WEEK 85: CLARITY COMES FROM ACTION

Clarity comes from Action.    Jeff Goins

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions):  I was reminded this week of a powerful quote from Jeff Goins, the Author of the Art of Work. Now those of you who have been reading the LYP from the beginning know Jeff as the person who introduced me to the "3 Bucket System" of writing, which now is helping me write these posts, but also helped me write my book. 

I was reading an article by Jeff on Medium and the quote hit me again. He said

CLARITY comes from action 

I have mentioned before that the road to your dreams will be hazy and unclear at times. This lack of clarity will undoubtedly cause you to feel uncomfortable feelings like doubt, anxiety, and fear. 

What I have now learned is the unclear and hazy parts are a TOTAL NECESSARY part of the process. Additionally, you have to be willing to endure them. Why you might ask? Why would you want to have times where you doubt yourself, or feel anxiety of the outcome? 

In short, it means you are taking on something which is worthwhile and meaningful, but also something which will make you stretch and help you achieve things you never thought possible. 

Think about the last time you did something you could easily do. Did you doubt yourself? Did you feel anxiety? Did you feel knots in your stomach? The answer will probably be NO, as the experience is not something which will help you grow.

However, think about the last time where you felt doubt, anxiety, or fear? Where you engaging in something which stretched you? Answer YES!

Now I have learned you must also be willing to endure these in these times where you feel uncomfortable feelings, or the lowest points of taking on new challenges. Focus on these THREE things:

1. Cultivate the Soft Zone. 

Sit with, observe, and use the uncomfortable feelings to your advantage. If you feel nervous, know this is a mechanism telling your body it is ready for action. If you are taking frequent breaths, know this is getting more 02 to the brain. Lastly, if you feel you are not achieving what you want to, use it as a trigger to analyze your principles.

2. Delay gratification. 

Success will require you to choose at one time or another, discipline over what is easy. I discussed this in W84, but simply put, be disciplined to key habits, and push off easy distractions in order to succeed. 

3. Use Pareto principle to analyze your principles. 

List out all the activities you are doing on a daily basis and identify the 20% activities which produce 80% of your results, or help you make the largest steps forward. Cut the ones that do not make the cut and focus on modifying the others to accelerate your progress towards achieving your ultimate outcome. 

Again, know that there will be moments of unclarity where you feel uncomfortable feelings. Know these are a necessary part of the process, and be willing to endure them to achieve your dreams!

Keep on rocking you all!

What Went Well?

Weekly task completed and starting to incorporate the Pareto principle on a weekly basis to accelerate growth towards my ultimate outcomes. 

What is something we can improve? What actions can we take next week?

Projecting onto others. Sometimes, the I take the uncomfortable feelings and project them outwards on others. For example, the feeling of NEED can come off as pushy and trite. I have done that in the past couple of weeks. Sorry to those who were the recipient of this.  

What is something to avoid next week?

Projecting.

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST