If you find yourself dreaming big but unable to get off of the ground, read this. We’ll show you how to tackle your goals in manageable portions so that you can finally start achieving them.
We all have things we’d like to achieve, but how often do we actually achieve them? The truth is, it’s much easier to think about doing things than to actually face the tasks of doing them. However, if you structure your time properly and break bigger tasks into a series of smaller ones, you can get a lot more done, without it seeming like a mammoth challenge.
The first thing you need to do is prioritise your objectives and then break them down into manageable sizes.
The reason most people fail to achieve their goals is that they try to do everything at once and end up telling themselves that they really don’t have time. And that’s true, you probably don’t have time to write the great American novel in a month, but you might if you allocate 30 minutes a day, every day for a year.
Make a Prioritised Schedule
It’s important to know which things in your day are worthy of your time and which aren’t. To do this, and decide which can go and which can stay, you can make a quick list of all of the things you do throughout your average day and then schedule in the things you wish to prioritise.
Be honest with yourself and include things like watching TV or procrastinating online and try to calculate just how much of your lives these things are taking up.
Once you’ve got your schedule, highlight the most unproductive areas and swap them for the starting the things you actually want to achieve.
Don’t get carried away! You still need to give yourself times when you can relax. So, if you watch TV for an hour a day, why not cut it down to 30mins? Or, schedule a longer period of time on a weekend or cheat day, where you can just switch off and relax.
Most importantly, don’t try to create time, by simply adding things to your current schedule, otherwise, you will find yourself overwhelmed and give up before you’ve even started.
What Do You Really Want?
Not knowing what we want is one thing that we are all guilty of and it holds most of us back.
When we get lofty ideas in our heads, we tend to first envision the end goal e.g. I’d like a nice car!
Next, we’ll work back, through all of the ways we could achieve that goal e.g. Get a new job, rob a bank, save your pocket money for the next 20 years.
Notice how all of those things are really vague? What you have is a lofty dream which is held together by stereotypical fantasies and, when you realise the ideas have no grounding in reality, you’ll come crashing back down to earth. And hey presto, you’re back to square one. No car, no new job, no swag from the bank, just a mind full of broken dreams.
So, how can you get to the stage where you have a clear goal of getting the things you want and know that you’re on the right path?
The first thing is you need to do is assess your goals properly. We used the example of a nice car being your goal, however, this is not actually a goal. It might be the product of achieving a milestone, but it’s not a goal, at least in any meaningful sense.
Your goals need to have a purpose and be things you can achieve even if you technically fail. Let’s take a skill e.g. playing the guitar.
It’s generally true that it takes about 10,000 hours to master a skill, which is a long time. Once you’ve mastered it, then it might turn into that car you wanted. However, are you really going to spend 10,000 hours doing something just to get a car? No!
Therefore, you have to ensure that you have an interest in the things you are doing. You’ll also have to weigh that interest out against the payout potential.
Affiliate marketing is a good one in this regard, as it has high payouts. However, if you’re not analytically minded then, while the payouts and parties might look sweet, you probably won’t enjoy it and, if you don’t enjoy it, you’ll give up.
Don’t Make Excuses About Starting
If you’re not sure what it is that you really want, then don’t spend ages wondering. Do some research, find out what other people are saying and then try a few small steps to get started.
Remember, you’ll never know until you try, so try. If you’re not sure how to even make your first step, then ask. Most people in most industries are happy to share their knowledge with others and their enthusiasm can often give you an added boost to get you motivated.
Be Patient and Be Consistent
Don’t expect instant results. You won’t get them. Everything in life takes time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.
Whenever you start something new, you’re always going to feel like the skinny guy in the gym. But remember, everyone is in that position at some point and the only reason they get through that stage is by sticking to their own plan.
Don’t be put off by success or assume that it was easy to come by. Use the success of others as verification that it is possible and proof that it has worked for others.
Success Comes From Failure
When you take on any new task, you will get things wrong and you will mess up. Welcome to life. You don’t know everything, but every time you make a mistake or something doesn’t work, then you have learned a valuable lesson and you’ll know for next time what not to do.
Most skills you’ll acquire in life come from knowing how not to do something, rather than knowing how to do it. Once you’ve ruled out all of the wrong ways, then all you’re left with are the right ones. And it’s just as important to experiment and understand why the wrong methods don’t work as it is to know why the right ones do.
Imagine you want to become an architect. Understanding what makes a structure stand and what makes it fall are key to creating a safe design. Would you trust an architect to build an innovative skyscraper if they only had the knowledge of what could stand and no knowledge of what could make it fall?
The more you know about any skill, the fewer blind spots you’ll have and the better rounded your knowledge will be.
Summary
Here’s a quick breakdown of the things you’ll need to do when starting out a new skill and affiliate marketing is no different.
Prioritise and find out where in your life you have time for improvement. Even if it’s just 20 minutes a day, to begin with. According to psychological studies, it takes about 66 days for a task to become habitual. Once you have this base, you can build from it much more easily.
Work out what it is that you really want to do and make sure you enjoy it. Do some research to begin with and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Take small steps and don’t get put off by the expertise of others. Everyone starts somewhere and you’re no different.
Don’t let failure get you down. It’s a huge part of learning and everyone makes mistakes.