Anchor tasks: The grain in the mountain of goals!

In today’s highly competitive age, one always finds themselves not doing enough. That no matter what you do, there might always be someone else doing better than you or more than you, is enough to stress the most of us. To overcome these shortcomings, we often find ourselves feeling exhausted and giving up or piling onto an already full plate. Neither of these situations is desirable in the long run when one has set such commendable yet colossal goals for themselves. What helps in such times?  The answer is an accomplishment! It might sound ironic to hear, but achievements help trump the feeling of not achieving your goals! But what kind of achievement am I talking about? Now that is the real question! The word achievement has been used to refer to such herculean tasks, that it has lost its simplicity.  To put it simply, an achievement can be seen as anything which provides you with a feeling of satisfaction and pride upon completion. It can be looked at as an anchor to keep you moving forward. That no matter what mammoth tasks you’ve set to achieve, if you can achieve your ‘anchor tasks’, then you can surely accomplish those too. It reassures you that you have the ability to do it, it’s just a matter of putting in more effort.

Your anchor task can and should preferably be simple, although not completely effortless, something that doesn’t take much time to complete and can be performed daily. It could be anything from reading a newspaper every day or watering your plants to praying in the morning or meditation. You are free to choose your anchor tasks. Likewise, I choose Surya Namaskar. I had always found exercise to be the best stress buster, but I could never follow a routine without getting bored or feeling demotivated. After much deliberation, I decided to simply perform 12 Surya namaskars every day, without any lethargy or excuses. It hardly takes me 5 minutes to perform 12 Asanas of Surya namaskar 12 times. The result however was very positive when followed through regularly. Apart from the known benefits of Surya Namaskar such as regular stretching of all the essential body muscles, Vitamin D absorption, a good workout for all muscle groups, the exhilarating oxygenation of your blood, and most importantly peace of mind, you also feel accomplished.

Once I have finished my anchor task successfully, I am poised with motivation to achieve all the tasks I have set aside for the day. The feeling that I am dedicated to completing my anchor task daily, makes me reassure myself that I will not give up on a challenge even if it seems difficult. It lets me know that I have it in me, to see a goal through to the end, it will just be a matter of pushing myself a little more. The phrase, ‘Mountains are made from grains of sand’ fits most aptly here. Use the feeling of accomplishment as motivation to set an even bigger task and achieve it. Keep going likewise and you’d find yourself with a well of motivation to accomplish any goals you want!  So, set aside an anchor task for yourself today, follow through on it daily, and extend that feeling of accomplishment as your dose of motivation to achieve your goals and dreams!