Act

It's not enough to have good insights and strong beliefs. We need to act on these things. Some people have the problem of never taking any action at all. Others have the problem of taking action that doesn't yield the results they want. There could be various reasons for this and getting into all the possibilities is way beyond the scope of this post! However, something simple to focus on that I believe can make all the difference is how you are taking action.

When we want to change, many of us often set our sights pretty high. We have ambitious goals, and that's good! However, if we then also try to tackle everything at once, especially without planning or preparation, we are likely to hit roadblocks early on, get frustrated, and wonder why we're not making progress. It's good to have goals to work towards, but when it comes to taking action towards those goals, you have to focus on what's right in front of you, not the end result.

These strategies might help:

1. Set a goal.

This is your North Star. Without a goal, you have nothing guiding you and are at risk of going off task, wasting your time, or doing busy-work.

2. Make a plan.

i.e. think about how you can achieve your goal. Whenever you are working on a goal, break it into smaller, yet still challenging subgoals and set deadlines for when you want to achieve them by. Without challenge, you can't make progress. With too much challenge, you can't make progress either. Make your subgoals challenging enough. That's it. This means you shouldn't be afraid to use helpful aids or crutches at first, if necessary, as long as you still give yourself enough of a challenge. As you progress, you eventually won't need the aids/crutches. Again, you have to start with where you are. Being ambitious is great, but don't let your ego get in the way and take on more than you are capable of achieving.

Studies have shown that breaking larger goals into subgoals can help in the following ways:

- It can keep you focused on what's most important at the moment. It will direct your attention and energy away from what you ultimately want towards what you actually need to do right now in order to get there.

- Instead of "big failures," it will help you achieve "small wins." These experiences will give you a tangible sense of progress, which will motivate you to persist and increase your confidence in your abilities to succeed.

3. Monitor your progress. Pay attention to how you're doing when it comes to reaching your goal. Take notes, if necessary. Evaluate your progress. If you're not moving forward as planned, adjust accordingly!

[1,2,3,4]

References

1. Huang, S., Jin, L., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Step by step: Sub-goals as a source of motivation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 141, 1-15.

2. Brunstein, J. C. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(5), 1061-1070.

3. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.

4. Duckworth, A. L., Milkman, K. L., & Laibson, D. (2018). Beyond willpower: Strategies for reducing failures of self-control. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(3), 102-129.