How To Accomplish Any Goal

Alto Planner
Aug 9, 2017 · 3 min read

This is the final post in our productivity and time management series. If you’ve missed any of the previous two posts, you can read part 1 here, and part 2 here.

So now that you’ve decided what to work on next, and you know how to keep track of your big picture while working on everyday’s tasks, how do you make consistent progress every day, and avoid getting distracted by time wasting activities?

In other words, once you’ve set the destination, you know the map, you have the time, and you can do the work, what is stopping you?

Most often, the answer is lack of momentum!

Whether you’re writing a book, making an app, or launching a business, you need willpower to get started, and to gain momentum.

That willpower is often met with internal resistance in form of procrastination, analysis paralysis, and fear of failure.

Most people quit in that early phase, because the longer you’ve been waiting, the more resistance builds up, and the more willpower you will need to get started.

And the best trick to eliminate the need for willpower altogether, and to make success feel automatic and almost effortless, is to create a system of daily rituals.

Rituals are the best way to program your subconscious mind to move you along a specific direction, toward a clear goal, even during those days when you don’t feel like it!

Those rituals add the “no matter what” to your daily work, so you don’t need even inspiration or discipline to get started and to keep going.

When a ritual gains escape velocity from the gravity of resistance, you create an ongoing momentum that you can use to accomplish any goal you have.

With the right rituals, most of your daily energy will be used to do the work, rather than to fight the resistance to get started.

Rituals also have a compound effect in two distinct ways: every day builds up on the previous days’ outcome, and every ritual multiplies the effects of other rituals, so you’re progressing toward your goals on an exponential path, rather than a linear one.

And even if you don’t have a specific goal, the right rituals will lead to guaranteed growth and success in your personal and professional life.

Convinced?

Good!

So which rituals should you adopt?

While the rituals you select will depend on the goals you’re trying to accomplish, here are the best rituals that helped me create major positive transformation in my personal and professional life:

Morning rituals:
- Drinking a full glass of water upon waking up
- Meditating (15 minutes)
- Writing in my morning journal (15 minutes)
- Listing 3 things that I am grateful for (5 minutes)
- Going for a 1.5 mile run (15 minutes)
- Doing the 7-minute workout (15 minutes coz I do it twice)
- Reviewing my week’s goals and prioritize my day’s tasks (10 minutes)

Evening rituals:
- Evaluating and reflecting on my daily accomplishments and mistakes (15 minutes)
- Taking time off from all gadgets and screens an hour prior to bed (Kindle is an exception)
- Reading fiction or biographies (30 minutes)
- Meditating (15 minutes)

Goal-specific rituals:
- Becoming an author: write 1,000 words every day, first thing after morning rituals
- Becoming an entrepreneur: talk to one customer every day, prototype a new app every week
- Becoming a designer: copy one UI screen every day
- Learning to code: create a very basic and simple app every day
- Becoming healthy: eat a healthy meal every 3 hours, exercise 6 days a week

As for getting things done, I use a Pomodoro timer, and I work for uninterrupted focus chunks of 50 minutes (no emails, social media, news or phone calls), then take a 10 minute break. If you’re having hard time with distractions during your focus chunk, I recommend using Forest app.

It usually takes about 30 days to install a new ritual. You should do it every day at the same time and place, and you should not skip the weekends.

Once you have it up and running, you’ll perform it automatically, and you will feel that your progress is happening effortlessly, because you no longer need to exercise your willpower to do the work, and you will be working toward your goal, even when you don’t feel like it.

Alto Planner

Written by

The ulatimate planner to help you work on the right tasks, keep track of the big picture, and accomplish all your goals. Sign up FREE at http://altoplanner.com

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