Achievement is a mental game!!

Go for your golds the way an athlete pushes himself to reach his full potential

What rating would you give yourself on personal productivity?

Do you have a systematic plan for improving your effectiveness in your daily work?

Super-achieving business people and athletes know what it takes to motivate themselves, maintain focus in the face of obstacles and drive forward to the completion of their vision and dreams.

They take charge of their work by being aware of their personal patterns of behaviour and adjusting and experimenting with new ways of doing things. Imagine if yu could quickly recover from fatigue, mental setbacks, surprise problems, overloaded task lists, lack of time and all else that can stand in your way of working near optimum levels.

Top achievers begin the process by carefully noting what is and what is not in their control. They then only focus on those things over which they have control and let go of those things that are out of their control.

If you list all the things you must do in a day and all the roadblocks that might fall in your way, you willl quickly realise that the only thing you have true control over is yourself.

Start with yourself

So to improve productivity and effectiveness, begin by focusing on yourself.

Focus on your attitude, your thoughts, how you feel, how you react to problems, how you prepare to succeed, how you review your performance and how you set and go after realising your goals.

Here are some tips for improving personal effectivess:

1. Plan your work and then work your plan

This is an old saying, but it contains simple wisdom. You have to know where you want to go before you get there.

2. Remember, "Mile by mile it's a trial, but inch by inch, it's a cinch"

If you look at everything that you must do, it can seem overwhelming.

But if you break down each project into tasks and objectives and just focus on these bite-size portions, you will be amazed at how quickly the little things combine to complete major tasks.

Take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.

3.Ask yourself, "A month or a year from now, will this matter?"

If you get mired in trivia, get distracted by surprises or get sidetracked by things that "feel good to complete, but that are off-task", then ask if what you are doing now will have any impact on your future goals. This will keep you focused on what is truly important.

4. Set deadlines and make timetables for executing each objective that takes you closer to your goal

It is amazing how a future due date drives current behaviour.

Keeping records of tasks completed gives you proof that you are making progress.

Having a deadline creates some urgency to complete the task.

5. Post and consult your priority list many times every day

This will keep you on track through those crazy, unpredictable days. It is so easy to lose sight of what is important and to begin putting out fires when you should remain focused.

6. Review your day and ask yourself, "What were the top three things I accomplished today?"

This makes you accountable to yourself and helps you measure how well you stayed focused on our priorities. It will also help you set up the next day.

7. Clean up the tasks and projects that annoy and frustrate you the most

This might be office clutter, paper piles, a messy desktop on your computer, not being able to find things, or anything else that bothers you every time you look at it or think about it. Conquer it and free your energy.

8. Celebrate your successes

Many people go through their days and weeks barely congratulating themselves for their good deeds and accomplishments.

Don't keep focusing on what you lack or on what you still have yet to complete. Give yourself credit for jobs well done and for wading through the many tasks you finish each day.

9. Continually reset new goals once you reach each goal

This is one of the true secrets of super achievers. They continually re-adjust strategically as each goal is met. They endlessly create new goals to fuel the fires of motivation and to take themselves closer to their potential.

Maintain your self-awareness, make adjustments and execute your plans like top business and sports performers, and you also can become a super achiever at personal effectiveness.

Adopted from The Straits Times, Saturday, August 16, 2008, which is adopted from Bill Cole, the Mental Game Coach.