m 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into

Have you ever noticed that there are people who seem to be very busy all the time, yet really don’t accomplish anything at all? That is because there is a huge difference between movement and achievement in life and this has a huge impact on the level of success that we realize in our lives.

The Problem with Movement

We all know how to stay busy. We do it at work and we do it at home. I can check my email all day long at work and go home telling myself that I had a busy day at work, but does that “work” translate into anything meaningful for my company or my career? Probably not. On the same note, I can spend the entire weekend playing video games and at the end of the weekend, I can tell everyone that I got my character to the 12th level, but does that time spent playing video games translate into anything meaningful for my life? Probably not.

The problem with simply moving is that it is unfocused. It is the same as getting in your car and driving around the country without a destination and never getting out of your car until you make it back home. You can tell people you traveled all around the country, but really what it amounted to is spending weeks sitting inside your car. You really never grew from it. Unfocused movement is one of the great barriers of success today. We as humans enjoy staying busy with movements that occupy our time, but we are not taught the value of focusing those activities towards pushing us closer to our goals.

From Movement to Achievement

So how do we convert our unfocused movement into success-building momentum? The answer is that we need a target in mind. We need a funnel from which we can channel our movements into a unified and focused stream. That funnel is our goals.

Some might say, “Well, most of us have goals, but for most of us, our movements still don’t bring about any achievement.” That is very true and the reason why those people who have goals but cannot produce achievement is because their goals are so far away that they have trouble directing their movement in the right direction. It’s like trying to pour water into a funnel from twenty-feet away! I sometimes use the analogy of hitting a tree with a stone from 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into s

l for my company or my career? Probably not. On the same note, I can spend the entire weekend playing video games and at the end of the weekend, I can tell everyone that I got my character to the 12th level, but does that time spent playing video games translate into anything meaningful for my life? Probably not.

The problem with simply moving is that it is unfocused. It is the same as getting in your car and driving around the country without a destination and never getting out of your car until you make it back home. You can tell people you traveled all around the country, but really what it amounted to is spending weeks sitting inside your car. You really never grew from it. Unfocused movement is one of the great barriers of success today. We as humans enjoy staying busy with movements that occupy our time, but we are not taught the value of focusing those activities towards pushing us closer to our goals.

From Movement to Achievement

So how do we convert our unfocused movement into success-building momentum? The answer is that we need a target in mind. We need a funnel from which we can channel our movements into a unified and focused stream. That funnel is our goals.

Some might say, “Well, most of us have goals, but for most of us, our movements still don’t bring about any achievement.” That is very true and the reason why those people who have goals but cannot produce achievement is because their goals are so far away that they have trouble directing their movement in the right direction. It’s like trying to pour water into a funnel from twenty-feet away! I sometimes use the analogy of hitting a tree with a stone from 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into

led all around the country, but really what it amounted to is spending weeks sitting inside your car. You really never grew from it. Unfocused movement is one of the great barriers of success today. We as humans enjoy staying busy with movements that occupy our time, but we are not taught the value of focusing those activities towards pushing us closer to our goals.

From Movement to Achievement

So how do we convert our unfocused movement into success-building momentum? The answer is that we need a target in mind. We need a funnel from which we can channel our movements into a unified and focused stream. That funnel is our goals.

Some might say, “Well, most of us have goals, but for most of us, our movements still don’t bring about any achievement.” That is very true and the reason why those people who have goals but cannot produce achievement is because their goals are so far away that they have trouble directing their movement in the right direction. It’s like trying to pour water into a funnel from twenty-feet away! I sometimes use the analogy of hitting a tree with a stone from 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into

which we can channel our movements into a unified and focused stream. That funnel is our goals.

Some might say, “Well, most of us have goals, but for most of us, our movements still don’t bring about any achievement.” That is very true and the reason why those people who have goals but cannot produce achievement is because their goals are so far away that they have trouble directing their movement in the right direction. It’s like trying to pour water into a funnel from twenty-feet away! I sometimes use the analogy of hitting a tree with a stone from 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into

m 100 feet away. If you want to be able to throw a stone and hit a tree from far away, then the best way to practice is to walk right up to that tree and hit it with a stone and then take a few steps back and repeat the action. Instead of seeing the task of throwing a stone a great distance, you simply see it as performing a little bit farther away than the last throw.

In much the same way, goals are only useful for focusing movement when those goals are clearly visible and within reach. That requires you to take those goals and chunk them down into smaller pieces. Every goal is made up of smaller components and while the large goal might be too far away to see clearly, those smaller goals are very clear and achievable and it’s those smaller components of your goal that will serve as your focusing tool for your daily movements.

Tips on Focusing Your Movement Towards Achievement

• Set specific and measurable goals for yourself. A good goal should follow the SMART criteria, outlined in my previous article.

• Focus on one goal at a time. Focusing on too many goals will dilute your attention and dilute your results for any of them.

• Chunk those goals into smaller pieces. Remember that long-term goals do not produce very much motivation. It’s the smaller, short-term goals that can motivate you to push forward.

• Write those smaller goals down on your weekly planner.

• Each week perform the actions necessary to move yourself closer towards achieving those smaller goals.