Real Goals: Super-low Daily Expectations
02/13/2010 05:21 a.m. | Self-Improvement
Want to be happy like me? There is a single way to do this. Set super-low daily expectations. Yes, you will actually be able to do more. Here is the secret.
Set Super-Low Daily Expectations. Do this every day.
As the physical world and the internet get more crowded, quality begins to matter a lot more than in the past.
Let's say the typical house takes 3 months to build. What if I told you I could build a house in 1 month, but that it might fall some time in the next 20 years. Would you be interested in the quickly built house? Of course not. Building things that last take time. And building something complex takes lots of time at each incremental step.
With super-low daily expectations, you set goals of doing something right the first time. You spend extra time getting it done well. Then, when you go to build upon it in the future you will have a solid foundation.
There are lots of things you could be doing with your day. How much of that is going to matter down the road? When you narrow your daily goals to a single thing, you can filter out all the noise of things that aren't important and work on the most important things.
Take a look at your list of to-dos for today. If you have 20, I bet 3 must be done, 10 can be put off, and the rest don't really need doing (or don't need doing by you). Set the goal of accomplishing those 3 things. Once they are done, you can work on whatever else you want.
Along with getting more done that matters, you also get the benefit of the feeling of accomplishing something. Everyday I feel like I have accomplished something, and some days I even get to do more than I expected. That mental change, as opposed to feeling stressed and unproductive, is another huge boost to helping you get something done the next day.