3 Steps for Putting Your Plan Into Action
Think you’re not ready yet? Think again! All the best intentions, talk, and magazine articles in the world won’t change your life unless you actually have that “I-can-totally-do-this” kind of moment and push yourself into high gear. We often think there will be this spotlight from the sky event illuminating the exact right moment when we should get started on a journey toward our goals. But let me tell you, that “I’ll start on Monday mentality” might keep you from ever getting where you need to go. Planning, planning, planning (yeah, like procrastinating) but never executing—if this is you, this is your time to make it happen.
Here are my three steps for making the shift from plan to purposeful execution.
1. Identify the goal: You’ve got to be super-specific, keep it reasonable, write it down, and hang it up. If your goal is to lose weight, don’t just say to yourself, “I’m going to work on losing a few pounds.” Instead, grab your favorite pen, write down exactly how many pounds you want to lose (keep it sensible), your time frame (½ to 2 pounds a week is doable), and put that note somewhere you’ll see it (like your fridge).
2. Get Support: Doing it alone is challenging, and to really progress, we often need someone, or something, to propel us in the direction of our dreams. When you invest your time, energy, and dollar toward meeting your goal, you’re more likely to make that goal a reality. As you start moving, and get that push you need forward and in the right direction, the momentum generated is unstoppable.
3. Baby-Steps to Hard-Core: A client once told me that she was taking baby-steps to hard-core. While some people can just bang it out with sheer determination and will-power, the rest of us regular folk need to inch our way, day by day, in the direction of our ultimate objective. When consistently executed, those baby-steps will eventually lead to hard-core transformation.
To move ahead, you’ve got to get started. You can either continue to think about, talk about, and dream about your goals, or you can actually start (like right this minute) on your way to making it happen. Trust me, you’re ready right now. Now, get to it!
About the Author
Using The Science of Intention Setting for Success at Work
According to many spiritual leaders and success gurus, good fortune, abundant health, love, and finance do not come to you by accident. You call them forth with your thoughts, actions, and intentions. And if you are not experiencing days filled with joy and fulfillment at work, it is likely that you only have your own subconscious mind to blame.
Many old, limited and toxic belief systems hide out in our subconscious mind and are secretly running the show of our lives. When you are focused on your current state of misery, scarcity, and ‘want,’ then you will receive more of the same. Yet merely by thinking of yourself as having joy and abundance at work, you will start the process to make it a reality and begin to attract the right resources and people to you.
Setting Your Intention
Start by taking a big picture approach to your goals and be specific. If you know what you want, don’t beat around the bush. Boldly ask for it. Saying “I am a confident and detail-oriented senior copywriter” leaves little question as to what you are trying to accomplish. When you acknowledge the direction you’d like your career to shift, you can start to approach your workday with a whole new sense of being — every action you make throughout the day starts to change with your intention in mind.
Rephrase your goals in a positive way that brings you even closer to what you want. Saying “I am happily employed at the job of my dreams” will eventually help you figure out what those dreams actually are.
Even thinking through your intention helps you get really clear on what you might want out of your job, which in turn helps you make clear decisions that are focused solely on that goal. You might start to ask yourself “Does this new project I am taking on serve my intention?”
Give these mantras a try
Repeat these to yourself daily or write them down in a journal.
- I am confident in my skills and will keep an open mind when new challenges arise.
- I am getting a new job that inspires me to challenge myself and that makes me happy.
- I am focusing my energy on what I can accomplish in the present moment and not dwelling on mistakes from the past.
- I am successful in everything I set out to accomplish.
- I am a valuable asset to the company.
