How to see projects through and to make 2020 your year.
Don’t think of it as a New Years Resolution. This is your year; this is your decade. Period.
Start small.
We’ve all been there. We want to take up a new project that’s seemingly feasible, and one or two months in, we crash and fall. Why? It’s because we don’t think of the long game. We have this great idea — which really could be great —and we’re excited about it now, but we have this predisposition that this idea will be fruitful in a day, a week, a month, even a year. When in reality, this project could be a work in progress for years!
When thinking about your goal and project list of 2020 and beyond, take some time to list and order them from the shortest (easiest), to longest (hardest) to fruition. Think of your ability to handle long term projects being your endurance. In order to increase endurance in cardio, you have to start by running short distances and working up from that. Apply that same logic to your project list. Start with completing goals that are shorter and easier. Not only will this cross some things off your list, but it will provide that satisfaction and motivation of, “Hey, I can actually see things through.” If we keep taking on projects that we don’t finish, we will inevitably create a habit of that. By starting off small, you’re essentially building up your endurance to not only handle, but finish bigger projects down the line.
Organize your goals/projects.
If you’re a visual person like I am, consider creating and organizing that same list from the previous section (and many, many more), through something like My Drive on Google. There you can easily create Sheets, Docs, and Forms and organize them all in one place. Seriously, Google, thank you. Sometimes, being able to clearly see your project list can be a huge motivator in and of itself. And again, if you’re anything like me, color-coding and other visual tools that are at your disposal can make creating these lists more exciting.
Truly understand yourself.
I seriously wouldn’t recommend this if I didn’t truly believe in it, but take a moment to meditate. Truly meditate. This doesn’t have to be in the form of sitting cross-legged, hands on either side of your thighs in that strange ‘okay’ hand position. You don’t even have to close your eyes (though I myself prefer to at least do that). Think about past experiences where you had an idea or project that didn’t pan out the way you had hoped. Why was that? What came between you and those projects (aka dreams)? Occasionally, it’s external factors that are beyond your control. That’s OK. More on that in the next section; but for now, think about the failed projects that were the result of your own laziness or losing motivation in general. More often than not, projects fail because of these reasons. We hear this phrase all the time:
People don’t change.
Maybe you believe that; maybe you don’t. But what we can all agree is this: Change is hard. That’s a fact. So even if you don’t think you can break some of these bad habits, take a minute to identify these shortcomings. Understanding what exactly derails your focused mind is the first step to finding a workaround.
Personally with one of my biggest projects, launching my photography site, one of the things that really discouraged me at first was not gaining any traffic. As months progressed, I saw little to no change in the number of people visiting my site. The same went for my Instagram. I’d post regularly but my followers and likes were constant; maybe a little bump here and there, but otherwise nothing spectacular. However, after I did some meditating, I learned that I was more so doing it for those numbers, and in a sense, the popularity, than anything else. Sure, businesses need to be popular to be successful, but my way of thinking was more focused on people liking me and my work, than my actual success. In the end, my photography was born because of my passion in it; because I loved it. This was before I made a business out of it. I shouldn’t let these numbers stop me from my passion. If anything, these numbers should only tell me that maybe I should try a different approach, or that I need to work harder and smarter. This realization really helped to put my mind at ease and to prevent myself from being discouraged, and to focus on pushing even harder.
Delays happen; it’s OK.
Life happens.
Yet another common phrase; and it’s usually in the context of not being able to complete something. However, it’s all about perspective when you come across these roadblocks. You can either see this as what it is: just a delay; a slight hiccup; temporary. Or, what we tend to do is to use these delays as a means to quit altogether. Why? Sometimes, we don’t like the idea of things getting messy. Better yet, we don’t expect things to get messy. Again, going back to the first section, we have to expect that projects might last a while, but we also have to expect that things won’t always go smoothly. If we don’t anticipate and mentally prepare for these aspects of the journey, it can be detrimental to our motivation and in turn, the completion of the project.
One way to take something negative like a delay, and to turn it into a positive, is to think of this moment as a good time to pause and do a checkup. Until now, we were all ‘Go! Go! Go!’ with this project, but if and when an inevitable delay comes up, we shouldn’t see it as a discouraging roadblock, but utilize it as a time to take a breather and look back at what we have so far. What have we accomplished since the start of this project? It’s doesn’t have to be monumental. Maybe we could have done something differently somewhere. Maybe this is the time to modify our plan a bit and continue with a fresh set of eyes. This delay can be good for your project’s overall health.
In conclusion: Remind yourself.
There will be times when you will want to quit. After all, we’ve quit before, so we know how easy it is to put the pen down and just call it. Maybe this isn’t right for you; maybe it isn’t the time for it now. Oh, but it is.
Remember: It’s your year and decade. Period. Level with me here; by now you know I wouldn’t lead you astray with this, so let’s take another minute to meditate. Think about that same passion you felt in the beginning of your journey. Put yourself in those shoes again. It’s easy to get jaded and lose sight of those pure emotions when the reality of the hard work kicks in and time goes by. But by meditating and reminding yourself of those same, exciting feelings you had months ago, years ago, you can relive and renew that same passion. I’m a firm believer that the mind is a powerful thing, and I invite you to not only believe in that yourself, but to take action in utilizing this powerful resource in your head to meditate occasionally; not only when things aren’t going your way, but even in good times. Meditate and think back about these successes and roadblocks that you overcame. Be proud. Give your mind some good thoughts, and in turn your mind will thank you in more ways than one.
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As always, thank you for your time in reading my articles. If anything resonated with you, feel free to check out some of my other articles related to this topic through my profile. Have a wonderful day.
