(read time: 4 minutes)

How do you ensure you are taking action on your goals every single day? I think this is a CRITICAL question.

It can be very easy to fall off track with a busy week ahead or worse, analyze SO much data, you THINK you are making progress but in reality, you ‘re not.

I have been there before. I too have fallen into this trap.

How do I combat these problems?

 

Step 1: Make sure you are combining research with action. 

Action will bring your idea to life. Action will enable you to share your idea with the world. Your ideas, no matter how great, are worthless if you don’t take action.

In order to avoid the common paralysis by analysis pitfall, be deliberate with the time you give yourself to do your research.

If you have a goal or a business idea, it is smart to do your research. However, don’t get stuck in the research phase of your idea.

Instead, give yourself a deadline. Tell yourself you have two weeks to research that amazon product you want to launch or to launch that website. Choose a time line that makes sense for your particular goal. The goal here is not to rush yourself through the research, it’s to put a time limit on it. All too often we can fall down the rabbit hole and tell ourselves we need to read ten books or consume 100 hours of content before we try to do the thing we set out to do.

For example, when I thought about launching an Amazon Product, I spent hours watching YouTube videos and taking course work to learn about how to launch a product. I learned a lot but I felt short on the “doing part”.

When you give yourself a deadline there is no fooling yourself. You know what research is necessary and what research is part of procrastination, fear, or some other reason you haven’t identified yet.

Having a deadline helps you confront those feelings and work through them. It helps you to stay on track.

 

Step 2: Go all the way 

It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we’ve done the work, when we haven’t actually shared it with the world.

If you’ve written that blog post, but you haven’t published it, then your work does not count. If you haven’t uploaded your online course to your website so that others could purchase it, it doesn’t matter that you filmed it.

If this sounds like you, don’t fret, A LOT of us get stuck at this phase, myself included. If you’re one of the many, think about whether your holding back from sharing because you want the product to be perfect. Remember, there is nothing wrong with STRIVING for perfection, but as they say “done, is better than perfect.”

It’s important to face the facts… your 100th vlog will always be better than your first. There is no avoiding it, so embrace this part of the process. Do your best, take action, and don’t forget to share it with the world.

Sharing can also be the hard part. You may feel vulnerable about finally putting you work out there. You may cringe about what people might think. You may …(insert excuse here).

Remember vulnerability can be a powerful tool that leads to connection. As Brene brown puts it, “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” “What we know matters, but who we are matters more.”

Going all the way means sharing it with the public. It doesn’t count until you do.

 

Step 3: Be consistent

Once you start, keep going.

Have you decided you are going to be a youtuber? You’ve motivated yourself to post one video, and then when it didn’t reach one million views, you lost steam?

How about that diet you started? You went grocery shopping and bought everything you needed to start out strong. You swore you wouldn’t cheat and went hard for two weeks straight. After all the hard work, you lost two pounds and slowly but surely fell into your old habits.

We have all been there.

This can be very hard!

Once you’ve started, and shared your idea, product, or service, it may seem daunting to think you have to put in so much work for years before you reach your goals.

How do you deal with the overwhelm? Baby steps, my friends.

If you’ve started a new blog, decide on a posting schedule that you can COMMIT to, even during the busy times. Instead of biting off more than you can chew and telling yourself you have to write and post every single day, tell yourself that you will start by posting once every two weeks.

The point is, to create a goal that is sustainable. If you can’t devote ALL of your free time to blogging than perhaps it isn’t realistic to post every day.

Once you figure out a schedule that is doable, create a habit around writing, and STICK to that schedule.

Keep in mind that it could take YEARS to see growth or results. Make your peace with this and if you want to accelerate growth, take action where necessary.

Remember the old wise tale, slow and steady wins the race. Take action and be consistent with it and sooner or later you will look back and realize how far you’ve come.

 

Step 4: Track Progress

It is powerful to track your progress. I can’t stress this enough!

How do you know how hard you’re working if you’re not tracking your progress?

It’s easy to miss a workout when you THINK you’ve run three times over the course of a week. It’s easy to tell yourself that you’re doing good enough. But when you track your progress and see that you’ve run three straight days in a row and running today would mean graduating to a fourth work out in one week, you’re MUCH more likely to push yourself.

When you track everything you do, you can analyze your behavior, identify common pitfalls, and hold yourself accountable on days where you “just don’t feel like it”.

If you don’t have a calendar, create an excel spreadsheet. Write down your daily goals, and track your progress. After two weeks of consistency, you will find yourself more motivated, fulfilled and energized.

No more cheating. No more procrastinating. No more broken promises.

 

Comment below to share how any of the steps have helped you! Or share your own personal tips and tricks for making daily progress on your goals!