I’m not trying to nag.
At the same time, I want to hold you accountable for your goals.
You said you want ____ [go ahead, fill in the blank].
Maybe you want to launch a blog or leave a soul-sapping job. Maybe your goal is to declutter your house or re-enter the dating world. Or maybe you’re finally going to write that novel or set up your shop on Etsy.
Of course, wishing alone is never enough.
Knowing what you want—having a goal—is a great place to start. But then there’s work to be done to make it happen.
I want you to carve out an hour, go to your favorite cafe, and journal your answers to these 3 powerful questions. Give yourself the gift of undistracted focus on what matters most to you.
- What one result do you most want to achieve in the next 90 days?
- What specific actions will you need to take in order to achieve this result?
- What thoughts and feelings will help you actually take those actions?
Let’s say your goal is to set up a shop on Etsy to sell your handmade felt and leather iPad sleeves.
The actions you need to take include creating an Etsy account, choosing a shop name, taking photos of your iPad sleeves, and creating shop listings.
Feeling creative and optimistic would help you take these necessary actions.
Thoughts that would help you feel hopeful and inspired might include:
- I’m a maker at heart. And I’m ready to take my creations beyond the world of my family and friends.
- I can’t wait to connect my designs with people who will be excited about them.
- It will be thrilling to have some extra pocket money earned from my own creativity.
See how that works?
A life-changing formula.
It’s really a simple formula: Your Thoughts –> Your Feelings –> Your Actions = Your Results.
In other words, you can trace the results in your life to the actions you take—or don’t take. That makes sense, right?
But have you ever considered this: You can trace the actions you take—or don’t—to how you feel.
When you’re feeling discouraged, you tune out in front of the TV rather than work on revamping your resume. On the other hand, when you’re feeling energized, you reach out to those in your network to ask about career opportunities in your field.
Discouraged versus energized. Each feeling begets its own actions.
But let’s go one step further: You can trace your feelings to the thoughts in your head.
- Thinking I’ll never be able to get a better job in my field makes you feel discouraged.
- Thinking I know there’s a great job out there for me makes you feel energized.
Different thought, different feeling.
Taken together, each thought + feeling combo leads to a very different action. And different actions produce different results.
Going back to our example, which thought is more likely to land the new job? It comes as no surprise: It’s not the discouraged-vegging-in-front-of-the-TV one.
While you’ve got your journal out, take a few minutes to explore the flipside of our earlier questions so you can truly see the impact of your thoughts, feelings and actions.
- What actions (or non-actions) will prevent you from achieving the result you’re after?
- What thoughts and feelings will get in the way of you taking the actions necessary to achieve your 90-day goal?
See how that works? Your thoughts can help you along the journey to your goal—or they can get in the way.
Think about your goal again. Get it front and center in your mind.
Then be intentional: What thoughts do you need to start thinking—right now—to get closer to your goal?
