Most people fail to achieve their goals because somewhere along the line, they lose focus. 【小题1】 And eventually, they give up on their goals. Does this sound familiar to you? Don’t worry. Here are 3 simple techniques you can use to prevent yourself from losing focus on your goals.

【小题2】 All too often, many people make the mistake and believe that the more goals they have, the better. This is wrong. Once, researchers conducted an experiment about the choices of jams and the number of sales. They discovered that the more choices of jams they provided for shoppers, the fewer sales they got. The more options you have, the less likely you can focus better. Therefore, focus on just ONE.

The second technique you can use is this - commit to taking small steps. Success isn’t going to happen overnight. Success is the accumulation of many small steps. 【小题3】 It will only make you suffer. Instead, commit to doing a minimum number such as 30 push-ups every day, and then increase gradually. 【小题4】 it lowers the resistance, and you are more likely to take action.

The third method is to focus on progress, not results. This is one of the most important distinctions between someone successful and someone who is not. Successful people understand that progress is key, not results. 【小题5】 On the contrary, unsuccessful people focus only on getting the result. Whenever they don’t get the result they want, they feel bad, frustrated, and lose their motivation, which eventually makes them give up on their goals.

If you apply these methods, you too, can maintain your focus and reach your goals, slowly, but surely.

An unpleasant smell floated into my nose as the bowl of fried stinky tofu(臭豆腐) settled onto my grandmother's dinner table. I immediately sat back. The smell ruined my appetite, and I pushed the dish away.

“It's supposed to stink. Just give it a try!” my grandmother said.

Holding my breath, I unwillingly took a bite. To my surprise, the tofu beneath the fried skin was warm, soft, and mouth-watering. Since then, whenever I visited my grandmother's house, I would rush to the kitchen for the stinky tofu with excitement. Thus, stinky tofu became more than a household tradition. It became my favorite dish.

Along with the stinky tofu, I would meet my Uncle Chan on every visit. As an immature boy, I never understood my uncle's condition of Down syndrome(唐氏综合征).

He was an unfriendly and terrible creature in my eyes. He constantly walked around the house, talking to himself. Whenever he appeared, I would run away in fear.

However, one day, my view about my uncle suddenly changed. I was just getting out of my bed when I heard soft steps approaching. It was my uncle. My muscles froze. He slowly sat next to me and touched my face gently, as a mother would stroke (抚摸)a baby. A wide smile emerged from his blank expression. How beautiful his smile was! I could not help but smile back. My fear disappeared gradually, and my muscles relaxed. For the first time, I could see softness and warmth in his eyes.

My uncle very much resembles stinky tofu. Stinky tofu smells unpleasant on the outside,yet feels warm and soft in the inside. Like stinky tofu,my uncle's Down syndrome made me keep my distance at first. Yet, I learned that deep inside, he is harmless and has a loving nature.

Some people tend to look down upon disabled people and regard them as unfit for a regular life. As I was unable to see through the outer surface of the tofu, these people are unable to see through the surface of prejudice(偏见). As a result, they judge the disabled with one glance.

The outside and inside of the stinky tofu exist as two extremely different worlds. Perhaps that is what makes it such a tasty dish. Not only is it delicious, stinky tofu offers a valuable lesson:never judge people at first glance, for true beauty comes from the inside.

If our kids don’t fall, they don’t learn to get up. I still remember the day in high school that my mom forgot to pick me up from school. I’m the oldest of four children, and no doubt she’d had a long day with the other kids and it’d slipped her mind. After waiting at school for an hour, I walked the three miles home, and when I got to my house, I shut our front door with anger, stormed into the kitchen and screamed in my mom’s face that she’d forgotten me.

Later that night, my dad told me I no longer had a ride to school the next day. I figured my mom would still take me, but when the morning came, she refused. It was midterm, and as a straight-A student ready to start college applications, being late wasn’t an option (选择). In my mind, missing these tests would have been the end of my academic career. I begged my mom. I told her she was ruining my future and everything I’d worked for. But she held her ground, and that day, I walked to school. And I missed my tests.

My mom didn’t rescue me from failure. She let me suffer from it. She let me figure it out. She let me learn. Now, as a mom myself, I’ve realized that I want my kids to experience failure because failure is how we grow, learn and think outside of ourselves. It’s how we self-educate to learn what’s right and respectable, and what’s not. It’s how we become responsible and enthusiastic. Falling down makes us better because we learn how to get up.