Your Only Goal Is Daily Progress: Be Aggressive With Action

Many people underestimate how much they can achieve in a day and overemphasize how much they want to accomplish in a month.

A house can only be built brick by brick.

No matter the size of your goal, you have to invest in the daily process of taking action: one task at a time.

Daily action is a massive motivator.

“Action is the foundational key to all success,” says Pablo Picasso.

It’s easy to forget the little things you need to do to keep your life on track if you don’t have any system in place.

But having a plan of action and knowing what needs to be done makes life incredibly easy to manage.

The bigger goal is to make a living as a writer. Writing almost every day will accelerate your progress faster than you think.

You can’t be a great salesperson in your industry if you are not interested in the daily grind or pitches.

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does,” William James once said.

Goals are essential to our progress.

They provide us with a sense of purpose, create direction in life, and give us something to work towards when we are feeling lost.

But goals alone are not enough. Too much focus on goals is counterproductive. What demands your daily commitment is action: the steps necessary to get what you want.

But how do you know if you’re taking the right actions to achieve your goals?

This is one of the most challenging parts of achieving your goals.

The truth is that there is no “perfect” answer.

But making progress every day can be as simple as finding ways to improve and grow in your relationships, your work habits, and your physical self.

It can also mean identifying the behaviours necessary to get a better outcome.

When you see results, it motivates you to keep going and can make a small ache seem like nothing.

Progress is also essential for self-esteem, as it makes us feel good about ourselves and our lives even if we didn’t do anything that day or week.

Progress has been shown to boost happiness and help with depression by improving moods, increasing self-esteem, and providing a sense of accomplishment.

Making progress is the most motivating thing in the world.

Progress is crucial because it shows you were making an effort to improve your life. If you are not making any progress, you are doing nothing at all.

The best way to stay motivated is to set small, achievable goals.

Now, you’ve set the goals and are ready to make some changes to live the life you want. Take action on your goals with these three steps:

1. Define what you want from your current situation.
2. Think about the long-term goal and break it down into a series of intermediate goals you need to complete to reach that final goal.
3. Get clear about what necessary actions you need to take to get there.
4. Write a list of your daily tasks.
5. Take each task and break it down into smaller, more achievable steps.
6. Identify how much time you’re going to allocate for completing these tasks so that it’s realistic and achievable for your circumstances.
7. Put a date next to each step and commit to the tiny processes that accelerate progress.
8. Revise as and when necessary to make sure you are still on track.
9. Reward yourself with something that you enjoy after completing enough monthly tasks (e.g., after completing 5 days out of 7 days worth of steps, reward yourself with a fun activity or event. A few options include a visit to your favourite gallery, a ticket to a concert or show, a learning course subscription, a fun day out, a dinner out, etc. Make it something you enjoy or are excited to do.
10. Measure your progress at least every week if you can’t do it daily. Are you on track? What hasn’t worked? What can you do more of? What do you have to stop doing? Gather insight for the next steps.

Use these steps to work on your goals for the year. It can be applied to any goal. The most important part is getting practical and taking the steps.

Start doing something, anything to take a step.

“I have a firmly-held belief that it is better to do the wrong thing than nothing. Any action you take will lead you closer to your goal,” says Cathy Stucker, of The Idea Lady.

You will feel much better if you take action on your goals instead of just wishing to accomplish them. Making daily progress is vital for anyone who wants to make a difference in their life.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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