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The Key to Keeping Your Plants and Dreams Alive






What is the best way to keep a plant alive?  No, this isn’t a joke, it’s a legitimate question.  You most likely would say - water it on a regular basis.  Yes, correct!

What is the best way to keep a dream or goal alive?  It’s the same thing  - water it on a regular basis.  Only the water our goals and dreams need is called ACTION!

Would you neglect your plant for a month and then all of a sudden give it a bunch of water and expect it to be full and vibrant and thriving the next day?  Of course not!

But how many of us have taken this approach with our goals?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a goal to lose weight, to improve a relationship or to complete a home improvement project - all goals need ongoing action if we are to accomplish them.

Raise your hand if you have ever been totally fired up about a new goal, even having gone so far as to taking some massive bold actions to get yourself started toward the goal.  But then a month passes and you realize that you’ve taken no action since the first week or two.  Is your hand up?  I know mine is!

It’s natural to be excited at the beginning of a goal.  That’s a good thing and absolutely necessary to get your goal off the ground.  The trouble we can get ourselves into is that once we take that initial action we often fail to do anything else!  This typically happens because either consciously or subconsciously we realize that we can’t keep up this pace. 

How can we prevent this from happening?  The answer: by taking small, consistent, weekly action!

So what does this look like:
1.     Think small!  Break down your action steps into bite size chunks.  Instead of writing a big task such as “pick out kitchen light fixtures”, break that task into even smaller tasks like “buy a kitchen remodeling magazine”, “look through magazine and tear out pages I like”, “sit down with Joe to review options,” etc.   Aim to have each task be written at the lowest level where no additional steps are required.

2.     Consistency is key!  Think of your goals as a ball slowly rolling down the street.  Once it is moving, it just needs a little push every so often to keep it rolling.  You may only need to do 1 to 3 actions each week to keep your goal moving forward (especially if you have a lot of other commitments!).  It is much better to take one small action each week than nothing at all. 

3.     A weekly focus is usually a very manageable range to look at.  When planning your week, ask yourself “What is the most impactful task or tasks I can do this week to make progress toward my goal?”  Thinking in these terms helps you to take action that will give you a higher return for your effort.  If you can only do one item your my kitchen remodel, it may be more impactful to install one light switch cover than to Google trends in kitchen paint colors.  For added accountability, schedule your tasks on your calendar as an appointment. 

Weekly opportunity: Take a look at how you’ve been watering your goals.  How many of them are dead?  Pick a goal that you would like to recommit to.   Write it down (again) with a new completion date if needed.  Then, follow these three steps to assist you in making progress toward your goal!


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