Do you want to — nope, scratch that! — CAN you keep living life exactly as you are right now? Have you achieved all you’ve ever wanted to achieve? Kicked all limiting habits and beliefs? You’re basically just radiating bliss at all times?!  If the answer is yes, PLEASE can I subscribe to your newsletter? Because clearly you are the person for me to learn from.  But if the answer to any of those questions above happens to be “no” (as it is for most of us I suspect), then I enthusiastically (because I am bubbling over with enthusiasm virtually at all times and it’s just how I do things!) invite you to keep reading.  How some people do better than us.  It’s a bit of a harsh reality at times, but unfortunately an accurate one. There will always be things that we struggle with that others are just slaying. So, what makes us fall short in some areas of our lives that are clearly important to us? I’ve come to appreciate that it’s not discipline. It’s definitely not will power. (These things are only ever helpful in the short term.)  So what is it then? What allows some people to relentlessly achieve their goals while some others seem to barely chip away at their dreams and visions? In my experience, it all boils down to focus.  It sounds too simple, I know. Bear with me here. You can want something to happen and talk about it as much as you want, but that’s not getting you anywhere. And worse, you are just frustrating yourself (and probably others) with your “all talk no action” approach to life.  Focus allows you to be that person in your life that you can rely on. That awesome soul that always gets things done when they say they will. That person who is the one doing most things better than the people around them. Because being average is not what you’re aiming for in life. You want better than that.  When there’s something that I want to achieve (right now, one of those things happens to be to learn French), my success or failure quite literally comes down to where I point my eyes.  Choose what you’re looking at.  When you start your day, what’s in front of you? Do you decide? Or do you just roll through the day letting life happen to you? Is it your Instagram feed or Netflix line up or the demands of others that tug and pull at you making you a helpless marionette doll while determining what you will do next? If this is the case, the remedy for this is a schedule. It’s a simple yet incredibly effective tool you use to ensure you have focus — a conscious approach for how you spend your time.  I build a schedule for myself every single day and it’s the first thing I look at when I get up each morning. As my day goes along I don’t devote a single minute more to deciding how to spend my time — I just follow that schedule like it’s written in stone.   It might help to picture a spotlight beaming out of your forehead. Now schedule in time every single day to point that sucker at something that’s important to you.    Be a better version of yourself by this time next year.  With a schedule, if I’ve decided that something (say – learning French) is important to me, then I make sure I see that reflected in my behavior throughout my day. I have a schedule template that I copy and paste each day with items on it that never change, and I make sure that some of these items revolve around the French language. I will always do a 30-minute online French lesson first thing in the morning, listen to French music at Lunch, and watch 20 minutes of a French TV show on Netflix every night before bed. Rinse and repeat 365 times and it’s pretty much guaranteed that even if I fall a tad short of my goal of being fluent by NYE 2020, I’ll still have made tremendous progress that I’ll be incredibly proud of. It’s as close as you can get to a guarantee that you’ll be a new and improved version of yourself by this time next year.  Now picture how your days will look with this same schedule and head spotlight directing your focus. Whether it’s healthy eating or building relationships or learning a new skill, think how much progress you will make with that spotlight scheduled to be pointed at that goal multiple times every day. In my experience, success really is just getting up and doing mostly the same things over and over and over again. It’s having a conscious approach towards the habits you have and making sure that the trajectory that you’re on is pointing up instead of down.  Implement success! In case you’re new to this way of approaching your days, here are a few tips to get you started: 

1. Make a list of all the things that NEED to get done each and every week (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.). 
2. Make up a simple weekly plan chart with 7 rows across the top for the days of the week and one column below this (see the purple one below for an example). Take each of these items from step one and assign them to a day by listing them below that day. So if “laundry” gets slotted under Monday, then moving forward laundry will always happen on Mondays. 
3. Make a list of the things you WANT to get done each week (healthy meal prep, learn Spanish, meditate, give back to your community, learn more about your health challenges, start a new hobby, go to the gym, and so on.)
4. Make yourself a simple template for a daily schedule. (This can be as simple as some time slots down the left side of a page.) Now take the “want” items from step three and slot them into your daily schedule template. (See below for an example of a daily schedule template.) Make sure that you are pointing that spotlight of yours every single day at the things that matter. 
5. Each day, first thing in the morning, copy and paste your daily schedule template someplace handy. I use the Evernote app because it’s free, easy to use, and I can access it from all my devices. Then take a look at your weekly plan chart and slot the items listed for that day (laundry, etc.) into specific time slots in your daily schedule. Take a look at any other calendars or places that you use to organize appointments and whatnot and slot those items in as well.

This schedule now dictates your entire day. You can be flexible with it when needed, but for the most part — treat the items slotted in as if they are mandatory. 

Bonus tip! 

• Have an annual goal planning spreadsheet that’s divided up by quarters (Q1, Q2, etc.). Make sure it has sections for goals and specific actions outlined spread across the categories of health & fitness, relationships, career, personal development, productivity, giving back, finances, travel, happiness (and anything else that is important to you!).
• In your weekly planning chart choose one day (I like Mondays for this) and slot “goal review” into that day. This way you can review and tweak your shorter and longer-term goals each and every week to make sure that you are living your life with intention, staying on track, and always working to be the best possible version of yourself possible. And be a new and improved you by next year!

Focus! This is the magic ingredient. It’s the difference between having goals and having wishes. It’s the difference between “I’ll try” and “I will.”