How Having One Goal Helps You do Everything Better....

I developed this 'Delegating' technique specifically to help the students I refer to as ‘chronic doers’! These students, while certainly being focused on their academic interests, often have multiple other interests they are pursuing simultaneously. They might have goals and interests in things like music, blogging, weight-lifting, jogging, acting, team sports, debating, improving diet, writing, social clubs, societies, poetry, etc. While this is certainly not a bad thing, it can occasionally lead to a number of difficulties with burnout (taking on too much at once). If not addressed, these issues can jeopardize results.

Above all, it is the ‘chronic doers’ that have the most difficulty unwinding and gaining the benefits of relaxation time. You’ll know you are a chronic doer if you regularly tend to have the following experiences:The Next Level Learning system relies heavily on the benefits of enjoying relaxation time. A problem enters this approach however if the student is unable to actually enjoy relaxation time! This might seem like a strange statement to make, but as you read on you’ll understand more deeply what I’m talking about here. The major point I’m making is that many people are not very good at fully enjoying relaxation time. Thankfully however, this can be remedied with the correct mental re-framing.

Above all, it is the ‘chronic doers’ that have the most difficulty unwinding and gaining the benefits of relaxation time. You’ll know you are a chronic doer if you regularly tend to have the following experiences:

1. You always seem busy. 2. You always seem to have a list of things that need to be done. 3. No matter how much you do, the list never seems to shorten. 4. You have difficulties unwinding and doing ‘nothing’. 5. You are always preoccupied with getting things done. 6. You feel that relaxation time is a luxury and associate it with laziness.

The life of a ‘chronic doer’ is not a lot of fun. While they are certainly goal-oriented and highly motivated to achieve things in life, this desire to achieve can sometimes hurt their chances of experiencing success. This is not to say there is anything wrong with wanting to achieve success in life. I am not saying that at all. However, when an individual becomes intensely preoccupied with ‘doing to achieve’, they can sometimes lose sight of the hugely important need for relaxation. They can forget to enjoy the journey and this hugely hinders their chances of success in the long run.

What tends to happen with the chronic doer is that when they have some ‘free time’ away from work or study, they tend to fill it with numerous other things they have goals in. This, unfortunately, is a way in which we let that little ‘have to’ voice enter into our free time! Free time should never become a period where you address other things you ‘have to’ do! The only question you should ask yourself at the beginning of your free time is: “What do I really want to do now?” If you are a ‘chronic doer’, with multiple goals and things you want to get done, watch out for this!

How does the ‘chronic doer’ avoid this fate? The only way to avoid this is to become less busy! Believe me, study will come a lot easier if you really master how to fully relax and actually enjoy your free time.

Enjoying your free time becomes so much easier when you simplify what you are really focused on in your daily life. By this, I literally mean that it can be of great benefit to focus only on one major goal rather than on several. Of course, most students are not focused only on one thing. While study is certainly a major concern, other interests are undoubtedly important to the student and require their time and attention. But just for a second, imagine how much easier academic life would be if you had literally no other life goals outside of study?! Imagine if the only thing you focused on achieving success in was academic work and other goals such as fitness, team sports, socializing, music etc. were no longer an issue. I’m not advocating this at all mind, but I’m sure you’ll agree that achieving academic success would be a lot easier. If this were the case, life might be rather dull, but achieving academic success would almost be a certainty!

On the other hand, having interests outside of study can also be beneficial in terms of achieving academic success. They can serve to remind you that life does not revolve entirely around study. You might begin to see here that striking a balance between your ‘study life’ and ‘other life interests’ can be rather tricky. Many people talk about the importance of having a balanced lifestyle, but practical advice on how to actually achieve this is unfortunately not nearly as common. There are two very common and misguided approaches to this I see in the students I work with. Let’s look at these now…

Common approach 1: Give up everything but study

One very common thing that tends to happen when a student is engaged with particularly important course work is that they are advised to “really focus on study for the year” or to “forget your other interests for the year and really buckle down”. You can probably see the logic in this. As I have argued, achieving academic success really is simpler if the student is single-minded and focused only on one thing. But there is a big problem with this type of advice. The student will have genuine interests in the life areas they are being asked to give up. They will have specific things they want to achieve in these domains. Thus, telling a student to completely forget about these interests is something they really don’t want to hear. Importantly, the student already knows that academic success will be easier if they focus exclusively on study; in a way they agree with the sentiment of the person telling them to buckle down. However, it is the thought of sacrificing these other life interests that causes the student to feel uneasy and, quite frankly, resentful.

When the student feels they will have to ‘sacrifice’ something they are interested in, feelings of resentment become almost inevitable. Even worse, these feelings of resentment cause huge dips in the students’ motivation to study! Ironically, telling the student to focus solely on study has the exact opposite effect and actually repels them from it! Telling students to drop cherished goals entirely is a drastic approach which can frequently backfire. While this is far from ideal, there is yet another approach which may even be worse.

Common approach 2: You decide you can handle it all!

While the student realizes that their focus needs to be centered on academic work, they are often unwilling to ‘give up’ or ‘sacrifice’ other interests that mean so much to them. This is certainly very understandable. No one likes to give up things they really love. And besides, as I have already stated, holding other interests outside of study can actually be beneficial to academic performance. However, when a student takes on multiple goals during a busy course of academic work, they are actually priming themselves to become ‘chronic doers’.

Remember, the ‘chronic doer’ is someone who is perpetually busy, yet never really manages to get anything done! One could argue that taking on numerous goals during a busy course of academic work is a good thing because “hard work never killed anyone” or the student will “gain a great sense of accomplishment from achieving through struggle”. As you know however, I am certainly not a fan of doing hard work just for the sake of it!

If it were the case that taking on multiple goals and working hard actually resulted in success and accomplishment for the student, I could probably get on board with the approach. However, my big problem with this approach is that it rarely ever leads to actual success for the student! The student will have to work incredibly hard and success is very rarely accomplished with this approach.

In my experience, massive problems manifest when the student decides to take on everything! Firstly, when the student commits to taking on multiple goals, they often make no strong commitment to any one goal. In a sense, they end up doing everything half-heartedly. Sure, they are pursuing many interests, but they do none of them particularly well. Certainly, none of them are pursued to a level of real excellence. Let’s really try to figure out why this is the case so as not to fall into this trap.

Let’s say for example that during a period of busy academic work (final exams, last year of college, finishing thesis) a student decides that while they are studying, they are also going to actively pursue goals in fitness and music. This is perfectly normal of course. However, what tends to happen with this approach is that the student determines that in order to make progress in these additional goals, there are certain things they will ‘have to’ do consistently. The entire Next Level Learning solution is designed to remove any and all ‘have to’s’ from the students life experience. When additional life goals become just another way for ‘have to’ to start bossing the student around, nothing good is going to happen.

In our example, the student has additional goals in music and fitness. These interests may in fact start off as a source of genuine pleasure and enjoyment for the student. However, when the student starts to set goals in these areas and then listens to the little ‘have to’ voice, what once was a source of genuine pleasure can quickly become just another chore that needs to be ‘done’ and ticked off a list. Talk about taking all the fun out of things. Before you know it, you’ve become a ‘chronic doer’!

Now the student has got music and fitness to deal with in addition to academic work. When listening to the ‘have to’ voice, the student will typically determine very detailed action steps that need to be followed on a daily basis. For music, they might determine that 30 minutes of practice a day is required to make progress. In their fitness, they determine that they must prepare healthy meals every evening and also do a daily 40 minute workout. These action steps certainly seem helpful and logical. However, it’s almost like ‘the good intentions study plan’ we looked at earlier. While these action steps may seem great, following through with them consistently is another matter entirely. More importantly, the mental energy expended in carrying this ‘to do’ list around all day is incredibly draining.

The reason it can be so difficult is that the student has simply expanded the list of chores they ‘have to’ do. This leads to the phenomenon of the student never being fully present with what they are currently doing. While they are studying, the student is thinking somewhere in the back of their mind that “I still have to do my work out this evening”. While the student is working out they might be thinking “I better do my music practice after this”. And while practicing their music the student will be thinking of getting ready for college or school the next day! It’s a vicious cycle. The student is never fully present with any of the activities they are involved with – and are supposed to be enjoying, remember! This, in fact, makes any enjoyment utterly impossible.

Another huge problem with this approach is that the student will frequently feel guilty if they miss any one of the now several things they ‘have to’ do! They put needless pressure on themselves. Having so many things to do (and consistently on a daily basis) means that the student almost guarantees failure and the resulting sense of guilt. I have seen students who have put in hugely productive days and yet still feel guilty because one of the things on their ‘have to’ list was not ticked off! The student might put in 3 hours of study after a long day in school and then practice music for 30 minutes. Exhausted, they might not follow through with their intended exercise routine. This is very understandable of course. Yet rather than focusing on the great things they did manage to achieve in the day, the student feels bad because they didn’t get to do everything they intended. Essentially, they have become a slave to the ‘have to’ list! Guilt becomes almost inevitable and appreciation almost impossible.

This is a prime example of how additional life goals, rather than being a source of fun, can actual work against the student. Thankfully there is another way: Delegating. This way is different in that it does not ask you to sacrifice any of the things you have goals in and really enjoy, and also doesn’t involve making detailed lists of things you ‘have to’ do. Let’s talk about this now.

In the Delegating technique, the only thing YOU will be focusing on doing is your number one priority. It will be your job to do only what is necessary to make progress in this one life area. Firstly, of course, you must decide what your top priority is. This will vary from person to person, but for most students, this will likely be academic work.

The way I get students to identify their top priority is by asking them the following question: “When this day is over, what one thing would you feel most guilty and anxious about not having addressed?” For some students, this might be a fitness goal or some non-study related area. But for the most part, not completing important study work makes students feel more anxious and guilty than any other type of goal. For those students, using the Delegating technique will mean that addressing academic work is now their one and only concern for the day.

So how are you going to go about doing all these things both efficiently and in a more enjoyable way? The idea is that you are going to consciously forget about all the additional life goals and pour all your attention, focus, and effort into completing study (assuming this is your top priority as we discussed). You are going to hand all responsibility for these additional life areas to what I refer to as your ‘Delegate’.

Your Delegate could be described as a part of your subconscious mind that is an absolute genius in terms of organizing your life! They are sort of like your own inner personal assistant. It can really help to use an image of your own Delegate (see picture above) or even give them a name!

Doing this, I want you to commit to the following ‘rules’ surrounding these additional life areas…

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]State to yourself that you would like to make some progress in these areas (set your intent).

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Next, release all responsibility for ‘doing’ any of these things! You no longer need to worry about them. In fact, the less you consciously think about or worry about these things, the better.

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Simply get out of the way and let your Delegate do everything for you. Make absolutely no rules as to how things have to be done in these areas. Release as much expectation as possible. Just be open to the fact that they will now be handled in the best way possible. They will be handled in new, ingenious, and often unexpected ways for you!

[if !supportLists]4. [endif]Think of your Delegate as being a real person. If you want to, give them a name. Get a picture in your mind about what they look like. The more you can develop this character the better. You want to start developing a real relationship with your Delegate.

It really is as simple as that. By consciously releasing control of these things, your subconscious mind will now busily go to work on your behalf. One of the major reasons this technique is so effective is that it significantly reduces the amount of energy you waste on worry, thus releasing previously untapped reservoirs of creative energy. Remember you will now be focusing only on one thing – not several. Your main goal will now receive 100% of your conscious focus. This means that you will be much more likely to succeed in this one area. As a result, this sense of accomplishment and achievement will then spill over into other life domains. You begin to get an overwhelming sense of momentum and positive expectation. Everything else that gets done is actually seen as a massive bonus rather than simply something to be crossed off a long list of ‘to do’ items.

You must release all control

It is very important not to set overly specific requirements for your Delegate if at all possible. The more freedom and flexibility you offer your Delegate, the better. What do I mean? Well let’s say that fitness is one of the goals you have handed to your Delegate. Rather than telling your Delegate that you “have to do 20 minutes of cardio every day”, you would be much better off focusing on the end result and underlying feeling you want to achieve from doing the exercise. Be very clear in what you want to achieve and in how you want to feel, but then be very flexible in terms of what needs to actually happen in order for this to come about. Not everything needs to happen just the way you think it does!

What might happen is that on a very busy day of academic work, you simply won’t have the time to exercise. However, you might decide that you need to go to the grocery store down the road. Rather than drive however, you get the idea (from your Delegate) to walk instead. Another example might simple be that you park your car as far away from the shop as possible! Your Delegate, when given the end goal, will actually work with you and for you in order to help you achieve it. It never criticizes or calls you lazy! It is actually your best friend. If we take the example of music, again it is important to make very few demands of the Delegate in terms of specifics. The student might want to feel like they are improving with their instrument and making real progress while nurturing their creative side. Having set the intention, next they would simply step back and allow their Delegate to do their work. With no ‘to do’ surrounding this area, the student might feel moved to frequently sit down and enjoy unplanned music sessions - just for the sake of it. It’s all be very spontaneously and natural. They might feel moved to start practicing sporadically throughout the day, sitting down to play a few pieces when inspired. There are no rules. More importantly, there are no rules to break. They are not responsible and cannot fail in these areas any longer. Everything they do is done with a sense of peace and gratitude, as all things should be done!

You should notice yourself becoming incredibly consistent in terms of addressing study on a daily basis. Gone will be any old patterns of avoiding study for days on end. In terms of your other life goals, you might notice that your Delegate occasionally doesn’t address one or more of the areas you consider important. This is where it is important not to second guess or even fire your Delegate! Leave them to it. There will always be a very good reason as to why your Delegate elects not to address a given area in a way that you yourself might deem acceptable or preferable. Just keep focusing on your intent and leave the specifics to them.

One other reason you may not be consistently ‘doing’ your other life goals is that you haven’t fully given up control or fully released your demands in terms of specifics. If you hold on rigidly to specifics regarding any of these, you will notice they probably do not get addressed consistently. This can be a sign that you need to release more control. For example, the student may secretly have been harbouring thoughts about how long their workout needs to be? If so, anything short of this suggested by their delegate would be ignored. Making your own specifics shuts off your channel to hear the inspirational guidance been provided to you.

In truth, the less you argue with your Delegate, the better. Just bide your time and stick with the technique over a long enough time frame before judging whether your Delegate is competent in their role! What’s truly amazing is that, if you give it time, you’ll start to notice a method and logic to the methods your Delegate uses that you perhaps didn’t notice previously! Try to ‘get out of the way’ as much as you can. Above all, drop any sense of responsibility for ‘getting things done’! Become less busy, and avoid becoming a ‘chronic doer’ at all costs. Allow the success that will now come to you through your main goal to create a sense of accomplishment that starts to spill over into all the other areas of your life.

TTYL,

David

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