We all get off track. Whether we get distracted, procrastinate or simply lose direction, it happens. There’s simply no way to be flawlessly on track all the time.
An airliner flying from one city to another is reportedly off-course over 99 percent of the time. But the pilots and the onboard computers are continuously correcting because they’re clear on their destination and constantly observing where they are.
So the ability to get back on track when we stray from our intended course is an important skill to master.
Here are ten of the best ways I know to achieve the success you want by getting back on track.
- Notice Quickly. The sooner you notice that you’re off course, the easier and faster it is to make a correction.
This can be done by being super clear about what you want and constantly monitoring where you are in relation to it. Good metrics and feedback mechanisms can make a substantial difference and result in small corrections rather than lengthy and expensive ones.
- Correction Without Invalidation. Most people expend far too much energy making themselves wrong for being off-course. Winners spend little to no time being upset for not being further along or having made mistakes. They notice, they learn and they move on.
- Get Back to Your Goals. Many times we simply lose sight of our goals. That’s why it’s so important to be clear on them and to keep them in front of you. Write them down and post them where you will see them—often.
I recommend having your top three goals specifically defined, measurable, action-oriented (you have to do something to get there), realistic (at least to you) and timely (a deadline).
- Revisit Your Why. The reason you want to achieve a goal is critical. Reasons come first, answers come second. If you have a big enough why, the way to achieve your goal will become clear. And your desire will go a long way toward keeping you on track.
When you HAVE to have something, it’s a lot harder to get off track—at least for very long.
- Set Your Priorities. Knowing your core values helps you make better decisions. It enables you to become better at establishing your priorities (see our popular Core Values Course at http://SuccessNet.org/ycv/ ).
And when your priorities are clear, you’ll spend far less time agonizing about what you should do next.
- Get an Accountability Partner. Most of us are used to being directed by a boss or we work with a team of people who help us stay on track and be more accountable.
If this isn’t the case, team up with someone else and work on your goals together. It’s more fun, you’ll be better at keeping your promises and you’ll make greater progress. When you get off track, you’ll refocus more quickly.
- Join a Mastermind Team. Even better than an accountability partner is having a team of people who support each other in getting clear, staying focused and taking consistent, productive action.
Benjamin Franklin had his junto, companies have boards of directors; you should have your own mastermind team. They just work
- Minimize Distractions. Many entrepreneurs suffer from BSO syndrome (Bright and Shiny Objects). And we all get distracted by things that interest us and things we’re obligated to take care of.
But the more we can minimize them, notice quickly when they occur and then refocus, the faster and easier we will achieve our objectives.
A great acrostic for Focus is Focus on One Course Until Successful.
- Make it Fun and Interesting. The more fun we can make things, the easier they are to do. And the less chance we will be distracted by other interesting things.
Take a lesson from Tom Sawyer and make the whitewashing of your fence seem fun. A lot of times, it’s how we look at things that determines whether it’s work or play. Make a game of it. Enroll some other people. CHOOSE to have fun with it.
- Become Confident in Your Plans of Action. Let’s face it, if we knew for sure that following a course of action would lead to achieving our goal, we would do it, right? It would be a lot harder to fall off the path.
One of the reasons why we don’t stick to something is that it’s not guaranteed that we will win. Most people have jobs because they know they’ll get paid at the end of the week—although even that isn’t so certain any more.
But if you knew for certain that if you took these particular steps in a certain order and in a certain fashion you would prevail, you would stay on track a lot better.
By researching, testing and studying successful practices, we can increase our confidence in our plans and our efforts. And the more confident we are that we will succeed, the more likely it is that we will stay on course.
Review these tips from time to time to help you stay on track—or get back on track quickly.
Best Life Tenet: Stay focused on the things that matter.
Recommended Resource
Best Life Goal Planner
This is a powerful and proven tool designed to help you get clear, stay focused and remain consistent on all the things that will help you achieve your most important objectives. It’s worked for thousands of others—and it will work for you. It’s a workbook and resource manual for identifying, prioritizing, planning and accomplishing your dreams and goals.
