Stop Talking and Start Doing: Do What You Intend to Do
Photo Credit: Tom Godber
Throughout your life, you’ve meant to do a lot of things. You might have intended to go into a certain line of work, live in a certain area, or become involved in certain hobbies and activities. But everyday life just kind of intervened and prevented you from doing what you’d always thought you would do.
And here you are — still wishing you can accomplish some of the goals and desires you established a long time ago. Some of the activities you want to do might even come up in conversation from time to time. You start out by saying, “One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is…” or “I always thought I would…”
So, how can you stop talking and start doing what you intend to do? What does it take to follow through with your intentions?
These action strategies can help inspire you to begin fulfilling your life’s dreams:
1. Pick your top 3 desires at the current time. Limiting the goals you plan to work on will help you succeed. Select those that are the most important for you.
2. Stay focused on those 3 goals and don’t allow anything to get in the way of accomplishing them. When you focus, you’ll keep those goals on your mind every single day. You might say you’ll eat, sleep, and drink with those few goals.
3. Break each goal up into “chunks.” Divide it up into smaller mini-goals and enjoy one success after another as you attain these smaller goals and get closer to achieving your end goal. Breaking up each goal into do-able chunks will galvanize you to get started working toward the goal one bit at a time.
- For example, if one of your goals is to travel to Japan, what is every aspect of the trip you must plan for? Your mini-goals might include setting a date, gathering finances, deciding where all you’ll go and what you want to do when you get there, and more.
4. Vow to do something that moves you closer toward each of your 3 goals every single day. For example, rather than spend 2 hours in the evening playing on your electronic tablet, spend one of those hours working towards one of your mini-goals.
5. Show flexibility. If focusing on 3 of your desires at once is too difficult for you to work toward, then choose just one at a time and work on it until you accomplish the goal. Also, be willing to switch from moving one goal ahead to working on another if you get stuck.
6. Change your language. Rather than continuing to state you “always wanted to do” something, state what you’ve done recently to work toward accomplishing your goal. Use your discussions and language to remind yourself and others of what your intentions are. Now your talk and your actions are both consistent with attaining your goal.
- For example, if you’ve always wanted to learn Tai Chi, tell what you’ve done to check into it. “I called the Y the other day to find out when the Tai Chi class starts and how much it costs.” What a thrill it will be when your next conversation includes, “At my Tai Chi class the other day…”
Won’t it be wonderful when you start avidly focusing on your desires and actively working to achieve your goals? You have, right now, within your reach, the power to stop talking and start doing whatever’s necessary to translate your intentions into actions. You can live the life you’ve yearned to live and achieve your dreams. Begin today to do what you intend to do.