How to stop fixating on results

​Since I set up the Five Percent, I've really been enjoying the work I do. 

But recently, I've noticed something starting to creep in...

​I’ve started to get caught up in the results of my work.

(By results, I mean comments on my site... nice emails about my programs... likes on my Facebook page, etc...)

I found myself refreshing my emails again and again, hoping for a new notification to pop up. 

Eek!

Now, being excited to receive a comment from a reader isn't a bad thing.

But I was getting carried away with it. 

It was taking my focus away from the things I was producing, and moving it to the responses I was getting.

And the thing about responses is that they’re external.

You’re depending on someone else to make you feel good!

Which is never a good thing :)

So I realized I needed to shift my focus, and stop focusing on results as a gauge of success.

So I've switched, and now I give myself... effort points.

Yes - effort points.

A virtual "point" every time I make an effort towards my goal or project.

Less focus on the result.

More focus on the effort :)

And I thought this might be helpful for you too:

• Maybe you've just written a new blog post. 
  
  

It doesn't matter about the number of comments you get... give yourself an effort point for publishing it!

• Maybe you went to the gym even though you had no energy. 
  
  

Good for you! That definitely deserves an effort point!

• Or perhaps you just made a particularly tricky phone call.

Yay! Give yourself two or three effort points! :)

Reward yourself for the effort you make, not the result you get.

A mental "pat on the back", as it were. 

Of course, there's nothing wrong with appreciating your results.

But don't make them the be-all and end-all. 

You can have a bad gym session and not feel bad... cause you still made the effort to go there.

You can write a Facebook post that gets no likes, and still feel good... because you took the effort to post it.

It doesn't matter if that difficult phone call didn't go perfectly. 

Because the effort you put in is more important than the results.

So try it out:

What can you earn an "effort point" for today?

How many effort points will you get this week?

And if you're feeling daring, share what you give yourself an "effort point" for in the comments! 

With one more effort point in the bank... ;)

Claire