STEP ONE: Identify what you want and why you want it

What’s the goal and why is it important to you?

Many of us are in a habit of knowing what we don’t want, but do you have clarity on what you do want?  What is the thing you are wanting to achieve? The more specific you are the better. 

Saying, “I want to be healthy” is a vague goal. 

Saying, “I want to lose 25 pounds is more specific”.  Or, “I want to improve the quality of my food and cook more”.  Or, “I want to exercise 4 days a week” or “I want to be able to run 1 mile”.  These are all examples of tangible goals that you can work and take steps towards achieving.

So step one is simple.  Identify what you want and why you want it.  This will serve as your anchor throughout the process.

STEP TWO:  Take time every morning to connect to your want and your why

Make space to connect to the goal and connect to the dream. This is the fuel for you to take action. 

Often times we think we have a motivation problem but really what we have is an inspiration problem. 

We are not inspired by our desires because we are disconnected from them or because we spend so much time rooted in reality of what we don’t have or don’t want, that we feel discouraged.  But when you take the time to dream and envision what you want and feel that excitement, that very desire becomes what springs you into action.  It’s the inspiration.

What will it feel like to have it, accomplish it, and embody the goal?  What would be the benefit?  Remember why it’s important to you.

STEP THREE: Put it on your calendar

Once you have connected to the want and the why and you are feeling good and excited about it, take the actionable steps that you wrote out and put them on your calendar or on your to-do list.  Put them somewhere, where they are out of your head, on paper.

This way when the day takes a turn or emotions try to get the best of you, you can look back and say, this is what I want.  This is what I wanted when my head was clear and I was connected to the goal.

We live in busy times, I know we all have busy schedules.  We have to get into the habit of putting ourselves back on our own today lists.

This is why it’s so important to take care of you before you start dealing with the rest of the world or the rest of the family.

Schedule it in.

STEP FOUR: Allow yourself to be where you are as you work toward the goal

 It’s so important that we don’t try to bully ourselves into change.  Just because you took the time connect to your want and why and scheduled your action steps into your day does not mean its going to all work out perfectly.

This is the space where the real work comes in, because this is where you get to really learn about you and understand yourself. 

If you get clear, get excited, write it down and schedule it, and then you have a hard time following the plan, this is the space that will be your greatest teacher, this is where we get to learn more about ourselves and what we need to make things work.

And you can’t do that if you are constantly pushing against yourself , critiquing or rejecting what’s happening for you in the here and now.

It’s very hard to understand what we need or to adjust and tweak the plan to do when we don’t understand why we started it the first place.  And you’ll never understand why, if you are constantly pushing against.

STEP FIVE: Celebrate the Small Wins

Success is really just a bunch of little things, done consistently over time.  So make it a practice to celebrate the small steps you take on a daily basis.

Drank your water?  Acknowledge it.

Prepped your lunch for tomorrow?  Pat yourself on the back.

Look for the good, acknowledge it and celebrate your efforts.  Every Damn Day!