Part 3 of 4
Ever been stuck and not able to move forward?
I have and I’ve found it’s more often than not related to a number of things. We’ve looked previously at Clarity and Limiting beliefs.
Implementation is about organizing your day with a specific micro step taking you in the direction of your goal. The micro steps are actions: The things you do that accumulate over time, moving you forward.
In the example from my blog on running we looked at Clarity. What worked for me was to plan in reverse from the target date of the Toronto half-marathon to where I currently was. I broke out the weeks and days to schedule in long slow distances, hills, speed work, cross training, and rest days.
Each day had an action to be done. I remained flexible enough to adapt to how I felt, but recognized that the work needed to be done whether I felt positive or negative about it every day.
Then I began doing it. On the days I didn’t feel like running, I motivated myself by inserting the feeling of “How I did feel after a good run?” Really great!!
Sometimes I’d start by adding in the “Let’s see how it goes in the first 10 minutes” and if it wasn’t working for me, I’d stop. Invariably, my SOS would disappear in those 10 minutes and I was off and running.
When we repeat a behaviour often enough, usually consistently over 30 days, our neurology changes. If there is enough positive emotion and pleasure gained, and pain avoided, it becomes easier to maintain. A habit is an action that is moved from “thinking about it to make it happen” to “it happens without thinking”. Look at brushing your teeth. You can do it without much effort or conscious thought. But try brushing your teeth with your opposite hand. See how much more effort is required? That’s the difference between something we do a certain way that has been patterned into our neurology. Doing something new requires more effort until the action becomes a habit.
Habits are the effect of repeating an action to the point of an unconscious behavior. We no longer have to think about it, we now are it.
As Frank Outlaw said:
“Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.”
So get into the action of doing what you need to do to evoke the change you want. Begin it and begin it now. Then repeat for 30 days.
Click here for the last post in this series – we’ll look at moving from our SOS through focusing on Priorities.
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