If you’re thinking about something a lot, because you’re worried about it or excited about it, it’s what you’ll work on. Even if it’s not the most important thing. Even if it’s trivial.

When you get up in the morning you’ll work on that first. Because it’s on your mind. It’s what you’re thinking about, so it’s what you do. Even if other matters are more pressing.

When you get done with what was on your mind the day is mostly over. You’ve not started that important thing you should have been working on.

The only way to win is to work on the important. Either make it what’s on your mind or follow a routine so you work on the important things first.

You’ve got your head down, working hard on that big project. When you finish it you’ll have achieved a major goal. Right now, your entire life is directed at that goal, towards fulfilling it.

But you do realise you can’t just focus on that? You can’t neglect everything else. The emails, the accounts, the sales, the budgets, eating right, exercising, the list goes on and on. If you think you’re just doing it for a little while you’re only fooling yourself. Do you think that by achieving your goal you’ll suddenly have less to do? You won’t. You’ll probably have more. If you neglect everything else now you’re dooming yourself.

If you don’t look after emails you might miss out on that big break. Maybe that big break is a sale for your company. Maybe it’s a speaking opportunity. If you don’t look after your accounts you might end up in financial difficulties. If you stop eating right you might not have the energy to finish your project.

The trick is to focus enough on the big project to keep it moving but not so much that everything else goes off the rails. It’s difficult but worth it. It’s all about the goal, just not always.

The alarm goes off. You can get up or stay in bed.

Sure, you can give yourself ten more minutes but that ten minutes becomes another ten, and another ten. Before you know it an hour has passed, or more.

The other choice is to get up straight away. Don’t allow yourself to think about it, make it automatic, a reaction to the sound of the alarm. The alarm sounds, you get out of bed. Go straight into a routine – exercise, shower, brush teeth – whatever you need to do, whatever order works for you.

You can either put off the day for later or embrace it. It’s the same with life. Wake up, you have a choice to make.

It’s easy to work on the unimportant. It’s easy to work on the urgent. It’s easy to pass the time.

When will you work on your goals?

A day is a tricky thing. It goes by so fast if you let it. It slips past you when you’re not looking.

You have to grab it early to make the most of it.

You picked a goal and you’re pursuing it. Step after step, day after day, you’re getting there.

But, do you still want to? Is that goal still right for you?

Take some time to look at your goal with fresh eyes. If it’s still your goal, great. If not, that’s okay too. Better not to fool yourself.

If the goal is no longer what you really want, you need to decide if you should continue with it anyway. Maybe you’re close to the finish line and want to have a completed project to show for your time. Maybe you salvage the bits you want for the goal you really want to pursue. Maybe you complete it as it can be a stepping stone to the goal you really wish to pursue.