Shifting from dreaming and thinking to doing
Do you have a long list of “to-do” items that you always postpone and never get to? Perhaps you want to embark on a fitness journey, but never get started, or perhaps you have all those tasks at home or the office that you continue to push out to next week.
If you want to achieve your goals and attend to these to do items, it is no longer enough to dream or think about it; you need to shift to doing.
Follow these easy steps to get into action:
- Visualise yourself taking action
Visualising yourself taking action assists you in mapping out the steps you would like to follow. It also allows you to become clearer on exactly what it is you would like to do.
During visualisation, you activate the same area of the brain as performing the task. So, when you actually set out to do something, you will perform better as you already had a trial run in your mind. Close your eyes and imagine exactly what and how you will do something. You can even write down the steps and detail. Or create a vision board.
Also read my blog: The power of visualisation.
- Identify your motivators
What is stopping you from taking action? Maybe you do not really want to do this. Maybe it is just something you think you should be doing.
You may need to distinguish whether you are working toward your own objectives or the expectations of others. If there is no benefit for you, then you are doing something for the wrong reasons and you will find that it is very hard to get to action.
Find the benefits for you and allow those to motivate you.
- Set goals
I invite you to read my blog: Achieving your goals. It is important to set goals in the correct manner and to find ways to hold yourself accountable.
- Replenish your energy
Taking control of your life does not mean cramming as much action as possible into your days. Modern society often keeps people on a hamster wheel that never seems to slow down. Ultimately this will result in burn out as we were not created to run full speed all the time.
Unless you replenish your energy by sufficient and quality sleep, and breaks, you will never have the energy to tackle your to do list.
- Create an environment for success
Do you spend time with positive, action-oriented people? Do you put yourself in situations where you are inspired to take action? Do you have supportive people to talk to when things get tough?
Make a point to seek out environments where taking action is positively reinforced, and the people around you are supporting you. This might well mean spending less time with negative people in your life and investing in new relationships.
You can also consider attending workshops, joining online groups, finding a mentor or coach to generate an environment that cultivate action and success.
- Perfection is stagnation
Do you strive for perfection? When you strive for perfection, you potentially are reaching for the unattainable. This might result in you beating yourself up over every little mistake. You might even put off dealing with difficult problems out of fear of failure.
Give yourself room to make mistakes, to learn and grow from them. Become aware of why you are delaying action. Greater awareness might just assist you in getting into action.
- Implement a daily routine
Consistent daily effort, no matter how small, brings about success. This means that you have to plan your day and schedule your activities. Without a clear plan for the day, you can get side-tracked or avoid important tasks.
Make a habit of daily planning, either the afternoon before or in the morning. Later you can build this out to also include weekly and monthly planning.
Get clear on your priorities. It will assist you in staying focused and getting things done on time.
Rome was not built in a day, but it is built daily. So is the life you desire.