From time to time I hear the following “I tried that goal process. It didn’t work. I don’t know why.”
It’s a great place to be!
Getting and staying motivated is the key. Not knowing why is the beginning of wisdom.
Here’s the truth nobody ever told you: developing your own process to get you the results you want is difficult in the beginning. Developing the habits to support your evolving process is challenging.
Women’s leadership coach Maria Molfino says “A lot of people like to pretend that (new habits) are made with a snap of a finger or a switch flipped in the mind. Snap! They’re magically in place. And while hearing about the daily do’s of the most successful people of today can be inspiring (“I meditate every day”, “exercise is a daily non-negotiable”, “I drink a big glass of water first thing in the morning”), it can also make you feel pretty shitty if you’re struggling to nail down your own new habits.”
So how do you develop the stamina to see your daily actions begin to produce tangible, profitable result?
Every day you need to recommit to the daily actions (your process) that you will take towards getting the results you are after.
Do you want to lose weight and committed to walking 10,000 steps daily? Then every day you recommit to walking 10,000 steps.
Do you want to stop thinking negatively? Here’s the thing – your negative thinking serves as a reminder that your powers can be used two ways. You have the freedom to think negatively or focus on the positive. The choice is yours. You are not going to stop thinking in a negative way overnight yet every day you can recommit to the process and once you catch yourself you can reverse the thought into something that bears the fruit that you desire. This is ongoing. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that it would happen in an instant.
Dr. Joseph Murphy tells us that fear is the signal for action. It is not really bad. It tells you to move to the opposite which is faith in all positive values.
Don’t choose a process for yourself based on what someone else is doing. It would never work for you completely. You will never achieve true fulfillment copying the process of someone without first knowing and understanding what you need.
Maria cautions, “When we don’t know ourselves well enough, and we aren’t clear about our intrinsic values and desires, we naturally begin to (develop processes) that are less aligned with WHO WE ARE.
Dr. Murphy shares this wonderful suggestion in his short book How to Attract Money.
He says:
Identify yourself with your aim in life, and cease mental marriages with criticism, self-condemnation, anger, fear, and worry. Give attention to your chosen ideal, being full of faith and confidence in the inevitable law of prosperity and success. You will accomplish NOTHING by loving your ideal one minute, and denying it the next minute; this is like mixing acid and an alkali; for you will get an inert substance.
You also need to be aware of when your process needs modification. Which is why your process must be rooted in who you are and not just copied because you think it’s a great plan.
Are you getting the results you seek? You need to assess your process every couple of weeks. First you must be accountable to yourself. If you’re having difficulty keeping your word, then you need a coach to guide you as you make progress.
In his essay, Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker shares a great illustration:
“A Planner may find that his beautiful plans fail because he does not follow through on them. Like so many brilliant people, he believes that ideas move mountains. But bulldozers move mountains; ideas show where the bulldozers should go to work. This planner will have to learn that the work does not stop when the plan is completed. He must adapt and change it as he puts it into action. “
The choice will always be your choice. You need to determine what works for you, what you desire, what you would like to create and whether you have all that is required to reach those results.
On a daily basis you need to keep yourself engaged and productive. Pay close attention to what’s not working and quickly adjust your plans to suit.
As Mr. Drucker so wisely shares “Only when you operate from a combination of your strengths and self-knowledge can you achieve true and lasting excellence.
Your expertise is your business! 