Actions matter. And if you take enough of the right actions (which depend entirely on the goal you’re working towards), you can have anything you want in life.
But if you’re only focused on the ‘outer game’ aspect of taking action (making the calls, writing the email, finding the new hire, putting the proposal together, etc) and you’re not looking at the ‘inner game’ elements that are at play (the stories you tell yourself, your beliefs and fears, etc), you may often find yourself stopping short of your goal… or not getting started at all.
Coming up with the action plan can be easy. (I help my clients do this all the time!) Although it may not always feel like the easy part, it actually is.
Let me explain…
If you want something, you ask yourself what needs to happen to move you towards it, and in what order… and then you go and do those things. You move the needle forward.
Yet, if you haven’t done what want to do yet, you don’t always know what that needle moving action is. You come up with all sorts of other actions that look good but aren’t ‘the thing’… and you talk yourself into it.
This is what your subconscious mind does. It distracts you with easier actions that don’t move you forward.
Plus, on top of that… as if that wasn’t enough… when you go to take the right actions your subconscious makes them feel so hard, so impossible, so overwhelming…
Why?
Because your subconscious mind wants to keep you exactly where you are right now. It doesn’t want you to change. It thinks no change = safety. (Which isn’t true by the way!)
It sabotages your ability to start and/or finish those simple and straightforward actions.
This looks like…
- Not getting help.
- Procrastinating on doing the work (even if it’s productive) or making decisions.
- Being “too busy” to dedicate time to planning or moving through your blocks.
- Endless research or getting ready to get ready.
- Taking another certification course. (You don’t need that credential to get started!)
- Getting sick, feeling worn out and tired.
- And so many more ways that you “legitimately” stop yourself…
So watch for this. This is your subconscious programming leading you to self-sabotage your best intentions.
How do you stop yourself? Do you know how to tell?
It’s the excuse you’re using for not achieving what you want out of life and in your business.