Do you have a goal to achieve in your life? Everyone does. But what everyone does not have is a sound plan or a strategy to get close to that goal. We are not going to be discussing some motivational quotes or impractical plans. This article is all driven by what a great emperor and philosopher of Rome, Marcus Aurelius, had to say in his book ‘Mediation.’ Aurelius tells the plans that can get you closer to your goals and ultimately you achieve them. Though quite old, these goals are relevant and more than just practical in today’s world.
Whatever problems you are having to achieve your goals in the modern world, you can use these guidelines. You can get rid of the obstacles and start your journey in the only direction towards your goals from today. Marcus talked about the things that he himself used as an emperor to get better at his service, perform his duties better, and achieve the goals that he had to. One of the goals that he discussed was to wake up early. Sounds quite relevant? Find more about it by reading the following strategies.
Negative visualization
The crux of what we are going to talk about in this article is negative visualization. This is a strategy that helps you identify your problems and get away with them through a solid plan. So, what does it say?
There are three components of your negative visualization. Goals, the obstacles that keep you from achieving that, and the plan to deal with these obstacles. So, first of all, come up with a goal. Let’s start with a simple one. Your goal is to get A grades in all of your subjects this semester. Now, identify the obstacles that prevent you from working for it. This can be social media, assignments that you have before exams, your oversleeping problem, and a subject that you are repeating from the previous semester. Now you have to come up with a plan that helps you eliminate these obstacles. For example, you have to set up a morning routine, sleep early and then wake u early if that helps, keep your technology away while you are in bed, prioritize your tasks, set a time limit for the assignments and complete them, etc.
Your goal can be as simple as waking up early. Talking about the obstacles you have in that are sleeping late, using technology while you are in bed, unwillingness to come out of the comfort zone, laziness, or anything. So, you have to plan how to remove these obstacles and achieve your goal.
Daily reminders
We human beings need daily reminders to stay on the same track. The reminders that Marcus used to wake up as discussed in his book are, he is not meant to feel nice, instead, he has a duty that has to be fulfilled. Along with that, he reminds himself that everyone has gotten up including plants, birds, and animals, to perform their duty. So, he has to contribute his par too, and thus, his excuses are not valid.
Using daily reminders, you can stay on the right track towards your goals and improve a little bit every day.
Evaluating obstacles each day
Every day is a new challenge, so there are new obstacles that add to the previous ones. Evaluate how much have you worked on the previous obstacles and what are the new ones to be dealt with. This will take you to a stage where you are only working for your goal with no obstacle.
Reviewing the plan each day
Just as you review your obstacles every day, you have to check if your plan can deal with the new obstacles or not. This will help you stay focused and upgrade your plan as per your needs. For example, as you are progressing towards your goal and have eliminated certain obstacles, you will need to remove those measures from your plan too.
Long story short, negative visualization helps you identify the things that are preventing you to achieve your goal and then eliminate it. Usually, we make a plan and never focus on why that did not work. So, doing this practice and using daily reminders can take you out of that cycle where you keep on making plans after failing the previous one. Good luck!
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