It all starts with a "Walk" (how to hit all of your goals in 2021)
Everything you want in this next year... Starts with a "walk".
2020 has been an absolutely crazy year.
Whether you've lost people close to you, faced financial issues due to shutdowns, hurt because others around your are hurting, or suffered due to an odd sense of isolation... this year has been tough to deal with.
And with that...
I'm writing this to offer a little hope along with a strategy that can get you just about anything that you want in your life.
And it all starts... with a "walk".
[Let me explain]
As we approach the new year, many of us will do our best to set goals for 2021 and set up behaviors that we will get us to those goals as quickly as possible.
😟 Unfortunately, the vast majority of those behaviors won't stick.
The Reason?
Most people operate on a broken model of achieving their goals (and they keep doing it over and over again because they don't have a better model in their "mental tool belt"... yet)
💡 [How can you make 2021 different?]
How can you achieve the things you want when you've failed in the past?
⭐️ Here's the strategy:
1) Set you goal for whatever you're trying to achieve.
2) Write it down and put it in an envelope.
3) Seal up the envelope and put it somewhere safe.
4) Build a small daily action to achieve that goal.
5) FORGET THE GOAL.
Yes... You read #5 correctly. You need to set the goal and build a strategy to achieve it with a small daily action... and then put the goal out of your mind for a while.
[Here's why the old model sucks]
When we focus on a goal, most of us do a terrible job of estimating how long it will take us to achieve that goal and how much daily effort we need to put in (or can maintain putting in).
What you do instead of your "normal pattern":
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Focus on the ritual... not the result.
I realize that if you weren't looking for a result, you might not have ever decided to change your behavior in the first place, but hear me out.
The secret to getting what you want is to focus on finding a small daily ritual that you can take some joy in completing... rather than the giant outcome that should come at the end.
🚶🚶♀️ And that's where the "walk" comes in.
With every new behavior you develop you have to "walk" before you "run". Most of our new year goals get crushed because we try to "run" first because we are trying to so hard to "get to the end".
The "End" never comes because our bodies and mind's can't adapt to the change we need and so we abandon it.
By focusing on the ritual of the "walk", you start building what you need... instead of working at a pace that ultimately leads you to abandoning the change in behavior.
[AN EXAMPLE]
(This one is literally about walking)
Let's say that you haven't worked out in a while and you need to lose 40 lbs. You're going to want to naturally get to the "end of your journey" as quickly as possible and this is where "crash diets and workout plans" normally come into play.
Think about that...
With zero good habits, you alter your daily routine to bring in a new diet and exercise plan... This is extremely stressful and doesn't foster your brain accepting the change. It's doomed to fail from the start.
What if instead... All you focused on in week 1 was stepping outside and walking around the block 2 times at 4PM.
When you're done, you'll probably feel silly because you didn't do a whole lot. But that isn't the point. The point is that you go for the 2x around the block walk every day that first week at 4PM.
It's about creating the "ritual"... not the result.
After about 2 weeks of this silly walk, you double your distance to 4x around the block. In week 3, you take it to 6x around the block.
It's not about getting there as fast as you can... it's just about making sure you have the capacity to show up at 4PM and do something daily.
And before you know it, you've developed a ritual where you walk a few miles a day at 4PM and use that time to get in your favorite podcasts.
And then one day, you decide to run a little bit. (You get the idea)
The same works with your diet. Don't fix the whole thing at once. Just fix your lunch... and slowly make that a habit... and expand from there.
The result:
You build the ritual which becomes a solid foundation for a total behavior change.... without focusing so much on the enormity of your big goal.
And in short... this is how you can effectively trick yourself into getting anything you want.
[In Summary]
Focus less on the result and timing... focus more on the ritual. That's how you get to where you want to go in the time that it's going to actually take (and stay there).
And it all starts... with a "walk".
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Dr Ben Adkins
The Serial Progress Seeker Podcast is all about how you can break from the norm and create a life the provides the Freedom to live on your own terms. In each episode, Ben Adkins (and his guest) walk you through one simple tweak that you can make to your business and/or personal life that will help you to be happier, healthier, and more financially stable. Jump into any episode to start listening and begin your journey now.
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