To become more effective with making things happen, define your goals as intentions and clarify exactly what you want to do. Start by making your intentions measurable so you can tell if you’ve achieved them or not.
For example, if you say, “Today I’m going to take a 20-minute walk,” by this evening you should be able to report whether you walked or not.
To set an intention, first create a specific statement that tells what you want to do. Follow it with a plan that states exactly how you’ll follow through with accomplishing this intention.
For example, suppose you decide you want to stop eating ice cream every night before going to bed. Here’s how you might lay out a plan for being successful with this goal.
My action plan for bedtime:
- Throw out the ice cream that’s currently in the freezer and don’t buy anymore for a while. Purchase a new fiction book.
- After dinner, pull out my favorite herb tea and get a nice mug out of the cupboard. Set these things on the table along with my book.
- At 9:30 p.m., put on my pajamas and make the tea. Sit in my blue chair while I drink tea and read for the next half hour, then go to bed.”
If you keep saying you want to accomplish something but you never do it, look for the holes in your system.
Are you sure it’s something that you really want to do? Do you need more time, money, or other resources to make it happen?
If your intention just doesn’t seem to be happening, maybe you need to simplify your plan or alter it to make it more realistic.
Today’s assignment (My answers are in blue)
1. Set a specific intention around achieving one of your weight-loss goals. Say, “My intention is to…,” then write down what you want to accomplish.
My intention is to return to my strength training program and follow it three times a week.
2. Plan your action steps, and then add details that will make it easier to follow through with your plan. Record them here.
Each day, after I do my walk, I will go to the basement where my weight bench is stored, and do 6 of the exercises on my training list.
3. Create several more intentions, then record them below along with your action plans to make them happen.
I will get out my tennis racquet, and do a practice session twice this week. To make that happen, I will ask my husband to practice once with me, and ask my tennis friend, Cyndie, to do the other one.