This guide outlines a key finding from behavioural science to help you stay on track.

If you review the most successful people in history, one theme continuously jumps out.

Consistency.

Day after Day, Month after Month, Year after Year, Decade after Decade.

Unfortunately, many people struggle for consistency. They start something, then forget about it, move onto something else, before starting again.

Your focus isn't your focus.

Here is why you struggle to keep focused on your goal

• The world is a melting-pot of distraction

• We have limited attention

• We're built to focus on the thing in front of us (in case it can eat us or we can eat it...)

However, luckily you can take advantage of a key behavioural science concept of Saliency.

Salience bias is our tendency to focus on items or information that are more noteworthy while ignoring those that do not grab our attention

Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Make your Focus or Goal VERY OBVIOUS

We focus on items or information that are more noteworthy. So take advantage.

Here are some examples of how:

• Post-it notes on your desk / fridge / wardrobe / bathroom mirror

• Create a regular reminder on your phone and laptop

• Write it down in Notes and save as background image

• Print it out in big A4 and post it on your wall

Step 2: Spend 5 minutes every morning planning towards your Goal

Many get up and get on with their days without intention. If you want to achieve or change something, you need to be intentional about your time.

Set time-blocks in your calendar to spend time on your main focus. There aren't many things with more saliency than a blinking email reminder!

Step 3: Spend 5 minutes every night reflecting on progress

Set a reminder, and review how you moved towards your goal today. By reinforcing your focus and goals before sleep, you are more likely to reinforce its importance in your mind.

This approach is both simple to implement and powerful.

10 minutes of effort up front, and then daily will help keep your focus just that. In focus.