BLOG_2021_01_07 Go from stuck to action to empowerment
How to Go from...
Stuck to Action to Empowerment!
07 JAN 2021
If you’ve ever been stuck in a rut of inertia—in business or in life—you know the sense of helpless futility that seems to take over. You may find yourself binge watching TV, or over eating, or tricking yourself into thinking your busy by doing little stuff but not tackling the big items that will get you where you want to go.
You want your business or life to change, but you feel powerless to do anything about it. You may find yourself constantly making plans to improve these areas, but never quite get around to taking action because it seems so intimidating. Or you just don’t want to do it alone.
Though taking action might feel intimidating and frightening, it's also a secret weapon you can use to empower yourself and make you feel fierce! If you learn to use action effectively, it can provide the fuel to keep you moving toward more fulfilling circumstances. And you can only correct your course if you are moving! If you don’t move or take action, you will remain stuck.
Once you start taking action, you realize there was never anything to fear in the first place, and you’ll quite possibly never get stuck again!
Below are three simple steps to get started:
1. Understand your business and life is the way it is right now is because of you. If you claim your success, you also need to claim the “not so good”. Our hesitation in taking action is typically the cause of the “not so good”. We are often afraid we will make a wrong move so don’t do anything, or continue to research all the possible outcomes and reach the state of “analysis paralysis” so keep looking for the perfect solution. But there is no failure if you look at it as a lesson. Once you recognize the importance of taking action no matter how anxious it makes you feel at first, or the outcome, you gain confidence in taking the first step.
- With this confidence you can determine one action to take to get started. Think about your business or life right now, and ask yourself which situation you want to change first. You might choose your relationships, health, financial situation, business networking or anything else that makes you feel powerless and stuck.
- Then think about one simple action you can take to inspire some positive change. It doesn’t have to be a huge action, just SOMETHING to start building momentum. It’s time to become fierce!
2. Once you’ve decided on your action step, you’ll have to push yourself to take it no matter what. This may seem incredibly difficult or even scary, but remember that most often the things you fear are not going to happen. In fact, you may not even have a clear reason for feeling scared—you’re just afraid of the “unknown.” FYI: If you need help overcoming fear – there is still seats available for the Feel the Fear Workshop on 9th January!
- Give yourself a pep talk or push yourself in any way you have to in order to move forward at least a little bit. After you take that first step, be sure to let go of any expectations of the things that will happen because of it, and allow yourself to feel great simply because you did something about it.
- If you find you cannot push yourself out of your comfort zone to take that actions step, find an accountability buddy. Share with them what it is you want to do and by when you will do it. Then, agree in advance what will happen if you don’t do it. It could be sacrificing time doing something you love or giving extra money to a charity you support. Also agree in advance, how you are going to celebrate when you DO get it done! When you have something to look forward to, it can help provide that extra push you may need.
3. Repeat with the same step and/or others. Once you’ve taken one step forward, you’ll need to keep pushing yourself to take another and then another and another. Consider this: even if you take a hundred small steps in a month, you’ll be putting forth positive effort to make changes in your business and life, which cannot help but bring about better circumstances.
- The good news is that taking action quickly begins to build momentum. Just like chronic non-action can create a cycle of negativity and stagnation over time, being proactive can create a positive cycle that continues to grow. It gets easier the more you do it, which eventually makes it seem almost effortless. Remember, when you go to the gym the first time and begin to lift weights, you do not see new muscle mass until you do it repetitively, day after the day.
If you need help building that new action taking muscle mass, send me an email. I can give you specific tips and tools to help your particular circumstance.
An easy way to make great progress...
😴 Take 15 minutes tonight before you go to sleep to identify one step you have been avoiding that you can take tomorrow to move you towards your goal.
📞 Share that step with someone who can hold you accountable and also let them know the consequences of not taking action and the celebration for taking action!
If you do this every day, you will make such great progress before you even know it.
