3 ways to prevent Hoarding... your Goals pt. 2

I've created a list so anyone can catch themselves "Goal Hoarding", as well as see how similar it is to the unattractive habit of "Stuff Hoarding" (this is part 2 of 3 posts)

2. Hoarders respond to throwing out a piece of junk the same as a normal person would respond to abandoning a small child.

When I started to prioritize my major goals over the long lists of things I wanted to do, I would always make sure I kept those lists of less important things close by. I didn't realize it, but I was actually scared that I'd forget about all those other things that I was doing… even though I WASN'T DOING THEM! I actually felt guilty about abandoning those to-do lists altogether. It seemed irresponsible to just focus all my energy on a few simple things, when there was so much more to be done.

But the truth was that I could easily sit down and write rewrite those long to-do lists any day of the week, I could rediscover those links to useful web sites with a few minutes of searching, and I could accomplish an endless list of tasks that would "help me get closer to achieving my goals". It really doesn't hurt my real family and friends when I throw out the to-do lists. The fact is, they don't even notice, because those to-do lists are full of little things that never make a big difference anyway lol! What my loved ones do notice is the results I get from spending more quality time on major goals :)

But quitting the busywork and abandoning your long to-do lists doesn't mean being afraid to write anything down. It means being willing to commit to what you do write down. For instance, my goal progress list has about a dozen items on it, including my major goal of the month, my weekly milestones, and the precise steps I need to take to reach each milestone.

The important point is that every one of those steps is an action I am committing to taking by a specific deadline, in a specific sequence, not just something I really want to do as soon (or later) as possible.

(photo of my friends and fellow MCs Derek & Toya with their newest student)

So a Goal Hoarder feels guilty about taking their focus away from all the important things they could/would/should do as soon as possible, but a Goal Achiever feels committed to a short list of measureable steps and due dates that will inevitably bring them to achieve a major goal on a specific date, or sooner. Don't feel bad about abandoning your list of things you want to do, instead feel GREAT about committing to the most important activity you can accomplish right now.