Are you worried about being an over achiever? Don’t be.
There are many other achievers who have reached their goals and relish the title “over achiever”. I have been referred to that as well, and I wear it as a badge of honor.
According to Webster’s dictionary, to achieve is to reach, attain, or accomplish. But when you add ‘over’ to that meaning, one soars above the expected level of competence and may burn out.
How can that be, you may ask?
Well, the difference between an achiever and a non-achiever is largely a matter of attention. Non-achievers give their goals little attention. They like talking about goals but do very little to implement them.
Achievers give their goals plenty attention, so much so that they are the definition according to Webster.
Non-achievers attain and accomplish someone else’s goals, subconsciously making those goals their own.
To be an achiever, you must divert much of your attention from activities that are not precisely leading to accomplishing your goals. In other words, in a given week if you are not regularly obsessing over your goals, then what are you attaining, or accomplishing during that time?
Setting a goal makes you do something to accomplish it.
That action will have a greater value than what you receive. If you want to reach your goal you must become better, change, and grow.
If your idea of accomplishment hasn’t altered from the previous year, then you haven’t learned much. If your idea of accomplishment has not evolved, then you haven’t had many influential experiences.
Achievers accept that at some point non-goal activities must be resisted and put on the back burner.
Keep it real.
The latest Marvel movie will have to wait. An email from a cancelled subscription service invites you to re-subscribe, do not reply. Your sister from Hawaii may nag you to pay her a visit, ignore her texts.
Saying no is the default response for achievers. They save their attention for their goals. Adam Grant says, “Saying no frees you up to say yes when it matters most.”
My former student, Rosa, wanted to become a nurse. She loved helping people. Everyone loved her infectious laugh and calming voice that soothed even angry students to stillness.
Being of service is a commendable thing. We as humans should strive to be of service to anyone who needs our help. Rosa wanted to be of service to her adopted country for making it possible for her to attain her goal.
When she faced an obstacle in her path to becoming a nurse, she said “No, I will not let this keep me from my dream of helping sick people.”
From time to time, she would have to prove her immigration status and education credentials. All her documents were legitimately earned, but there was always some bureaucrat behind a glass window peering over bifocal eyeglasses just hoping to deny her for the smallest infraction.
Hidden distractions can sidetrack you.
When asked about goal setting, successful high achievers confessed that if an opportunity aligned with their set goals, then great, they took advantage of it. But, if it takes away from their purpose and is irrelevant to their current goal, then they said no to the diversion.
“The difference between successful people and really successful people, is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” — Warren Buffet
It is wise to be less self-centered than arbitrarily chasing random opportunities that others bring to your attention.
Rosa was focused on one thing only, becoming a nurse in the United States of America. Her laser focused attention drove her to heights that even surprised her. Over twenty years ago her parents brought her to America when she was five years old, along with a younger brother and sister. They traveled for over three months on a long and treacherous journey from Ecuador.
Her parents were educators in their home country but with the change in leadership came a civil war and rampant corruption. Her father had made some bad business deals while providing for his family and lost his benefactor when the new government took over. He was wrongly accused for a false crime and sought asylum in the US once he reached the border with the help of a network of sympathizers.
Rosa’s father was her role model. She saw first hand what happens when you get distracted from your goal. Once the family reached safety in America, they made a communal goal for everyone. Learn the language and customs of the new country and teach each other to benefit from opportunities that would help society.
In order to attain this goal, they had to give all their attention solely to the goal. Their survival depended on focus and attention.
“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.” — Jim Rohn
Attention is a finite resource.
On any given day we may be bombarded with many interests competing for our attention. Such as, family, friends, children, strangers, social media, etc. With so many ways to distract you, the ability to focus is a scarce commodity. Scarcer than the time available in each day.
You also have internal competition.
Your emotional and physical needs require some attention. There among all your competing interests lies your inner voice in search of your attention. This is your goal-oriented nature, your adroit intelligence, your drive to live a full life — rich in meaning and purpose.
This part of you hankers for achievement. It won’t be satiated until you set your own goals, and they are attained, and accomplished.
With insufficient attention to this part of yourself, you experience low motivation, low self-esteem, and a general scarcity of usefulness to placate your interests.
However, with the proper attention, your inner voice will repay you with drive, energy, passion, and a sense of purpose.
Know what you want, then turn into the person that gets it.
Fortunately, we have the power to consciously direct our attention in any direction we see fit. If you let it hover around aimlessly then you can rest assured, it will miss the target.
Or you can focus your attention on your own goals and move your life forward.
Setting goals needs focused attention. A great deal of attention is needed when planning the steps to achieve said goals. In executing the action steps — even more attention is needed. Achievers make these activities a number one priority. Non-achievers do not.
Put goals first.
Rosa completed the necessary education requirements to achieve her goal and became a Registered Nurse. She created a goal, set into motion the steps to achieving it, and accomplished it within her time limit. A true over achiever.
So, how can you put your goals first?
Set goals that will help you grow, improve your skills, create value for others, and become more creative in our ecosystem.
Another thing you can do is to deliberately keep your attention on your goals.
Dwell on them.
Visualize them.
Obsess over them.
Instead of checking your phone every few minutes use that time to work on your goals.
Think of how much time you spend watching TV, playing video games, or watching You Tube videos, that time could be best spent reaching for your goals.
Goals are the means, not an end. They are the means to progress and development. Once you reach a goal, take what you’ve learned and continue growing.
Don’t get stuck in the past looking at your goal. Instead, use all your past experiences to push for even bigger results, creating new goals and challenges.
Always be growing, transforming, changing, and venturing forward.
My goal was to write an article about goal setting over-achievers. I had competing commitments of various kinds: like consulting, teaching, and cooking. I could watch cooking shows all day long because I love to learn how to cook new dishes.
But I had to not use these commitments as an excuse for not giving enough attention to my goal, writing.
Starting from an inspiring position and using these same elements to help motivate me, the goal seemed attainable. Where non-achievers see excuses, achievers find drive.
I have been writing poetry and short stories for many years as a hobby, but only recently set a goal to become a published author. Using the ideas and tips presented in this article I have achieved that goal.
You, the reader, are my witness.
