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Strategies for Success

At One on One, we care about our clients positioning themselves to live their lives to the fullest…healthy and happy.

Through the month of December, we are going to focus on personal/professional development through our FPOTW Series: “Strategies for Success”. Hopefully, these key concepts will motivate, educate and inspire you to reach your goals and realize your potential in 2024.

We look forward to helping you start the New Year off right!

Connecting the Short Term with the Long Term

By: Bruce Burke

Last Updated: 12/10/23

In last week’s post, Goal Setting: Focus on the Long Term, we talked about the importance of developing a vision of who we aspire to be, then creating goals consistent with that vision. This week, we address an important strategy for achieving those objectives…connecting the short term with the long term.

When we reference the “short term,” we are referencing daily decisions and behaviors. Our decisions and behaviors are the vehicle through which we achieve our much larger objectives. It is getting our short-term behaviors to consistently line up with our vision that can be a challenge.

Here are some examples…

If a long-term objective includes being remembered as a person of high integrity, short-term behaviors such as “fudging the truth” or speaking poorly about someone behind their back must be avoided. If being a healthy example for your family is important, you can’t eat everything in sight and skip exercising whenever “life” gets in the way. If professional success is important, you can’t procrastinate and avoid stretching yourself.

This probably makes plenty of sense, but how do we do it consistently? The challenge is doing the right thing…making the right decision, in the moment.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Make sure your long-term objectives are well defined and written down (Mission Statement).
  • Keep the big picture front-of-mind; review your Mission Statement daily.
  • Consider some daily actions and/or commitments that will help you to achieve your long-term objectives, and commit them to paper.
  • Slow down…being mindful of our daily actions helps us notice when they do not align with our vision for ourselves.
  • Wear a bracelet or carry something in your pocket that reminds you of what is important when it matters the most…decision time (or moment of choice)!
  • Look for accountability through loved ones or mentorship.
  • Review your behavior regularly through journaling or daily reflection.

Accept the fact that we aren’t going to do things perfectly. Just because we have made a few mistakes and behaved in ways inconsistent with who we aspire to be doesn’t mean the game is over. It simply means we are human and need to refocus.

Finally, as a motivational tool, think about how you have felt in the past when you were “firing on all cylinders”. Think about how good you felt when you were eating right and exercising regularly…it was worth it! You can apply this same concept to all areas of your life. Being disciplined and working hard always leaves us feeling better in the long run.

Look out for next week’s Focus Point of the Week on “Inventory Taking”. Once you have established commitments, regular inventory taking will help to ensure follow through, and, in turn, success!