“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” ~ Confucius

Do you have goals you have been wanting to reach for a really long time?

When it comes to achieving our goals, a good place to focus is on our thoughts and feelings about that dream or goal. We need to think about things like:

• WHY do we want to achieve this goal?
• HOW- Have we thought through a plan of action on how we’ll get there?
• BIG GOAL- And do we believe we can actually accomplish this goal?

While the above are all great questions that we need to be willing to ask and answer, it seems logical that what we think…or don’t…are the biggest obstacles we face in moving forward toward accomplishing a goal or dream. However, that’s not necessarily the whole truth.

I love positive thinking and how it has changed my life. I communicate a lot about how people think and the role positive thinking plays in our lives. Yet, when it comes to what we most often do to get in our own way, it’s not really our thinking that affects whether or not we achieve a goal. It’s whether or not we take action.

Positive Self Talk

Our decision to take action or not does come back to what we think – or more accurately – how we talk to ourselves. For example, if we’re talking ourselves out of it; if we’re running ourselves down; if we’re saying to ourselves how our ideas just don’t make any sense or they’re foolish…we’re less likely to take action. On the other hand, if we’re telling ourselves our idea is really great and we’ll just see what’s possible…taking action is easier and more possible. Once we take that first step, it’s easier to keep taking steps and moving forward. When we’re talking positively to ourselves, we tend to focus on what’s working. And, when something isn’t quite working we can focus on how to change that. We’re more likely to not give up but instead say, “I may not have all the answers right now but I can find a solutions.”

Take Positive Action – just one small positive step!

Just like a car needs fuel before it can start, our thoughts are the fuel we need to take the next step…and the next step. But results come down to action. Even a fueled up car needs to leave the parking in order to get anywhere. Action is what determines whether or not we accomplish what we set out to do.

When it comes to taking those steps…no step you take is too big or too small. Many large goals are started with baby steps. I wrote my first ebook when my daughter was in kindergarten, my husband was starting a new job and I was working a full time practice. Needless to say, I was just a little too busy in my life at that point in time. But, I wanted to write a book, and it meant enough to me to get it done in any way possible.

~I constantly envisioned it being done.
~I surrounded myself with positive, supportive people who told me I could do it.
~I literally wrote my book in 15-minutes a day – because that’s all the time I had! I took 15-minutes whenever I could: breaks between appointments, during lunch, waiting for an appointment. I even started carrying around a little notebook in my purse so if I had an idea at a stop sign I could write it down immediately. I wrote an entire book that way. Of course, it took much longer than I thought it would, but I did it.

Consistency is key

It’s not so much about how big or small the step is, it’s whether or not you take them and then continue taking them consistently. And, if you do stop or you do get stuck, that you’re willing to come back and do it again anyway. That you’re willing to look for and find the solution you need will make all the difference in the end.

You want to know a little secret about my little 15-minute steps? While in the zone, I noticed that the more often I took those 15-minutes, the more often I found additional time later. If I spent a week doing the 15-minutes at a time thing and on the weekend my husband decided to take my little girl for a stroll etc, I would be prepared to make the most out of that unexpected hour. If I hadn’t been doing the 15 minutes at a time consistently however, I would spend most of that hour block of time trying to figure out what I wanted to work on rather than already being prepared. It also became somewhat of a fun game…I have these 15 minutes, where can I find the next 15 minutes?

Just Get Started

Once you get started, you will begin to see additional opportunities which you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. hat feeling of how much you really want to work on your dream, leads you to sit down and really become aware of your priorities. I personally realized watching TV in the evening didn’t mean as much as to me as I thought it did – or maybe it just didn’t mean as much to me as writing my book did. Either way, I started cutting back on my TV watching, giving myself even more time to work on my book. Moving through the process I was able to find time that I didn’t know I had and make choices that supported my goal. If I had waited until I ‘had the time’ to write, I would have never gotten there at all. Remember that just getting started anywhere leads to additional opportunities.

To start off now simply : Set your goal and envision your dream

Think about how and why you want do this. Get positive people to support you. Then, take a step – even the smallest step – to get started. Every time you take a small step you’re encouraging yourself, believing in yourself and making it easier to take the next step…and the one after that. Before you know it you’ll have reached your goal. You might be asking yourself about some good first actions to take. Here are a few examples:

• Do you want to write a book? Spend 15 minutes writing down ideas.
• Do you want to lose weight? Walk around the block or skip one dessert.
• Do you want to earn another degree? Get online and explore various schools’ websites for 15 minutes.
• DO you want to change careers? Take an aptitude test.

Point to remember:

It doesn’t matter what the first positive step is, it just matters that you take a step.

Now its your turn: What obstacles have you been facing while trying to reach that big dream? What is that one big dream you would like to see become a reality? What positive steps have you used to work on your big dreams? Share your thoughts and wisdom in the comments below. Lets learn from each other. 

p.s. am working on my next book with the same 15 minutes at a time action and am happy with the results 🙂 You will see soon.

With Immense Love & Gratitude,
~Zeenat~

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