The Weakness of Strength

3 Steps To Use Your Strengths and Weaknesses To Improve Your Performance

Step 1: Stop focusing on weaknesses

Focusing on weaknesses will set you on a downward spiral. It will lower your self-esteem, blur your vision, it might even get you focused in the wrong direction.
The truth is, you will never be perfect. You will always have weaknesses that will accompany you throughout your life. Should you completely forget about them? Absolutely not! Understanding what your weaknesses are helps you plan ahead, hire the right team, because where you are weak, somebody else might excel.

One of the reasons why people are doing what they're not good at is because they focus too much on their weaknesses.

Let's say that Larry is a business owner and he resists the systems. His way of dealing with problems is to avoid them and create shortcuts. But as an entrepreneur his business can't run without proper systems. Larry has a decision to make. He can either force himself to do what he's not good at and create lots of stress in his business and life by focusing on this task, or he can hire somebody who will thrive in this area while he focuses on his unique expertise.

Both options will cost him. First one will cost him his time, energy and probably well-being. Second option will cost him money. The question remains - how valuable his time, energy and well-being are to Larry.

Today I challenge you to stop focusing on your weaknesses and shift your perspective. Accept the fact that you will never be perfect and step on the road toward your life purpose. All it takes is a decision.

Step 2: Understand your strengths

One of the side-effects of focusing on weaknesses is loss of perspective. Most of the time weaknesses will block your view and cause you to not see your real strengths.
Is it possible that who you are is totally fine and you don't have to "fix" yourself to improve your performance? I strongly believe that the reason why you're not seeing the results you want is not because you need to strengthen your weak spots, but because you're not strengthening your strong spots!

Ask yourself these questions...
What am I good at?
What are my core strengths?
Where should my focus be?

Couple years ago I've learned what my core strengths are. It took me couple years to understand how ground breaking this information is, but once I did, my life was never the same. Suddenly I knew that no matter how much I want to do something or how much I know about something, there are things I will or will not do. I've learned that by being myself I will be able to not only do my best job, but to also avoid wasting my energy on tasks that can (and should) be delegated.

I invite you to take yet another step today. Click here to schedule a Freedom To Be You consultation with me to discover your core strengths and...

Step 3: Maximize your potential 

If you study the top performers out there, you'll notice that they have one thing in common. They're maximizing their potential in the area of their focus. They're not trying to be everything to everybody. And they don't pretend to know it all. So why should you?

Once you turn your focus away from your weaknesses and start discovering your core strengths, your next step should be to focus on expanding your strengths and maximizing your potential.
How do you do that? I wish the answer was as simple as 1-2-3, but it's not. Still, here are couple tips that might be helpful to you as you walk this life-long journey...

Think in terms of progress, not perfection. Life is about constant improvement. Take it easy, yet, challenge yourself.

Compare your performance on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. You've heard me right. When you need to compare, you compare your performance with your own, not somebody else's.

Ask for help. It's important to remember that nobody does anything great alone. You can't succeed alone. What makes a difference is a caliber of people you surround yourself with.

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What Are Your Strengths And Weaknesses? How Answering These Questions Can Help You Achieve Happiness

Often, especially when we're interviewing for a new job, we are asked "what are your strengths and weaknesses?" Some of us have an easy time figuring out what our strengths are; others have an easier time identifying their weaknesses. Whatever category you fall into, knowing who you are helps us discover our strengths and weaknesses, and how to re-enforce our strengths and mitigate or eliminate our weaknesses.

In order to find out what your strengths truly are, look at your talents. Are you a good chef, or a musician? What about an athlete or a good friend? What we often call as "talents" are actually titles that surround our talents. If we look at these titles you can discover the true underlying talents. For example, what denotes a good friend? Loyalty, compassion, and trustworthiness, are just some of the traits that I would use to define the qualities of a good friend. What makes a good chef? Their creativity, fearlessness, and passion are all things that come to mind when I think of good chefs. These adjectives are all strengths that when combined define the title of our talents.

Our weaknesses can be found in the areas of our life that inhibit us from achieving our goals. One seemingly positive weakness that many people have is that they're people pleasers. They will take on too much work in attempts to please others, which results in our inability to finish our work or an inability to produce the quality of work we typically produce. Another common weakness is procrastination. Many people today suffer from procrastination due to the ease of surfing the internet. There are even shortcuts built into computer systems that allow us to easily maneuver between windows allowing us to quickly hide the fact that we were just online instead of writing a report when our boss walks by.

Now that we know the answer to "what are your strengths and weaknesses?" We can now go about trying to figure out the best way of utilizing our strengths and either eliminating or mitigating our weaknesses. After identifying our strengths, we need to go about finding the best way for them to be utilized in our given profession, or in the various professions we are interested in pursuing. If one of your strengths is actually a trait that would not be accommodating to the job you're applying for or currently working, chances are you're not happy with where your professional life.

To mitigate or eliminate your weaknesses you're going to have to first acknowledge that they are in fact weaknesses, and second be dedicated to either mitigate them or eliminate them completely. For example if you're a people pleaser you're most likely going to want to mitigate this weakness so it doesn't impair the quality of your life or work you produce, but you still want to be able to please your boss or your significant other. Procrastination on the other hand is going to be one of those weaknesses you're going to want to eliminate. If you can't help surfing the internet instead of doing the work expected of you, you need to be disciplined and not even open up the web browser if possible. Eliminating the temptation to procrastinate often helps us in training ourselves how to be productive.

Ultimately in the end we really want to be able to answer the question " what are your strengths and weaknesses?" because it helps us understand who we are and what we should be doing with our lives that will bring us the greatest joy, happiness, and fulfillment. In the end, happiness is really what everyone is looking for, and you can only be happy once you know who you are, and take responsibility for your life by accepting all your strengths and weaknesses.

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How to Learn About Your Strengths and Weaknesses

The key to professional development and leadership capability begins with the Greek maxim: know thyself. It's lack of self knowledge - either grossly overestimating our abilities (one piece of research surveying 11,000 people found 33% of leaders overestimated their leadership ability) or profoundly underestimating what we are capable of (how many people do you know with chronically low self-esteem?) - that leads to failure.

Here are five techniques for KNOWING YOURSELF even better. They are an excellent smorgasbord to be used in a coaching situation or to be drawn out in an appraisal discussion as the manager helps the employee get to grips with self-development.

1) Get 360° feedback -

From family, friends, peers, subordinates, bosses, customers, suppliers - anyone who gives quality feedback. Getting quality feedback is arguably the single most important thing you can do to improve yourself. In America they have the expression, 'Feedback is the breakfast of champions'. So the question becomes: where will you get good feedback?

A good idea is for you to list the people you know, like and trust - who can help? When and how will you ask them?

2) Test yourself using psychological profiles and other valid and objective insights:

For example, Learning style profile (Kolb), Team style profiles (Belbin), Personality style profiles (Myers-Briggs), Motivational style profiles (Motivational Maps) etc. The named tools in brackets are just examples - there are others. By identifying your strengths and weaknesses here, you can then go to work on them by creating a plan.

What profiles will you complete? What will you do with them when they are done? A key task is to compare the type of person you are with the type of work you do - is there a fit?

3) Review your own life in detail:

What you have done speaks volumes about the real you, not the imaginary you - the false you that you have inadvertently constructed over time. What patterns emerge? Keep a diary or journal.

When will you start your journal? A key issue in building self-esteem is to log 3 achievements per day and then review your week and month regularly. This builds a portfolio of evidence that becomes believable to the subconscious mind - yours!

4) Stretch yourself by going out of the comfort zone:

Do things that that drive you to your limits. Children do this all the time - they sing in public for the first time, they undertake complex work, they go on some adventure trek - and as a result they grow at a tremendous rate.

What activity or learning will you undertake? Going out of the comfort zone is not to be confused with doing bizarre and dangerous things just because they are there, or because others do them. Find something - and often it is something you wanted to do as a child but never had the time - that really you'd feel proud of if you did it.

5) Use your imagination -

Daydream - ask 'what if?' - visualise yourself with knowledge, skills, talents that appeal to you. By focusing your mind on what you want or even on finding what you want, a powerful force is unleashed.

When will you visualise your possibilities? How? Under what conditions? The power of the imagination is virtually unlimited - everything that is came into existence via the imagination - it was seen in the mind's eye before it was 'created' literally or physically. Thus the more time is spent imaging ideal realities, the more likely it is that that reality will come to pass. It is important that when using visualisation and imaging techniques that we stay in a relaxed state of mind. A key extra point here is that if you have never experienced relaxation techniques before, the most well known being meditation, then I strongly recommend you find a teacher first to get you on your way.

So, we have it then: five techniques that will certainly boost your self-awareness, your understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, and which if appropriated - your choice - could make a major difference to the outcomes of your life. The added bonus is: they are all fun because learning is fun!

Have a go.

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3 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

"Focusing is about saying no" - Steve Jobs (WWDC'97)

Move From Dream to Actuality

Most of us have dreams. We see ourselves in a great job, imagine being in the ideal relationship, living in a great neighborhood, writing, creating visual art... But we're not there, and we don't seem to be getting any closer to being there. Why is that, and how do we change it? How do we move from dream to actuality

Dreams are a Great Beginning

The things we imagine come from someplace deeper than our conscious mind. The place in us that is like a powerful, winding river, inexorably moving under the surface of consciousness. Moving us along our life's path, whether we know it or not, whether we want to go that way or not. Moving us in the direction of being wholly who we are. This is the place of inspiration, the place that brings ideal visions to our minds. Unfortunately, most of us are too busy anxiously trying to navigate the boulders and branches in the river to notice where the river seems to be moving us.

The First Step is Awareness

Awareness of the dream, of what we're longing for. Taking the vision seriously-more seriously than the boulders and branches. Letting it flesh itself out; dreaming into the details. If you're in a relationship that isn't quite working for you, notice what your vision of the ideal relationship consists of. What stands in the way of having that in your current relationship? Is it only something your partner habitually does, or is it also because you haven't let him or her know how their behavior affects you, and what you need in the relationship? If you feel stuck in your job, are there things you can do to change it, or could you move into a job that matches you better? If you'd like to start writing, painting or photography, is it really that there's no time or is it something else?

Overcoming the Fear

One thing that's in the way when we try to move from dream to reality is that when we think about doing it, a kind of lethargy or fatigue comes over us. This feeling is often just (just!) fear of the unknown, and when it's allowed to go on for a while, it can turn into depression. The lethargy is something inside saying "You can't do that; you don't know how; you're not good enough/smart enough; it's too risky." The vision is energizing, but when you take it seriously enough to actually think about taking a step in that direction, the inner fear takes over.

Fear is Okay

Fear is natural, because you're contemplating jumping into the unknown. Notice all the details of the fear and have a dialogue with it, as if it's a character inside of you. Often, it's actually a part of you that's trying to protect you. Let it tell you what it's afraid of. Then, together, come up with a way to take what it's saying into account. That often makes it easier to begin to move from dream to reality.

Now We're Moving!

Now you can take the first step. One of the best ways to start-keeping your vision in mind-is to divide getting there into small pieces. Notice which one is the easiest and do that one first, then enjoy your accomplishment. After that, either it gets easier to go one step after the other or you do the next easiest and enjoy your accomplishment. For example, if you hate your job and you've decided to move on, make a list of all the salient parts of the ideal job of your dreams. Does it involve interacting with a lot of people or being alone? Is it outside, in an office or maybe in a mixture of settings? Do you have fixed hours or flexible hours? What kinds of activities are involved? Etc., etc.
Now, do some research on the kinds of jobs that meet all or at least some of your vision. Do you already have all the education, skills and experience to move into such a job, or do you need to acquire more of some of them? If you do need more skills or education, what's the first thing you can do? What's the easiest thing? If you already have all that's required, what is the easiest step you can take to move in the direction of being in that job.

Now, Actually Do It!

That's the really important thing to move from dream to actuality-you have to actually do something. Darn it! So many times, the dream is so satisfying. Unfortunately, imagining yourself in the new, better situation is way easier than getting yourself to actually do what it takes to get there. One solution: creating a concrete activity and setting yourself a deadline for getting it done. Once you've accomplished the activity, give yourself credit, celebrate. Then create the next concrete activity and another deadline. Give yourself consequences for not doing it. For example, I can't do "x" until I've done the next step. Then ask, "Did I do the step? If not, what's stopping me?" It could be that fear voice from above, in which case, have the dialogue again and find out how to assuage the fear so that you can move on.

If You Need Help

If you do all of what's described above, you'll find yourself in the place of your dream.

Sometimes it takes getting some help from a coach.

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Why Reinvent Yourself?

What does reinvent yourself mean, and why would you do it? First of all, you are here now, already invented. Who are you, and what are you all about? You must answer this question before you can begin to take charge of your life, plan, and implement your plan to take your life in a different direction. Also, by spending time to define and understand your life as it is, you can think about how it turned out that way.

For some folks, the reinvention is to find a new job. Others want a change of scenery. They choose to live somewhere else. It is heartbreaking for everyone involved, but some decide to leave their family to start over, and in rarer instances, they leave their name, their heritage, and even their beliefs behind in order to start with a blank sheet of paper. Of course, none of these actions guarantee a rise in your happiness. Things will be different. Perhaps, it is better to test drive before you make a drastic change in your life.

One of my favorite sayings is, "Just because you thought of it, does not make that a good idea." Perhaps you need the counsel of a wise person who is a trusted friend. Wise means level-headed, experienced, and someone who must be convinced. It does you no good to take a thought to a friend who always agrees with everything that you want to do. Also, should you confide in social media freak, that person may broadcast your thought widely, which could compel you to reinvent before you were ready to make that decision.

There is another side to this. Do you have family responsibilities, moral obligations, or will people suffer because you choose to abandon them? Many people look back on the tragedies in their lives in order to self-analyze how they handled them. The ones who say that they did the best they could to "right the ship," can justifiably take pride as they identify themselves to be among the heart and soul of humanity. But, if you decide to reinvent, to walk away from everyone and everything important in your life, then you will have to be satisfied with your "it's all about me above everything else" decision. If no one else could count on you, then why does anyone anywhere need you around? That is harsh, but this is why you should be careful, consult with a trusted friend, and plan your reinvention to be least hurtful to others. Guilt is a poor substitute for unhappiness.

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How to Get What You Want in 2017

It is almost 2017 and time to start thinking about those New Year's resolutions but the problem with New Year's resolutions is that so few people actually achieve them. Why is this and what can you do to make sure you actually get what you want in 2017?

1. Write Down Your New Year's Resolutions and Set SMART goals
The first step towards achieving what you want is to actually write it down and turn resolutions into goals. An unwritten resolution is quickly forgotten and unless you have some written, specific goals chances are you are just going to be wandering. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. In other words, say exactly what you want to achieve, by when and have ways of measuring how you are getting along.

2. Develop Habits and Consistency
Another problem that often occurs with New Year's resolutions is that people do not form habits and develop consistency in those actions that are going to get them there. For instance, if you want to lose weight, it needs to become a habit to exercise and eat healthy foods. They say it takes 21 days to develop a habit but it is actually better to consistently stick to it for 63 days to ensure that the habit is well entrenched into your lifestyle before taking any breaks. Not all habits need to be done every day but you do need to be consistent in doing those things that will get you towards your goal.

3. Track and Measure
Set smaller goals and ways of measuring how you are making progress towards your major goal and then track these. Start by tracking those habits that it will take to get you there - how many times have you exercised this week for example. As you are tracking you will see how even the small steps count and will be more motivated to keep moving towards your major goal.

4. Stay Positive
Your mindset has a huge role to play in whether you are going to achieve your goals or not. Always try to remain positive and think positively. Focus on what it is you want but don't beat yourself up over setbacks or slip ups, you will get times where things don't go perfectly or you may have a setback but just keep going and you will get there.

Instead of just setting some New Year's Resolutions for this next year why not turn them into actionable goals, develop habits that will help you achieve them and track these consistently. Keep positive and all the best for achieving whatever it is you want to achieve in 2017.

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One-step-at-a-time - goal achieving cartoon doodle video

How to Be More Confident

Never give up by Nick Vujicic

Self motivation

Being self-motivated and taking initiative is vitally important to most employers. No one wants to babysit a new member of staff through their work. Equally, however, it is not right to simply ignore instructions or advice and do what you feel is right. So how do you get a balance?

What is self-motivation?

Being self-motivated is about doing your job well because you want to, and not simply because it pays your wages. Self-motivated individuals want to be the best they can be regardless of where they work and will often take responsibility for projects even when they do not need to.

Self-motivated individuals tend to:

• Work longer and later than others
• Learn new skills and take regular training courses
• Take ownership of problems
• Become team leaders
• Go above and beyond their job description

Why do employers want self-motivated people?

Self-motivated employees need a lot less managing than less determined individuals, so are highly sought after by recruitment agencies and HR departments.

If you are self-motivated, you will normally want everything you do to be of the highest quality and you will always see the bigger picture that the company is looking at. Self-motivated individuals are motivated by improving themselves, and they only way they can do this is by making the company they work for better.

How can you show you have it?

Desire and self-motivation are difficult qualities to show. Expect to be asked questions about times when you have risen to a challenge or taken control of a situation. Employers are looking for people who have taken charge of a situation and solved it in a creative or innovative way. Fundraising is a good way to show initiative, as is times when you’ve identified a problem and come up with a solution.

You can also demonstrate self-motivation by emphasising the quality of your work and the impact it has had on your studies or previous jobs.







How is self-motivation used in the world of work?

It is much easier to demonstrate self-motivation once you’ve actually landed the job. Little things like getting to work ten minutes early are noticed. Make sure you ask your manager questions and show a desire to do well – if your manager identifies an issue, go away, think about it and try to come up with a solution. Enthusiasm can go a long way.

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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF - Motivational Video (ft. Jaret Grossman & Eric Thomas)

The surprising secret to speaking with confidence | Caroline Goyder | TEDxBrixton

42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself - Part 4

This is Part 4 of 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself

31. Stop watching TV. I’ve not been watching TV for pretty much 4 years and it’s been a very liberating experience. I realized most of the programs and advertisements on mainstream TV are usually of a lower consciousness and not very empowering. In return, the time I’ve freed up from not watching TV is now constructively used for other purposes, such as connecting with close friends, doing work I enjoy, exercising, etc.

32. Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or something you’ve always wanted to do but have not. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal.

33. Meditate. Meditation helps to calm you and be more conscious. I also realized that during the nights when I meditate (before I sleep), I need lesser sleep. The clutter clearing process is very liberating.

34. Join Toastmasters (Learn public speaking). Interestingly, public speaking is the #1 fear in the world, with #2 being death. After I started public speaking as a personal development speaker/trainer, I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate better, present myself and engage people. Toastmasters is an international organization that trains people in public speaking. Check out the Toastmaster clubs nearest to you here.

35. Befriend top people in their fields. These people have achieved their results because they have the right attitudes, skill sets and know-how. How better to learn than from the people who have been there and done that? Gain new insights from them on how you can improve and achieve the same results for yourself.

36. Let go of the past. Is there any grievance or unhappiness from the past which you have been holding on? If so, it’s time to let it go. Holding on to them prevents you from moving on and becoming a better person. Break away from the past, forgive yourself, and move on. Just recently, I finally moved on from a past heartbreak of 5 years ago. The effect was liberating and very empowering, and I have never been happier.

37. Start a business venture. Is there anything you have an interest in? Why not turn it into a venture and make money while learning at the same time? Starting a new venture requires you to be learn business management skills, develop business acumen and have a competitive edge. The process of starting and developing my personal development business has equipped me with many skills, such as self-discipline, leadership, organization and management.

38. Show kindness to people around you. You can never be too kind to someone. In fact, most of us don’t show enough kindness to people around us. Being kind helps us to cultivate other qualities such as compassion, patience, and love. As you get back to your day after reading this article later on, start exuding more kindness to the people around you, and see how they react. Not only that, notice how you feel as you behave kindly to others. Chances are, you will feel even better than yourself.

39. Reach out to the people who hate you. If you ever stand for something, you are going to get haters. It’s easy to hate the people who hate us. It’s much more challenging to love them back. Being able to forgive, let go and show love to these people requires magnanimity and an open heart. Is there anyone who dislikes or hates you in your life? If so, reach out to them. Show them love. Seek a resolution and get closure on past grievances. Even if they refuses to reciprocate, love them all the same. It’s much more liberating than to hate them back.

40. Take a break. Have you been working too hard? Self-improvement is also about recognizing our need to take a break to walk the longer mile ahead. You can’t be driving a car if it has no petrol. Take some time off for yourself every week. Relax, rejuvenate and charge yourself up for what’s up ahead.

41. Read at least 1 personal development article a day. Some of my readers make it a point to read at least one personal development article every day, which I think is a great habit

42. Commit to your personal growth. I can be writing list articles with 10 ways, 25 ways, 42 ways or even 1,000 ways to improve yourself, but if you’ve no intention to commit to your personal growth, it doesn’t matter what I write. Nothing is going to get through. We are responsible for our personal growth – not anyone else. Not your mom, your dad, your friend, me or LifeHack. Make the decision to commit to your personal growth and embrace yourself to a life-long journey of growth and change. Kick off your growth by picking a few of the steps above and working on them. The results may not be immediate, but I promise you that as long as you keep to it, you’ll start seeing positive changes in yourself and your life.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article or anything about personal growth. Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment below and I’ll get back to you! If you have any other suggestions to add to the list, please share with us too!


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42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself - Part 3

This is Part 3 of 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself

21. Quit a bad habit. Are there any bad habits you can lose? Oversleeping? Not exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail biting? Smoking? Here’s some help on how you can quit a bad habit.

22. Cultivate a new habit. Some good new habits to cultivate include reading books (#1), waking up early (#8), exercising (#9), reading a new personal development article a day (#40) and meditating. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself?

23. Avoid negative people. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Wherever we go, there are bound to be negative people. Don’t spend too much of your time around them if you feel they drag you down.

24. Learn to deal with difficult people. There are times when there are difficult people you can’t avoid, such as at your workplace, or when the person is part of your inner circle of contacts. Learn how to deal with them. These people management skills will go a long way in working with people in the future.

25. Learn from your friends. Everyone has amazing qualities in them. It’s up to how we want to tap into them. With all the friends who surround you, they are going to have things you can learn from. Try thinking of a good friend right now. Think about just one quality they have which you want to adopt. How can you learn from them and adopt this skill for yourself? Speak to them if you need to – for sure, they will be more than happy to help!

26. Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging.

27. Start a blog about personal development. To help others grow, you need to first be walking the talk. There are expectations of you, both from yourself and from others, which you have to uphold. I run The Personal Excellence Blog, where I share my personal journey and insights on how to live a better life. Readers look toward my articles to improve themselves, which enforces to me that I need to keep improving, for myself and for the people I’m reaching out to.

28. Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. Many of my clients approach me to coach them in their goals and they achieve significantly more results than if they had worked alone.

29. Reduce the time you spend on chat programs. I realized having chat programs open at default result in a lot of wasted time. This time can be much better spent on other activities. The days when I don’t get on chat, I get a lot more done. I usually disable the auto start-up option in the chat programs and launch them when I do want to chat and really have the time for it.

30. Learn chess (or any strategy game). I found chess is a terrific game to learn strategy and hone your brainpower. Not only do you have fun, you also get to exercise your analytical skills. You can also learn strategy from other board games or computer games, such as Othello, Chinese Chess, WarCraft, and so on.

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How to Achieve Your Goals Easily

In the last 6 months, I’ve experimented with a simple strategy that has improved my work and my health.

Using this one basic idea, I have made consistent progress on my goals every single week without incredible doses of willpower or remarkable motivation.

Today, I want to share how I use this strategy and how you can apply it to your own life to improve your health and your work.

 

The Problem with How We Usually Set Goals

If you’re anything like the typical human, then you have dreams and goals in your life. In fact, there are probably many things — large and small — that you would like to accomplish.
That’s great, but there is one common mistake we often make when it comes to setting goals. (I know I’ve committed this error many times myself.)

The problem is this: we set a deadline, but not a schedule.

We focus on the end goal that we want to achieve and the deadline we want to do it by. We say things like, “I want to lose 20 pounds by the summer” or “I want to add 50 pounds to my bench press in the next 12 weeks.”

The problem with this is that if we don’t magically hit the arbitrary timeline that we set in the beginning, then we feel like a failure … even if we are better off than we were at the start. The end result, sadly, is that we often give up if we don’t reach our goal by the initial deadline.

I’ve mentioned this idea multiple times before. For example, in making the mistake of putting performance goals before your identity or in choosing life–changing transformations over daily lifestyle choices.

Here’s the good news: there’s a better way and it’s simple.

The Power of Setting a Schedule, Not a Deadline

In my experience, a better way to approach your goals is to set a schedule to operate by rather than a deadline to perform by.

Instead of giving yourself a deadline to accomplish a particular goal by (and then feeling like a failure if you don’t achieve it), you should choose a goal that is important to you and then set a schedule to work towards it consistently.

That might not sound like a big shift, but it is.

How to Achieve Your Goals: The Idea in Practice

Most of the time, I try to be a practitioner of my ideas and not just someone who shares their opinion, so allow me to explain this strategy by using two real examples from my own life.

Example 1: Writing

As you know, I publish a new article every Monday and Thursday. Since my first article on November 12, 2012, I’ve never missed a scheduled date. Sometimes the article is shorter than expected, sometimes it’s not as compelling as I had hoped, and sometimes it’s not as useful as it could be … but it gets out to the world and into your inbox.

The results of this simple schedule have been amazing. Our little community has grown, seemingly without effort. We now have over 1,100 people (welcome friends!) who are committed to living a healthy life and who are actively supporting one another. Onwards to 5,000 strong!

Imagine if I had set a deadline for myself instead, like “get 1,000 subscribers in 12 weeks.” There’s no way I would have written every Monday and Thursday and if I didn’t reach my goal, then I would have felt like a failure.

Instead, we are slowly building one of the most incredible communities online. (By the way, thank you for all of the emails, tweets, and messages on fat loss, lifting weights, living longer, and forming better habits. Keep them coming! I’m always happy to get your questions and I’ll do my best to help however I can.)

Example 2: Exercise

Back in August, I decided that I wanted to do 100 pushups in a row with strict form. When I tried it the first time, I only got 36.

In the past, I might have set a deadline for myself: “Do 100 pushups by December 31st.”

Instead, I decided to set a schedule for my workouts. I started doing pushup workouts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So far, the only workouts I’ve missed were on long travel days from this trip in Istanbul and this trip in San Francisco.

I have no total pushup goal for any single workout. The goal is simply to do the workout. Just like I have no goal for any single article that I write. The goal is to publish the article.

The result, of course, is that after doing 77 pushup workouts I’ve made a lot of progress. If you’re interested, you can see every workout here.

Focus on the Practice, Not the Performance

Do you see how the two examples above are different than most goals we set for ourselves?
In both cases (writing and exercise), I made consistent progress towards my goals not by setting a deadline for my performance, but by sticking to a schedule.

Productive and successful people practice the things that are important to them on a consistent basis. The best weightlifters are in the gym at the same time every week. The best writers are sitting down at the keyboard every day. And this same principle applies to the best leaders, parents, managers, musicians, and doctors.

The strange thing is that for top performers, it’s not about the performance, it’s about the continual practice.

The focus is on doing the action, not on achieving X goal by a certain date.

The schedule is your friend. You can’t predict when you’ll have a stroke of genius and write a moving story, paint a beautiful portrait, or make an incredible picture, but the schedule can make sure that you’re working when that stroke of genius happens.

You can’t predict when your body feels like setting a new personal record, but the schedule can make sure that you’re in the gym whether you feel like it or not.

It’s about practicing the craft, not performing at a certain level. (We’re talking about practice. Not a game, not a game. Practice.)

If you want to be the type of person who accomplishes things on a consistent basis, then give yourself a schedule to follow, not a deadline to race towards.

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