Basically, we can do better by deciding when and where we will take action on our goals.
In Heidi Grant Halvorson’s nifty little book, “9 Things Successful People Do Differently,” she places strategies of accomplished people on display. She believes that they reach their goals because of what they do, not what they were born with. And she boldly maintains that we can achieve our goals, too!
Here are three of her nine “things.”
Seize the Moment to Act on Your Goals
This is my favorite of Grant Halvorson’s nine things. She writes: “Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them.”
Basically, we can do better by deciding when and where we will take action on our goals. In fact, she says research shows this strategy can increase our chances of seizing opportunities by 300% by making statements like, “I will read and respond to emails at 8 a.m., every weekday.”
She also promotes “if-then” planning. For example, she writes, “If I haven’t written the report before lunch, then I will make it the first thing I do when I return.”
Why this is effective has something to do with algebraic expressions, I think. Grant Halvorson says it’s the way our brains work. “Human beings are particularly good at encoding and remembering information in ‘If X, then Y’ terms.”
Be a Realistic Optimist
We’ve heard a lot about positive thinking and believing we can achieve what we can imagine. This is all great and can be supremely helpful in motivating us to focus on our goals. But the tricky part is when we think this is all we have to do. Grant Halverson states, “Don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort and persistence.”
And that’s the difference between being a realistic optimist and wishing upon a star under Flagstaff’s dark skies. Grant Halverson says “visualizing effortless success is unhelpful,” even “disastrous.” She goes on to state that believing you can succeed and believing you can succeed effortlessly are two very different things.
Focus on What You Will Do, Not What You Won’t Do
This strategy is perhaps best demonstrated by the last time you said you would never do something again, like eat more than one small scoop of ice cream in one sitting. Grant Halvorson writes, “Too often, people concentrate all their efforts on what they want to stop doing and fail to consider how they will fill the void.”
Don’t believe it? She says research reveals that trying to avoid something makes it more active in our mind. For example, “Don’t think about white bears!” she writes. If your brain is frolicking with polar bears on sea ice somewhere in the Arctic right now, she has this advice, “If you want to change your ways, ask yourself, what will I do instead?” QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
“9 Things Successful People Do Differently” was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2012.
Bonnie Stevens is the editor of FBN. She is a career journalist and public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.