Organization is Key
A lot of what I’ve mentioned so far is great advice for people who are already organized and have systems in place to make their days run well. That is to say, people who already have their act together. If you have dreams, but not goals yet, my suggestion is to start with three lists.
The first should be a list of things that you want to accomplish in the next five years. The second ought to list things that you can, should, or must, do in the next month to work toward those goals. The final list should be a to-do list for today, with those two other lists in mind. On the hard days, when you are demotivated and want to quit, a to-do list is a simple tool that can get you out of bed and back to doing what you need to do.
I recommend making these lists at the end of the day: for me, it makes sense to figure out tomorrow’s plan before logging off of any work platforms so that I can go to bed with a clear idea of my responsibilities for the next day.
I used all of the strategies I described here to complete my Ph.D. With that said, I learned the hard way to implement all of them together. Doing things that are the work of a lifetime, which many goals are, is often a process of making mistakes and learning through them. Perfection is likely not possible, and you will have to revise at all levels, from tactics to strategy, and even the goals. All of that is acceptable, and the thing that matters first and foremost is committing to trying, every single day.