Are Your Daily Tasks Leading You AWAY From Your Biggest Goals?

I really enjoy working with my coaching clients. I get to see and be a part of their own breakthroughs and progress. And I end up learning a lot myself!

Recently, a topic came up with a client where he was disappointed with his progress. He was committing to doing three tasks a day which he would plan the night before. He was pretty stellar at getting them done. If he said he was going to do it, he made a very strong effort to do it. Sometimes, what determined whether he could finish the tasks was out of his control and dependent on other people. As more of those unfinished tasks piled up, he started feeling down on himself.

So, we started talking about big goals — THE big goals, like, what do you feel your purpose is in life, and what do you ultimately want to achieve. Some of these smaller goals that he was committed to doing didn’t always line up with his big goals. Because if they don’t, then why are you really doing them? Is it because you want to please someone else? Or you feel you have to? Or is there another bigger goal that you haven’t identified. Here’s what I shared with him and now you, the reader:
“I always try to keep my life goals on my mind. They are 1) create meaningful music as a career, 2) find love. Just about everything I do should lead me towards one of those two goals. If I can’t find a connection, then I won’t do it. For example, I used to perform as a dueling pianist. When I started, I knew I would grow as a musician and learn more about music and become more confident on stage and make money while having more free time during the week to work on my own stuff. That was all true. Now, though, I don’t do them anymore and won’t when I’m asked. I’ve learned all I need to from that, and the only reason I would do it is for money. Playing music just for money takes me away from my goals.

Coaching provides me with some flexible income which allows me more freedom to manage my schedule better. Plus I learn a lot from my clients, including you! At some point, though, I will probably put a stop on coaching, but for now, it’s a positive thing in my life.”
So, to take a moment to notice what you’re doing throughout the day. Make sure they connect with your goals somehow. Sometimes they will be something that you have to do to live comfortably, like take out the trash. Keeping your environment clean I would say is necessary for most people’s goals. So even when something seems boring or tedious remind yourself that this little task is part of a bigger picture and let that motivate with everything you do.

And if you have a job or other responsibility that doesn’t lead you to your actual goals, then maybe it’s time to rethink why you are doing this activity. Maybe there’s a better activity or job that you can be doing that would serve you and your community better.