Keep Your Goals on Track with the No Flow Chart

Recommended listening “I Wish” by Skee-Lo

No this is not a knock on my lack of lyrical flow for the rap career that never was (#LongLiveDollarBillsBerngen).

Last week I wrote about successful tactics you could use to accomplish your goals in New Year, New You – Crafting a Plan for Success. But what happens when temptation comes into play?

If you’re anything like me, you have a ton of interests. Interests are like magical gallons of gasoline that can be used to start a passion fire that can blossom into a blaze of amazing goals. But if those blazes get out of control you can end up in a place of no accomplishment. You’ll be entranced in a never ending state of distraction with all of these new priorities that shift you away from your goals.

Here’s an example…

There was a time that I really wished I could learn how to build a hovercraft (I still want to do this). I started researching this project then abandoned it in favor of making a robot. But both the robot and the hovercraft were no match for my wish of starting a successful whiteboard business. I even got so far as to develop a great tag line…

“Got an idea…white it down.”

#NowThatsMarketing!  

All of those interests were like bottle rockets… a quick launch and a pop, followed by more launches and pops…. The pops signifying the lack of follow through. Pretty soon I had the most anti-climatic firework display of interests with no goals. My follow through on these interests could be found mixed in the shrapnel of the decaying bottle rocket paper. Interests, if not contained can be one of the biggest threats to achieving your goals. So how are you supposed to prevent this? Developing some self-discipline can go a long way. To do this, you have to learn how to start saying no, or at least, I’ll do it a little later. Here is what I call the “No Flow Chart.” I created this to help you keep focused on your goals.

The premise is simple, if it doesn’t relate to your goals, don’t do it (at least not now).

Follow this chart and pretty soon you’ll be on your way to accomplishing your goals. Eventually you’ll see those wishes turn into reality. Sorry Skee-Lo, no more wishes, just accomplishments here.