The Mental Framework To Win Long-Term

Setting big, hard and long-term goals is great. They allow us to grow and improve, and hopefully lead us to getting what we worked so hard for. But how do we stick to that work?

As stated in the definition, long-term goals take a long time to achieve, and a lot can happen during that time.

Burnout, kids, tragedies and other unexpected life stuff.

But mostly it's a battle of the mind, it's a fight between the ears.

So, the question is, how do you stick to and commit to the work long-term? How do you win?

Well, this mental framework will help.

Focus On Your Systems

What if I told you that in order to succeed at whatever it is that you’ve set for yourself, focusing on that goal is the worst thing you can do?

It might be strange to be told that if you want something, you should think about it less, but that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.

See, when you focus on the achievement of something you want, you trick your brain into thinking you’ve already got it, reducing the urge to put in the work that will actually get you there. 

This has been well documented.

But another reason is much simpler: focusing on the outcome doesn’t affect the likelihood or speed at which the outcome becomes reality. 

Focusing on your systems will.

A system is a way of working, organising, or doing something which follows a fixed plan or set of rules.

If you wanted to drive to the shop, that’s the goal, but you wouldn’t waste all your time thinking about it. You’d get your keys, walk to the car, and drive there, that’s the system.

This isn’t really about wasting time, as it’s much more complicated than driving to work. We’re talking about a very difficult goal that’s going to take a lot of work, and you need to figure out how to stick to said work for long enough.

Systems is how you’re going to do so.

Focusing on the goal gets you hung up thinking about why you’re not there yet, who’s already there and whether you can even make it. Making you question everything you do.

Systems allow that work to flow much easier, they take away the unnecessary questioning of the work and just allow the work to happen.

You’re Not Failing If You’re Learning

Remember the long and difficult journey we’ve been talking about? Yes, well, you’re probably going to fall flat on your face a couple of times along that journey. 

You might see this as failing. If it doesn't work, you must not have what it takes.

But it’s the opposite.

If you’ve tried something and it hasn’t worked, you’re now more informed than before, that’s one extra lesson. You’re better.

It’s hard to see it this way when emotions are running high, but it’s the truth.

This is why you should not only embrace failure when it arises, but also seek it.

If each time you fail, you learn, then increasing your failure rate only speeds up your growth and shortens the time it takes to achieve your goals.

The next time you fail, ask yourself immediately - What can I learn from this?

You Can’t Change Time

Time goes one way, forward. It can’t be altered or changed, we’re all strapped up heading in one direction.

What this means is, if the goal you’ve set seems too far away and too hard to achieve, just think, you're going to get there anyway, so you might as well do something with the time.

Heading through time is not optional, but what you do with it is.

One thing that really put this into perspective with me in the past was thinking backwards.

We’ve all set goals and haven’t followed through in the past, and one way to put things into perspective is to ask yourself where you’d be now if only you had stuck to it.

The diet you planned 3 years ago.

The Pilates class you started 5 years ago.

Your 2019 New Year's resolution.

Where would you be today?

Because that’s what you’re going to ask yourself 10 years from now.

And the answer to that question depends on the work you either continue to do or stop doing today.