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Instead of writing down your goals, it is better to do them immediately

In many successful lessons we have seen , 99% of them start from the matter of "setting goals". First think about what you want to become, then set goals, design paths, and break down the steps. Then write these goals on a note and stick it somewhere you can see it often as a means of motivating yourself at any time. Most personal growth books on the market are written in this way.

However, how many people can actually achieve their goals in this way?

There are many people who clearly write down their goals on paper every year, but still fail to achieve them. Of course, this does not mean that there is no point in doing so, but it is a waste of willpower in the process.

Everyone’s will energy is limited, and in the process of thinking or making decisions, will energy is slowly consumed. I don’t know if you have ever had this experience. After you have made a goal plan, but before you start doing anything, you feel tired and don’t want to take action at all.

From this point of view, it is futile to always write down goals on sticky notes. Because the will energy that should be used in "acting for success" is wasted on "writing goals and posting notes". It would be more effective to do it directly. We should use the will energy wasted on these things to do more meaningful things.

The author of the book "The Courage Not to Do" believes that whether he is a successful person or an ordinary person, the total amount of will energy of everyone is the same. The difference between the two is the way they use their will energy. Most people waste their will energy unconsciously, while successful people use their will energy on things that can make them successful.

If we want to achieve a certain goal, desire or idea, we need practical action. In the process of action, what is very necessary is will energy.

In fact, what provides "fuel" for our actions is not physical strength, but will energy. When a person's willpower is full but his body is exhausted, he will still try his best to accomplish what he wants to do. But if his will energy has been exhausted, there will be a situation where "the physical strength is still there, but there is no power to do anything." I believe each of us has had that experience.

For people who feel confused and can’t figure it out after much thought, it is better to formulate a plan of “three things that can be done immediately” and then execute it immediately.

Only when you have the courage to "not do" can you use your will energy on important things

"The Courage Not to Do" believes that the energy of will is in the "courage not to do" Get the most out of it.

All successful people are those who have the courage to say "no" to unimportant things and save their will energy. People who are greedy for everything and whose goal is to "do better than the average person no matter what" will not succeed.

Successful people consciously save the will energy that is unconsciously wasted by ordinary people and pour it into their own careers, thus achieving great achievements.

Try to observe the successful people around you! They must know better than most what they "should not do."

In the process of starting a business, a friend of mine, Ms. Jiang, put aside all the trivial matters and devoted her will energy to attracting customers.

Many people tend to start with small and trivial things in the early stages of starting a business, because these small things are easy to start. However, Ms. Jiang gave up all chores and concentrated on publicity and one-on-one communication with customers. This is also the reason why her business was successful.

The most efficient way to use will energy is to start with the most important things first, and then deal with the trivial things. This is an eternal law.

Another former colleague of mine has accumulated a lot of good popularity in the company because he often eats, chats or has parties with his colleagues, so he has established very good interpersonal relationships. However, after he decided to start his own business, he decisively cut off these previous interpersonal interactions because what he needed to do was to get to know more like-minded entrepreneurs. Because if there is a change, your circle must also change.

Save willpower, reduce the number of decisions you make, and develop a daily routine

There is a story told in "The Courage Not to Do" that impressed me deeply. The author, Akira Iguchi, would like to get to know a very famous teacher whom he has followed for a long time. A year later, he happened to have an opportunity to drink tea with the other party, but when he met the other party face to face for the first time, he instantly felt like "Huh?"

Because every time this teacher appeared on the stage of a public lecture, he always wore a crisp suit and looked very elegant. But when he sat opposite me in the cafe, No matter how he looks, he looks like an ordinary uncle.

To be precise, he should look more decadent than an ordinary uncle... To put it bluntly, his clothes at the time were very rustic.

Confused by the huge gap between the person in front of him and the person on the podium, Akira Iguchi seemed to understand his determination on "things not to be done". Didn't he just give up on studying clothes in private and use all his will energy on his career?

During his lifetime, Mr. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, always wore a turtleneck sweater with jeans. A reporter once asked him: "Why are you so rich but don't think about how to dress more stylishly?"

He replied: "I want to spend my precious time on more important things." ”

Mr. Jobs’s decision not to waste time on clothes is a manifestation of focusing his will energy on more meaningful things.

Not only Steve Jobs, but also Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former US President Obama’s dressing styles have not changed much. I am afraid this is the same reason. They will buy many pieces of the same clothes, and choosing and matching clothes frugally is a matter of willpower.

As I mentioned before, when we dress up, our will energy also decreases little by little. If you just see this, it feels like even the act of dressing has become a kind of Wasteful, but that's not really the case.

Will energy is reduced in the process of thinking about something or making a decision about something. Take the matter of getting dressed as an example. Changing out of pajamas and putting on a suit does not consume will energy. Instead, it starts from worrying about "which suit to wear today" and makes us struggle and make decisions. In this process, will energy is slowly consumed.

This is why the aforementioned big guys all wear fixed styles and styles, and even wear the same style every day. It’s as automatic as brushing your teeth and washing your face every morning and doesn’t require any willpower.

Of course, there is no fixed value for the amount of will energy consumed in the process of making decisions. Some decisions consume a lot of will energy, but some decisions consume less will energy.

The key to not wasting will energy is to reduce the number of decisions you make.

In fact, it means being able to know in advance when and where you will be and what you will do, that is, forming a "habitual routine".

For example, what to eat for breakfast, whether you want to watch TV, what clothes to wear when going out, what time to leave home, what to do when you are on the train, when to open social software, what day of the week to go to the gym...

With the goal of no longer struggling with such problems, try to formulate your own habitual routine as concretely as possible. In this way, you can minimize the number of decisions you make in your daily life. No matter what kind of person you are, you will definitely accumulate some will energy.

"Compared with deciding what to do, it is more important not to do anything."

This is the famous saying of Mr. Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Group. Although what he said refers to the importance of recognizing what to do and what not to do at work, this way of thinking is very useful for life and life in general. Only by having the courage to "not do" can you save your will energy and do the really important things in life.

Your life is not for your family or boss, but for your true self. This second is the beginning of change.

Xiajiujiu: A native of Xiamen University, working mother of two, brand director of a listed company, multi-platform contracted author, writing coach, published "Hold on, you will eventually become a better you" 》.