Do you tend to sit down every month or so to plan out the next phase of life. You dive into every area and visualize this brand new life you will start… on Monday.
But then Monday rolls around and you can’t be bothered to do everything on your list.
In order to stop planning and take action you have to focus on right now. What can you do in this moment.
Daily Habit Reset Activity
Take a piece of paper, fold it in half length wise and make a T chart. On one side, title it “current daily habits” and write a list of all the things you do in a day. You can do this for a week day or a weekend or both. Be as in depth as possible.
On the second side write “dream day in my life” and write down what the version of you living your dream life would do. When do you wake up? Where do you live? What are you eating for breakfast? Do you have to get ready for a job or do you work from home?
Once you have both lists you can take a different coloured pen and start to draw lines. Connect your current daily habits to the dream life column. Ask yourself what daily habits in your current life will get you to your dream life?
This activity is eye opening it will show you if everything you are doing in your day to day is going to get you to your dream life.
Once you are done this activity it is time to make some changes if you do not have many lines connecting to the dream life column.
Immediate Positive Reinforcement
Getting out of your own way is so hard. You might think it is pointless to cheer yourself on for hitting 5000 steps today. But yesterday you only did 2000, that 5000 should be celebrated. You can clap, cheer and give yourself the positive reinforcement your inner child has always craved. You can do this through journaling, meditations, in the morning while brushing your teeth. As you complete your daily habits through the day give yourself a pat on the back. If you break a habit in the middle of the day, clap for yourself. As in you want to say screw it and not workout but you lace up your shoes and do the workout anyways. I want you to say out loud. I didn’t listen to that old habit, I pushed through and showed up to the habit my dream life requires of me.
Use a notebook/planner you already have
The psychology behind a brand new notebook is fascinating. People love a fresh new notebook because it represents a clean slate. A new beginning. A chance to be perfect this time around.
An immediate way to break the habit of planning is to go find a half used notebook and start writing or planning on the next clear page. I don’t care what was already written in it. Just use it as is. This will teach you that you do not need to be perfect. That means that you already have everything you need to build your dream life. You don’t need a new software or journal or pens to make true change. It all comes down to the action you can take right now.
Create a Dopamine Menu
A dopamine menu is a list of activities or tasks that will give you a hit of dopamine. Something that can get your out of a funk. By building a Dopamine menu you are telling yourself that when you get overwhelmed, instead of throwing all your habits out the window you can pick something off your dopamine menu that can help you reset, feel calm, have fun and then get back to your other plans later.
Schedule Planning Sessions
Since planning is fun and exciting you don’t need to get rid of it all together. You just need to be intentional about it. Plan for your planning sessions. I know that sounds a little crazy but aren’t we all. If every week you have a one hour session where you get to just plan anything. Have fun, play and get excited but then you also have the systems in place to step outside of the plan and execute it.
It is all about balance. You can plan and plan and never see any progress. Or you can plan for a little bit and then spend more of your time taking intentional daily action.
Remember, that to change your life you need to take action. Planning is your comfort zone holding you back because it’s safe. Sitting in the now and looking forward when you know you are not going to take any action is fun and even exhilarating. You are planning a life for someone who does not exist yet.
In order to achieve your goals it’s time to take action. One small step each day will accumulate to those big goals.
READ: How to Set Daily Habits?