Keep Your Eye On the Prize

This next article is part of an ongoing series here at TSB Magazine called The Success Principles. The series is based on the 64 principles laid out by Jack Canfield in his course of the same name. If youre new, I always suggest starting any series from the beginning.

Principle 27: Keep Your Eye on the Prize

What keeps you going?

Jack Canfield says:

Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents them. They are constantly proactive in the pursuit of their chose objectives.

It is pretty easy to get distracted from your goals. Sometimes it seems our environment is conspiring to throw roadblocks in our way.

I know of many guys that made the pledge to themselves to improve their dating life. These guys studied the greats, they practiced consistently, and they improved on a daily basis. But an odd thing would happen. These guys would finally gain the experience and knowledge to attract a high quality girl into their lives. For one reason or another it wouldn’t work out with the girl… but instead of continuing the journey, these guys would get stuck for months dwelling on this one particular set back.

This can happen no matter what your goal is. I remember when I was selling real estate I had a goal of closing $20,000 in commission one quarter. I had two deals on the table, together worth an excess of $15,000. I was motivated and completely focused on achieving the goal. But then suddenly one of the deals fell apart. In a matter of minutes I went from $5,000 away from my goal… to $12,000 away from my goal. My goal, once within reach, suddenly seemed impossible accomplish. Instead of getting back on the proverbial horse and prospecting even harder… I pretty much gave up and instead dwelled on the deal that could have been.

The best way to overcome falling into this trap of distraction and set backs is to spend time each day focusing on the successes, reviewing your goals, visualizing your successful future, and making specific plans for what you want to accomplish the next day. This will keep your mind away from all “could have beens” and keep you moving forward.

You need to find a way to continue to build momentum. If you are keeping a success journal like I suggested in a previous lesson then you will be focused on the improvements you are making. This is the root of momentum.