1265: Success Is About Focusing On One Thing At A Time by Carl Pullein on Time Management Strategy

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Episode 1265. Success is about focusing on one thing at a time. By Carl Palin of CarlPalin.com. And I'm Dan, your personal narrator and I'm going to keep this intro nice and short for you today and get right to the post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:30] I had a multitude of ideas and projects, life goals and things I wanted to do. By the time I had reached the end of my 30s, I still had a multitude of ideas, projects and life goals and I had made little to no progress on any of the goals I had 10 years earlier.

[00:00:45] Why was that? With age comes wisdom and the wisdom I gained during my 30s was that it really doesn't matter how many goals, dreams and aspirations you have or how determined you are to achieve them.

[00:00:57] If you do not focus on those goals or dreams one at a time, you are not going to achieve them. To really get down and achieve your goals and dreams, you need to focus on them one at a time. If you don't, you too will end up with a long list of started, incomplete and failed goals and you'll blame yourself or some other outside force or person.

[00:01:18] The good news is all you need to do is make a tiny adjustment and take one goal at a time. It really is that simple. Tony Robbins has a brilliant quote,

[00:01:28] people overestimate what they can achieve in one year and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade. This quote really uncovers the core problem of why so many people fail at achieving their goals.

[00:01:39] I guess it is the human condition that we want everything now and we don't like waiting. But if you really want to achieve the long list of things you've written down as your goals and dreams,

[00:01:48] you are going to have to decide which ones you are going to go for first and which ones can wait until another year. If you only focus on two goals or projects each year, at the end of the decade you will have achieved 20 amazing things.

[00:02:02] Once I started focusing on just one or two goals a year my life turned around. I started achieving things. In 2011, I got my first book published here in Korea.

[00:02:12] It was a book about presenting in the 21st century. After that I developed a number of workshops to go along with the book, started my own communications company,

[00:02:21] wrote two additional books and started a second company. I had all these dreams and goals in my 30s but never achieved any. That was because each year I started out trying to achieve all my goals at once.

[00:02:33] Now I have a much more realistic timeline. Each year I write a book, grow my business and usually begin a new project. Last year was my YouTube channel. This year it is my online course business. My life has simplified and at the same time I'm achieving so much more.

[00:02:49] All it took was a tiny adjustment and a realization there is plenty of time to achieve things so you can take your time and pick and choose which goals you want to achieve each year rather than trying to complete everything all at once and finishing nothing.

[00:03:03] I have never written or recommended writing out a 10-year plan after all life is extremely unpredictable but you can always hold a list of the things you want to accomplish in Evernote or a notebook.

[00:03:14] Then each October or November take some time out, have a look at the list and pick two big projects you want to accomplish next year.

[00:03:21] Decide which one you will focus on in the first half of the year and which one you will focus on in the second half of the year.

[00:03:28] Once you've done that you should list down all the action steps you need to take to make the goal or successfully completed project a reality.

[00:03:36] Once you have that list of action steps, you then bring them into your to-do list manager of choice and make sure you're doing something every day or at least once a week to make that goal or project complete.

[00:03:47] I've been following the structure for over five years now and I have accomplished so much. I don't always hit the deadline.

[00:03:53] Last year's book, Working with To Do It, The Book, was published a month late at the end of January instead of December but I do complete the projects.

[00:04:02] It does not always mean the projects are successful or I achieve everything I expect of them but they get completed which is a huge improvement on having ideas, projects and goals incomplete or never started.

[00:04:13] The thing is my goals, plans and dreams are now becoming a reality and all it took was a tiny adjustment.

[00:04:20] When I was a little kid I remember my mother telling me my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

[00:04:25] What she meant was I frequently put far more on my plate than I could realistically eat and that's what most people do with their projects and goals.

[00:04:32] They have far too many projects and goals going on at any one time which means they either fail in their goals or they never get started or completed.

[00:04:40] So if you want to stop failing at achieving your goals, if you want to get projects completed then you need to reduce the number of projects you work on each year.

[00:04:49] Focus on two big projects each year and assign one to the first half and one to the second half.

[00:04:54] When you start doing that you will accomplish far more in one year than you ever did in ten years.

[00:05:00] It really is all about focus and you can only focus on one thing at a time.

[00:05:09] You just listen to the post titled Success is about focusing on one thing at a time by Carl Poline of CarlPoline.com.

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[00:07:35] And thank you to coral whose last name by the way is spelled P U L L I N and I do have his website linked in this episode description for you.

[00:07:44] Coral is a renowned productivity and time management coach whose help thousands of people around the world get better at managing their time and become more productive using the technology they carry around with them every day you can check out his podcast which is called the working with podcast and Carl has also written three books on productivity and time management he's also got a couple of courses you can check out they're called time and life mastery and your digital life.

[00:08:09] And his purpose is to help people learn how to manage their time so they can enjoy their lives and build a life they are truly proud of.

[00:08:16] And if you enjoyed this post today and you'd like more of Carl's content he is featured over on optimal living daily every once in awhile as well so you can check out that show for more and be sure to come by Carl Palin dot com to show him some support there you can learn more about him plus check out that podcast as well as the coaching courses webinars his books and so much more again that's Carl Palin dot com.

[00:08:38] But that is going to do it for this episode thanks so much for being here for episode 1265 I also appreciate you subscribing and following the show and sharing it with others when you get a chance because all of that goes a really long way to help us keep the show going.

[00:08:51] So enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you right back here tomorrow or your optimal life awaits.