I Finally Improved My Follow Through Skills (here’s how)
Breaking news: I’ve finally improved my follow through skills. Good stuff, right?
I’m actually bringing myself closer to reaching my goals. Because as you know, all the planning, dreaming and scheming in the world won’t matter if there’s no follow through on those ideas.
Taking action…it’s where all the magic is. So this post shares my top tips.
Let’s get to it.
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What Are Follow Through Skills? (+ why should I care?)
Following through is more than just taking action.
Having follow through skills means you’re able to complete tasks and plans in a reliable and consistent way.
It’s the taking action part of planning. It’s the ability to focus and execute on a goal.
It’s everything.
So let’s look at some more benefits of getting good at following through.
The Importance of Follow Through (some sweet benefits)
Reach your goals more consistently
Become more process-oriented
Boost your skill development
It’s a form of personal growth and self development
Improve your self confidence
Bolster your professional reputation
Create a higher sense of personal pride
Strengthen your discipline
Increase your productivity
Build trust and reliability (people will know they can count on you)
Reduce stress (because you know you’re doing what you need to do)
How I Improved My Follow Through Skills (6 tips)
I’m not perfect (if such a thing even exists).
But I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at pursuing my goals and doing the things I set out to do. It’s refreshing and it’s liberating.
So here are my top tips.
1. Have A Clear Goal
Improving your follow through skills starts with focus. We need a clear and specific goal.
If you’re not sure what you want quite yet, that’s awesome too. This just means you’re still exploring.
I use an adventure mindset to make the process of setting goals more fun.
Finding a goal to work towards may require a bit of testing, some self reflection and a little time. But eventually, if you’re intentional with the process, you’ll find your thing.
Here are some tips for goal clarity:
Make them SMART (Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based)
Review and revise things regularly
Break down big goals into smaller steps
Consider your values and why you want the goal
2. Make It A (public) Challenge
Gamification works. And making things public creates accountability.
In January of this year (2023), I started my year-long song-a-day challenge to improve my creative discipline and music production skills.
It’s also forced me to develop a routine, which has turned into a habit (which has dramatically improved my follow through skills).
Writing one song everyday for one year sounded a bit daunting at first. I mean, what if I’m sick, traveling or just feeling lazy?
These moods and situations are bound to happen.
But I’ve pushed through those moments. And I’ve become a lot more confident in myself and ability to commit to my promises.
One thing I've realized (so far in this songwriting journey) is that no matter how good you get, you’re still going to have bad days.
But follow through means you keep showing up.
This requires practice, patience and a growth mindset, but turning things into a challenge helps.
3. Practice Growth Mindset Thinking
A growth mindset is an asset. And it’s a great way to fine tune your follow through skills.
Growth thinking is a way of seeing things. It’s the belief that your skills and abilities are not fixed and can be improved upon (no matter your skill level).
Setbacks are opportunities and failures are learning moments.
So here are some tips for strengthening your growth thinking:
Focus on process (not speed)
Practice optimism
Stay patient
Identify (and challenge) your limiting beliefs
Get inspired by researching topics on the power of our minds
4. Hang Around (or follow) More People Who Follow Through
I’ve developed some pretty good discipline, but I also tend to only be as good as the company I keep.
Or at least, I’m 10x better (and more productive) when I hang around like-minded peeps.
I mean, it makes sense.
If you want to run a startup, hang around startup-inspired people. If you want to become a travel influencer, meet other aspiring creators.
And if you want to make great art that influences culture, well, you know what to do.
Surrounding ourselves with people who are a few steps (or more) ahead is a smart move. It’s something I hear a lot of successful people talk about.
But even hanging around people who are just equally motivated and goal-oriented will create an inspiration and a mutually supportive loop.
And if no one in your current inner circle gets you, no worries. You can start by building out your outer circle.
For example, follow more inspirational influencers in your space and consume more motivational content.
You can also join online forums or meetup events to start networking.
Or you can do what I’m doing and start creating your own content and brand. Eventually, if you’re adding consistent value and pulling the right levers, like-minded people will find you.
As you build out your tribe, you’ll find following through gets easier and easier.
5. Make Things Bite-Sized
What if I told you that you could reach any of your goals, but you just need to commit to 5 minutes a day?
Pretty sweet deal, right? And it turns out, it works.
Smaller tasks are simpler to tackle, improve your motivation and sense of accomplishment and end up compounding over time.
We just need to find the bare minimum amount of energy to start. We just need to get 1% better each day.
Compounding, it’s real.
The coolest part about taking micro actions is you’ll end up working on things for longer than just 5 minutes.
This is because motivation often follows action.
So to make things bite sized, I like to break down bigger goals into smaller steps. This is reverse engineering and it’s a powerful strategy.
It refocuses your attention to milestones and smaller checkpoints along the way. These are easier and less stressful to achieve (but add up to big changes over time).
Big goals are awesome. But they’re also overwhelming.
So make things more manageable and just focus on bite-sized tasks.
6. Create A System or Workflow
Once I know what I need to work on, I like to create a workflow.
This is a repeatable system for organizing my schedule and tasks.
I like to create my workflows based on my mood (depending on the time of day) and my lifestyle.
My mood’s like this:
My lifestyle varies, depending on if I’m traveling or working on a particular project. So I keep my scheduling flexible and adaptable.
Having a system to rely on will keep you focused, accountable and strategic. It will strengthen your follow through skills.
So here are some tips for creating a workflow:
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