You're working on your 1/5/10 plan and being led away by distractions and temptations ... how do you stay on track?

[th.ri.ll]

Hi All,

This is something I've pondering recently.

Any successful person that's working towards their goals (whether it be business, fitness, relationships) etc has a period, sometimes years, where they are grinding with little to no dopamine feedback.

During this period, it's hard to stay on track and not get tempted and be distracted by things that provide short - term pleasure and are opposite of your goals. Likely all you are doing is work, working out, working again on your dreams, and then repeat with little to no times for friends, family, events, etc ...

My question is what are the mindset changes/strategies that need to be adapted in order to power through this grind period? You hear all about discipline, focus, etc but very few have the power to go through a period of time in which they are not getting short term pleasure and dopamine feedback.

I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on how you stay on track or incorporate some fun/free time while you are working hard and grinding on closing the gap between your present and your future goals.

 

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[Jobless]

Easiest solution to stay on track is to remove temptation. Remove, not resist.

Let's say you love watching TV.

The thought of watching TV and relaxing is more tempting than the reality of actually doing it. When you see the TV by your sofa, the temptation occurs in you and you fall for it. You respond to a visual cue and it becomes your routine. You condition yourself for reward by responding to the cue.

If you get rid of the TV, the reality of the activity does not change, but you do not get tempted anymore. It is now a memory, not a daily sensory reminder. You can get a new TV, but there are obstacles to be crossed, so it becomes a hassle.

Instead of responding to a bad temptation, you can put positive objects in your surrounding or in your digital space. See running shoes -- go for a run. See educational book -- read it. See your current project on the desk -- work on it.

When you decide to be social or have fun, you do it 100%. It's not great when you mix work and play and neither feels enjoyable.

 

[Sersss]

you always need to have your BIG GOAL in sight (and on paper). If you committed it to a bunch of people - even better! Know why you wake up in the mornings. Remember that we all are human beings and it's hard to continually move towards our goals like a machine. So don't get upset if you take a break. Just try to get back on track ASAP. Think about it like this: "I fell, but I'm going to get up and make another step towards my goal. It is important for me and it's my choice and responsibility to reach it".

 

[ADL84]

you always need to have your BIG GOAL in sight (and on paper). If you committed it to a bunch of people - even better! Know why you wake up in the mornings. Remember that we all are human beings and it's hard to continually move towards our goals like a machine. So don't get upset if you take a break. Just try to get back on track ASAP. Think about it like this: "I fell, but I'm going to get up and make another step towards my goal. It is important for me and it's my choice and responsibility to reach it".

This! If you have a clear goal, that is truly yours, not created by others, then it should be easier to find focus and energy. If not, perhaps your goal is not the right goal?

 

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[Sersss]

This! If you have a clear goal, that is truly yours, not created by others, then it should be easier to find focus and energy. If not, perhaps your goal is not the right go

This! If you have a clear goal, that is truly yours, not created by others, then it should be easier to find focus and energy. If not, perhaps your goal is not the right goal?

Better to have some goal than none at all) Following goals develops a good habit in you. You can later adjust it to your growing needs)

 

[Andreas Thiel]

I can say that the big goal, no matter how hard I believe in its potential and viability is not enough to keep me going. If you can't break the big goal down in doable chunks it might be time to look for a springboard project.

Same with removing temptation. "The power of habit" says you can't just erase a habit. You need to study it and replace the routine aspect plus maybe find a more appropriate reward. It is also difficult to figure out exactly what the trigger and its desire it causes are exactly.

Have yet to see how well it works for me, but currently me hopes are based 1. on the idea that striking out the smaller weekly goals in a productivity to do list provides the rush I need and 2. that there are some parts in my daily routine that allow me to unwind and feel positive emotions unrelated to business progress (mostly piano in my case) and 3. I remove any kind of impediment asap and address feeling of overwhelm by simplifying things so that they require less willpower in general.

I think there can be too many little willpower and time parasites in your life that seem like they can be tolerated, but at some point they run the show if you do that.

 

[tysoncazier]

My question is what are the mindset changes/strategies that need to be adapted in order to power through this grind period? You hear all about discipline, focus, etc but very few have the power to go through a period of time in which they are not getting short term pleasure and dopamine feedback.

I'm not sure if this is addressing what you are asking or not...but something that I have found to very helpful is a vision board routine.

Sometimes I will hit times in my business (like right now) where I am grinding, grinding, grinding and I'm not getting a lot of physical results (even though I know Im planting seeds for the future) and its kind of draining. What I've noticed recently is that the times where I let my vision board exercise slip is when I feel the drudgery the most, but when I am really consistent and present with my vision board thing I feel WAY more optamistic and basically am creating my own dopamine spikes.

Here's my vision board routine: I hang a pasteboard in my office with several goals I have. For each goal I print a picture and have a little phrase under it. Like a picture of a pile of cash and the phrase "I earned $100,000 in 2022," which is my income goal for this year. I will then turn on trailer music (audiomachine, Two Steps from Hell, Nick Murray stuff like that) and I will throw on a 1 minute timer. I will stare at each item on my vision board for 1 minute, I will look at the picture, say the phrase and imagine what it feels like to already have accomplished the goal. I move my arms around, close my eyes and visualize, jump up and down and say "YES!" and all sorts of goofy stuff like that, I really try to get into it. I don't know if the whole visualizing/manifesting thing works as well as some people advocate but for me it really helps me get in an optimal mindset each day and really keeps me away from feeling the low times.

 

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[RussRussman18]

Agree with the suggestion to remove everything that tempts you. Entrepreneurship is hard enough without distractions