Would 10 Weeks Solid Working On Your Goals Help?

"Gordon Bryan"
Written by gordino

Imagine if you had the next 10 weeks free to work on your goals. No commitments, no distractions, 10 weeks to work solidly on your goals. How much could you get done? Well, I can give you those 10 weeks starting today…

In fact, it’s not me giving you the ten weeks, it’s you giving them to yourself! As with a lot of goal achievement theories, I can give you the ideas, but the action has to come from you.

Here’s how it works – those ten weeks are there for the taking for anybody, and it comes down to 1 hour a day.

If you set aside 1 solid hour a day to work on your goals, over the course of a year that’s 365 days, and going by the rate of a 36 hour work week, that’s 10 weeks.

The idea is simple, in fact it’s so simple that it’s either overlooked or dismissed by most people, and for those people the 10 weeks have gone.

Now, at this point you might be shouting at the screen that it’s not simple at all, that finding an hour a day is a tough call. To be honest, I agree. Well, I agree at least at the start of the process.

To set aside a solid hour every day will fairly inevitably mean cutting down on something else, and that means changing habits. It might mean cutting down on tv, it might mean cutting down on social media surfing, it might well mean cutting down on sleep, but if you cut down 20 minutes on each of those, that’s your hour.

The other thing about habit is that while changing the old ones, you will be replacing them with the new one of the dedicated hour, and this will build momentum, something I’ve written about for many years.

Personally I like to use a timer. It can be any old timer, an alarm clock, and egg timer, a phone alarm, anything, and there’s a wonderful by-product – once you get into the swing of this dedicated hour, when the alarm goes off at the end of it, you will want to finish the immediate task you are on. That’s good, and I suggest you do that.

This means that you will go for maybe 10, 20 or even 30 minutes longer than the hour, and just as the hours add up to 10 weeks over a year, those extra minutes will also add up to extend the 10 weeks to 13, 14, maybe 15 weeks of solid action taking!

Sounds great, doesn’t it! Here are 2 things you shouldn’t do though…

Don’t wait until the start of next year to begin the process, that just wastes all the 1 hour slots you could be using. Also, and this is particularly important at the start of the process, don’t put off the hour by telling yourself you’ll do 2 hours the next day. The harsh truth is that it’s unlikely you’ll do 2 hours the next day. Stick to getting that hour in, whatever it takes.

So, if those are 2 things you shouldn’t do, what should you do to kick the whole thing off?
Well, your first 1 hour slot, and remember this must be on a timer and with no distractions, is to sit down and make sure you know what your goal is, that you can write it down clearly defined.

Then, if you haven’t already, work back as best you can from that goal to where you are now, writing down the steps you need to take to get there. This will lead you to working out the very next step you need to take to move you closer to your goal.

Then you take that step.

It could be that working out the plan takes up the whole hour (or more if you decide to run over as I mentioned!) That’s fine, it’s ok if it takes up the hour slot for 2 days, or 3 days, you are moving forwards the whole time.

I love this concept, because although it’s hard work and requires sacrifice, the end result is so much time dedicated to your goal, that you *will* move faster towards it, you cannot fail to.

"Gordon Bryan"

As ever, the choice is down to you, and it’s just that – your choice. You can choose to give it a go. Blimey you could start today, and you’ll start seeing result almost immediately. You’ll also feel the results as your mindset start to shift.

Or, you can dismiss the idea without even trying it. You won’t be the first to do that, and you won’t be the last, but every day you dismiss it without trying it is another hour you stay away from your goal. In a week’s time while you’re still dismissing the idea, others who are trying it will have a day of dedicated time under their belt.

If you really can’t get an hour in, if it’s really only 30 minutes you have free, then don’t give up on the idea. Those 30 minute sessions still add up to 5 solid weeks of time towards your goal. As it happens, if you start with 30 minutes, it won’t take long for you to start seeing the value, and the time you find will stretch!

So, look to your goal. Ask yourself how valuable it would be to have 10 weeks of solid uninterrupted time to work on that goal. It could be that today is not suitable to make it the first day, that’s fine – bookmark this article if so, to give you impetus when you come back.

Then it’s down to you. 1 hour a day. I’ve given you the idea, taking action on it, or not, is your choice – which way will you go?

Ok, do let me know what you think – I love the feedback! Also, feel free to share, like, tweet etc if you enjoyed the article, thanks.

‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Why not check out my 8 Step Goal Achievement Formula – this free video series will help to focus what you do with your new 1 hour slots!

Do leave a comment!

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12 Comments

  • This is such advise. When you jump on the internet, it’s so easy to get distracted. It’s November 1 – I’m starting right now. Will keep you posted.

    Quick question – what tools do you use to keep you on task? Any apps or software that you recommend.?

    • Thanks Kate,
      In fact all I use is a timer on my phone. I set it to the 1 hour and then get to work until it goes off. Previously I’ve also used a calendar, which I may go back to, and when I do that I like to use a physical one, so I can put a big cross when I’ve done the hour. That’s a tip from Jerry Seinfeld, as passed on by Jack Canfield, two ‘reasonably’ successful people! 😉
      cheers,
      Gordon

  • Hi Gordon
    Thank you for the timely reminder that we are nearing the end of 2014 and if we have not done anything to achieve our goals, it’s time to catch up!
    Personally I have not even come close to what I planned to do as I wasted lots of time watching videos and attending webinars.
    Planning to catch up! Will try with the one hour timer.

    Cheers
    Boon

    • Hi Boon,
      Ah yes, the webinars!
      I keep signing up to many, but never attend. I tell myself I’ll watch the replay so I can fast forward through it, but then never get round to that either!
      To be honest, many of them have value, many of them don’t – the key is to ask yourself if you already have a plan in place. If you do have a plan in place, ignore all new webinars unless it specifically helps with a part of your existing plan.
      cheers,
      Gordon

  • Developing new habits takes around 90 days before they really become part of your “ritual”.

    Kate asked about apps you can use. I realize not everyone uses a MAC, but the app store actually does have a clock you can set to ring on a timer. And as you said, your phone is useful for this too.

    To be honest, I don’t use a timer when I am on the computer. However, I take note of the time when I begin a project and set how long I plan to work on it. Usually, just mentally kickstarting a project like this, keeps me on track.

    I find it more difficult to block out the distractors; you know, the phone and social media notifications. So I’ve been working on those things. The phone, I set to silent. Social media is a work in progress. I’m trying to limit it to 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

    As the adage goes, “I’m a work in progress”. You have provided some good tips for changing habits, so thank you.

    • Social media is also a downfall for me, as I suspect it is for many. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wrote my latest book, because it takes advantage of the time we spend on there. Too much wasted time though, and I’m getting there on cutting it down!
      As to how long it takes for habits to become natural, I’ve seen various numbers of days quoted.
      I think the best thing to do is worry about keepping up *every* day, and then the naturalisation of the habit will come in due course, it has to.

      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • You are so right Gordon! Why do we always wait to start taking time do something that means so much to us? We are willing to spend time just ‘vegging’ out on social media when we should take that time to work towards our goals! Great tips and I look forward to spending more time working on my goals, thanks for the reminder!

    • Hi Jen,
      Actually, vegging on social media is the subject of an upcoming article, sort of a follow up to this. There’s nothing wrong with the vegging per say, many people get lots of pleasure from it. The problem is, as you point out, the time it consumes, and people should be aware of the time consumption and the choice they have to carry on or cut it down!
      Thanks for stopping by!
      cheers, Gordon

  • The first thing up on my list is FB. Second, Emails. Third, Whatsapps. Forth, distractions elsewhere… Thanks for this reminder Gordon. Great tips to start working!

  • Hi Gordon.

    This is a great idea taking one hour a day to accomplish our goals and it all begins with us taking action and following through with them. There are no excuses.

    We can break our goals down into smaller segments and before we know it one goal is completed and we are ready to go onto the next. One hour a day is not a lot of time when you think about it.

    I am catching up on blog commenting. I have a few left to do before the process starts all over again. It is such an important task that we need to stay on top of them.

    Thank you for sharing, Gordon and you have a wonderful weekend!

    Linda

    • Hi Linda,
      Oh yes, it’s a powerful technique, and in fact you mention a nice refinement to it – sometimes people feel overwhelmed with their goal, don’t know where to start, and as a result never *do* start! They also have no idea what they can do for the first one hour slot.
      You mention breaking it down into smaller goals, and in fact the first hour slot can be spent working on just that, breaking the steps down to give clarity on the next step needed. It can take 2 hour slots, or 3, but it will all be progress!
      Thanks for the tip, I’ll be using it as a full new article now!
      cheers, Gordon