‘I noticed a long time ago that successful people rarely sit back and let things happen to them. They went out and things happened.”
Leonardo da Vinci
One of the biggest and most common problems with improving your life or achieving the success you desire is that you may not take consistent action over an extended period of time.
Now consistency isn’t the sexiest or most exciting word.
But it is, combined with time, that will give you real results in your life.
Sticking to the program and doing something consistently – and not just when you feel inspired or something like that – is very powerful.
This is something I have struggled with a lot in the past. And some days I still do.
But over the years I’ve discovered a few things that really help me with this.
1. When you take action, focus only on the process.
I use this, for example, when I train and when I write. I take no responsibility for the results in my mind.
I take responsibility for showing up and doing my training/writing. That’s it.
Regardless, the results come from that consistent action. And this makes it easier for me to take this action, because:
- I know this is the only thing I need to focus on. And so my energy and attention is focused in one direction and I do better.
- I feel much less pressure on myself. And so I am more relaxed and inclined to keep going, compared to when I blind myself to the possible results that never come as quickly as I would like and when I am on an emotional roller coaster from day to day.
2. Remember why you are taking action.
Find your top priorities and reasons why you do what you do.
It could be to provide for your family, to save for travel, to get the job you really want or to boost your self-confidence. Or something else.
To not lose sight of why you are taking action and stay focused:
- Write down your main reasons. Take a few minutes, sit down with paper and a pen and write down the top 1-3 reasons why you are taking action and want to continue doing so at this time in your life.
- Put that note where you can see it every day. Such as in your workspace or next to your bed, so that you see it every morning when you wake up.
3. Reminder: You don’t want to hurt yourself.
When you disappoint yourself and don’t think and act like you Deep down, you want to hurt yourself by lowering your self-esteem.
Whatever you do during the day, signals are sent back to yourself about what kind of person you are. Do the right thing, like being effective and kind, going to the gym or just resting and you’ll feel good.
When you become lazy, negative, or just plain mean, you often feel worse after a while.
You cannot escape, there is no escape from yourself. And there is always a price to be paid.
4. Take smaller steps on the days when the big ones seem too intimidating.
Some days it can seem difficult to get started on one of the most important tasks. And so you start procrastinating.
When that happens, one of the things that has worked for me is being kind.
To push myself forward instead of beating myself up.
So at such moments I take:
- A small step. I can make an appointment with myself to simply work on a larger and more difficult task for 5 minutes at a time.
- An even smaller step. When that small step feels like too much and I start procrastinating, I make an appointment with myself for 1 or 2 minutes of work.
Sometimes that results in putting a few dents in a big task, completing a few smaller tasks, and taking lots of breaks throughout the day.
And sometimes an easy start or restart to the day is all I need to get going again and have a good and very productive time before the evening arrives.
Either way, I’m moving forward instead of standing still.
5. Celebrate what you did today.
When you appreciate your good work, you feel even better about your life and yourself.
And over time it becomes possible to take more action with less inner resistance and associate action with more positive emotions than you might at the moment.
So…
- At the end of the day, take two minutes to think about what you appreciate about what you did today. Or write down a few self-appreciative things in your journal.
- Enjoy a tasty treat or a bigger party.
- Tell someone how much fun something turned outhow you learned a good lesson or how proud you are of something important you did today.
Reward yourself for the things you did well today to strengthen your habit of taking action.
And remember to be kind to yourself for the things you may have missed or not done.
There’s no point in beating yourself up. There’s no point in trying to be perfect.
See what you can learn from it and maybe try a different solution tomorrow and see if that works better.