BANZA January 2016 Issue | Page 61

Have your biggest dreams written on a massive white board Your dreams and audacious goals should be written where you can consistently see them. I use a big whiteboard next to my desk. On the white board are my big goals, my weekly goals, and motivational quotes. This helps me keep the eye on the prize, maintain focus, and ward off the distractions that make their way into my day. Have only 3 things on your to-do list that MUST BE accomplished Don’t try and fill your day with too much. Sure, you’d like to get a lot accomplished, but there should be 3 (only 3) important tasks that NEED to be accomplished. Focus on these first. When they’re completed, and only when they’re completed, are you allowed to move on to other things. Too many people spread themselves thin. What ends up happening is they get overwhelmed, which crushes their motivation, and nothing gets done. Focus only on TODAY We can get lost in thinking about the future or regretting the past. What’s terrible about this is that while you’re worrying and wishing you were in a different position in life, someone else is working. Worry does no good. If you truly want to succeed you need to learn how to focus your mind only on the present. Do what you can do in the moment, work on the project at hand, accomplish your daily goals and tasks, and you’ll do the same with your bigger, lifelong goals and dreams. If you’re focused, you’ll stay motivated, you’ll get more done, and you’ll be where you want to be a lot faster. Practice discipline Discipline isn’t sexy, but it’s necessary. It’s in discipline that we gain freedom. We gain the freedom to get more done, to improve, and to remove regret from our lives. When you’re focused only on today, doing only what needs to be done in the now, nothing else matters. But discipline needs to be practiced every day. If you practice laziness and distraction, you’ll be left with nothing but regret and failure. Practice being successful by doing what successful people do every day: they remain disciplined. Remember, take it one day at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed with eternity when the present should be your only concern.