the free lessons on your subject. If you already have course work sitting there, set aside just a half hour every day (or even 3 days per week) to do it – and let your family know that you’re unavailable for that short 30 minutes. They’ll get along, honest!
If your goal is to de-clutter your house, start with one drawer or one corner of a room. You’ll find that it doesn’t take long when you bite of a small chunk.
If you want to start a garden or do a crafts project, decide on one first step – and just do it. The trick is to take the next step tomorrow and the next day – and the next.
I think you’ll find that once you force yourself to work on your goal for 15 or 30 minutes, you’ll want to stay longer and you’ll really accomplish something. So get busy.
Do something, no matter how small it seems. Then tomorrow, do something again. And remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect – it just has to be a step forward.
It is better to gain a foot than to stand still,
even when you seek to gain a mile.
Hubert H. Humphrey (1911 – 1978)
Senator and U.S. Vice President
Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in making people feel good about buying products or services, or donating to worthy causes.
She has extensive experience in writing search engine optimized web copy, direct sales letters, postcards, space ad copy, press releases, and more. She is also available for marketing plan creation and editing services.
You can visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com While you’re there, sign up for one of her marketing ezines. She promises to gently nag you about ways to make your own marketing efforts more productive – whether you’re selling a product or service, or promoting a non-profit organization.
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