It's harder to get into action than to stay in action. Have you ever ridden a bicycle? The first few rotations of the pedal are hard, and if you’re a beginner, more often than not you are wobbly. But once you get going, momentum is easy to maintain.
You may not realize but we are actually have some hard-wiring within us that can make it challenging to get into action. Our biology is actually designed for us to keep things as they are.
The human body is designed for homeostasis. Let's keep our blood pressure pretty much stable. Let's keep our heart rate pretty much stable. Let's keep our oxygen pretty much stable. Let's keep our blood sugar levels pretty much stable. Keep everything in order, in balance, in harmony.
And, here's the kicker. If you lay in bed for three months, you'll definitely get homeostasis. But you'll also get atrophy. Your musculature will start to wither.
Within 2-3 days of laying in bed doing nothing your muscles can halve in size.
So on the one level you want homeostasis and stability. But on the other hand, if you do nothing and keep homeostasis and stability, you don't stay in the same place you decline.
You need to challenge homeostasis, to challenge the status quo.
To move to a new level of performance, you need to put yourself under stress, so that you then adapt to that new level
This doesn't mean the bad type of stress where you become an emotional wreck. We are talking about the positive type of stress. What psychologists call Eustress. This type of stress gets you up and moving. Gives you a boost of energy.
This positive stress is vital for a full and flourishing life. It is the type of stress that comes from anticipating a first date, gunning for a promotion, or the first day of a new job, or riding a roller coaster.
Without eustress, you run the risk of becoming bored and in the extreme depressed.
Goal setting and taking action is your way of moving yourself to a new performance level. Of challenging the status quo. Giving yourself challenges and a reason to wake up in the morning.
To move to a new level of performance, you must put yourself under 'positive' stress
But here's a word of warning. Have you ever got fit and then stopped exercising? Your body adapts to the stress of training, by getting stronger and fitter. Your blood flows much better and you are eating and thinking better. Stop the exercise and it actually regresses. And often, quite quickly.
Working towards your goals is much the same. If you start taking action toward a goal, then stop you actually might find you are in worse shape than before.
Action will always produce a result.
Yes, sometimes the result may not always be exactly what you wanted. When that happens it is a golden opportunity to learn from the situation, dust yourself off and get back into the game.
Getting it wrong is okay.
Learning from it is critical.
What the most successful people know and act upon, is that failure is one sign that a particular approach didn't work. That another approach, another more successful action is needed.
It is about having the internal fortitude to continue in the face of difficult times. A sure step to failure is to quit at the first sign of opposition.
The ultimate failure is when you don't take action and you end up spending your entire lifetime wondering, wanting, desiring, wishing, hoping - all in vain.
Ultimately it is your choice.
Take action and maybe have a few failures, but ultimately succeed. Or procrastinate and end your days feeling dissatisfied, wishing "if only".
The degree of fulfillment you experience is a direct result of your actions (or inaction) throughout your life. Have you ever said to yourself, "I Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda", when you've seen someone else achieve success, with an idea you had, but you didn't act upon.
Decide today, enough is enough. Give yourself the gift of living the life you desire!
And here's the secret ... if you make sure you are taking inspired action -- then it is unlikely that you will see much of failure!
Taking Inspired Action
You may be wondering what does inspired action mean - and how is it different from just plain action.
No matter your religious or spiritual beliefs - most people agree there is a part of ourselves that is bigger than our physical body. Some people call that energy that resides within Spirit or Soul or God or Your Higher Self - you may have a different label. I like to call it my Power Pack.
Your Power Pack is the part of you that has a broader perspective. When you tune in to it you act with grace, dignity, courage, and joy.
When you take the time to connect with your Power Pack and get that feeling of alignment with that wiser part of yourself ... (that energy within you that creates universes) ... and then turn your attention to focusing on what you want and why you want it ... any actions taken, (after this small moment of quiet), flow more easily and are more successful.
It's about tuning into why you want to do something and feeling good about it, so that you come from a place of courage, rather than fear
You come from a place of inspiration, not desperation. When you take inspired action, you are operating from a mindset of 'I want to' not 'I have to'
With inspired action you put yourself on the 'path of possibility'. Opening yourself up to new ideas, information, and opportunities.
Tricks and Tools to Take Inspired Action
Trick 1: Make it Visible
Laminate your goals and put in places where you'll see each day. For example, you could put them in the shower. Or you could place them in your journal to read each day.
I have a small post-it note sitting near my computer and on it is written: "Is this the highest and best use of my time?". This simple little question has the power to rock your world. It stops me from getting to caught up on the Urgent, Not Important tasks that we all get absorbed in from time to time. (See the Time Genie training if you need clarity around the Urgent/Important model).
Trick 2: Reflect Daily
Your mindset that dictates much of your success. Daily reading of, and reflection upon, your dreams supports you to create a strong and positive mindset. When you are living IN the dream it gives the drive to do what needs to be done
Right before you go to sleep at night, write down in your journal your #1 goal. Then write down the #1 action you need to take to get you closer to your goal. Spend a few moments visualizing the end result you're after. Then visualize you taking action toward that goal. As you sleep your subconscious goes to work, reliving the result you've just visualized.
When you awaken in the morning, spend a few moments reflecting again upon your goal and the activity. Then where possible take action as early in the day as you can.
If you find a few days have gone by and you still haven't taken action, you probably need to go back and review whether this goal is important to you. Make sure it isn't something you have 'should' on yourself. As well, review your Compelling Reasons; perhaps you didn’t nail the 'why'.
Trick 3: Boost Actions With a Small Task
If you've followed the steps we've already covered you should have your mindset and motivation right and be taking inspired action. However, if you find yourself putting off until tomorrow the starting of the diet, or ringing the person you need to ring, here's a small trick that makes a big difference.
Every night write down a small task to do the next morning that will take less than 10 minutes. It could be to do 15 sit-ups, make 2 phone calls, write up a list of contact names.
The trick is to get started. Often you will find that once you get started, you find the motivation to keep going.
If you're still not taking action there's one more trick you can use ...
Trick 4: 5-4-3-2-1 GO!
Mel Robbins, in her book The 5 Second Rule, reminds us that people don't really want to do stuff ... e.g. go to the gym, eat healthier, be more productive, have that challenging conversation. She stumbled upon a system that she uses to 'get stuff done'.
She uses the analogy of a rocket launching ... countdown 5-4-3-2-1 GO! Mel says that the minute you say GO you have to move. What she's saying is that you are changing your state when you physically move. Once you've got momentum of any sort it is easier to keep moving.
I've been using the technique and it has given me the added momentum I need. Check out her Ted Talk and her book for added insight into the psychology behind her technique.
Trick 5: Never Leave the Scene of Setting a Goal Without Taking Action
When you make a decision to do something take immediate action.
It doesn't need to be major. It might be as simple as jumping online and looking up a phone number. Or, as happened with a friend of mine whom I was lunching with decided that she'd trek to the Base Camp of Everest. (Her cousin is a well-known mountaineer). It happened we were not far from an area of Sydney where many mountaineering stores were located. So, we went straight away and bought her a new pair of hiking boots!
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Sorry, cannot display the "Mark as Complete" button as this lesson is not a part of this course.
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