How many times have you declared something you want in life, only six months later to find that you are no closer to getting that “thing” then you were when you first made the declaration? Maybe it was to lose a few pounds, or take your dream vacation, switch careers, pay off debt, or start your own company; and it just didn’t manifest the way you intended.
We love the idea of how amazing life will be when we achieve these desires, but most often we aren’t committed to the action it takes to make these dreams a reality. Two years ago I swore by the time Summer came around I was going to look and feel better than ever in a bikini, and by the time June came around I had achieved minimal physical changes, and those changes were in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. Yep… I actually gained weight.
The question I had to ask myself was, “Am I really committed? or just interested in achieving my Best Summer Body ever?”. Clearly I was just interested because had I truly been committed, I would have done the work to make it happen. Interest is all talk. Commitment is the action behind the talk.
Deciding what you want is only the first step in getting what you want. The Secret will have many people believing that just focusing on what you want will miraculously make those heartfelt desires manifest without much effort. But it’s actually the focus that moves you to take the proper action to make these desires come to fruition. James 2:17 says “Faith without works is dead.” You can have all the faith, intense focus, visualization and belief that what you want will manifest, but without any action behind it all, you’ll probably find yourself in the same place you started.
I just happen to be a dreamer by nature and love to get caught up in my own fantasies of how my life should be. But as I take an inventory of my life, nothing has ever come to me without putting forth some sort of meaningful and committed action toward it.
If you’ve struggled to get to your intended destination, below are the steps that will help take you from just talking the talk but actually walking the walk in order to get all you want in life.
WRITE OUT YOUR GOALS: Write out your goals. Be specific in what you want and post them somewhere where you can see them, read them and focus on them. Visualize them in detail as if they are actually happening. This daily reminder will help keep you on track and will help lead you to meaningful action.
CREATE A PLAN: You can’t get from point A to point B without directions. Do your research and create a plan of action. Develop a set of step-by-step instructions that will keep you on the right path to your goal and stick to it. If I want to pay off my outstanding debt by December 31st, I know I need to create a financial plan that requires me to alter my spending habits to get me to where I want to be. If my goal is to lost 15lbs by June 1st, I know I have to adopt a strict nutrition and workout regimen and stick to it.
FORM NEW HABITS: In order to make any significant life changes that will actually stick, you have to take consistent and focused action over time. Quick fixes don’t work. Changing behavior patterns is more of a marathon then a sprint. It doesn’t happen overnight but with sustained and repeated action over time, brain pathways eventually begin to change and new more meaningful ways of thinking, feeling and behaving begin to form.
BE MINDFUL: Don’t focus on any thoughts or feelings that will undermine your efforts to achieve your goal. Be aware of negative chatter in our subconscious mind that creates resistance and of pushes you off your path. Recognize the thoughts that hold you back from moving forward and rebuke them. Be mindful of when these emotions creep in, and quickly redirect them to ones of gratitude and appreciation instead of frustration and anxiety when things aren’t moving as fast as you like.
CELEBRATE ALONG THE WAY: Check your progress often and give yourself a small reward for everything that moves you closer to your goal. Acknowledge how far you’ve come and give yourself praise for all the small victories. This will motivate you to keep moving forward and give you the confidence to truly believe that you can achieve anything you put your mind on.
The more sustained focused action you take toward your dreams, the more your inner and outer realities will come into alignment, the better you will be at changing old habits and creating new ones, and the more successful you will be in achieving all of your wants and desires. Set your intensions, see it come light and put forth the action to make it happen.
In the words of the late Nipsey Husssle “Without a game plan and without a strong sense of faith in what you’re doing, it’s gonna be real hard to accomplish anything.”
Now Let’s Go!