Do It Now! Do It Now! Do It Now!

How can it already be January 14? Two weeks of a new year have already gone by. Reminds me of watching the sunrise one year on a family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina (which is one of my favorite places to visit). My mom and I woke up early to watch the sun crest over the water. There's something so magical about seeing dawns first light over the vast ocean and watching a cloudless sky light up with pinks and oranges and yellows. I remember sitting there watching the sun appear and start to move above the horizon. We watched for a few minutes and the sun was already swiftly ascending in the sky. I said something like, "We gotta get going. The sun's already way up in the sky. We're going to miss the whole day!" To which my mom just laughed because she knows me. I walked back up to the house, grabbed some breakfast, and took an hour nap before heading out to the beach again. What can I say? To enjoy the sunrise you have to get pretty early. And if you get up that early, you're going to need a nap.

It's a pretty accurate metaphor for most of us though. We have great intentions and resolutions on January 1 and are all excited to get started. Then a few days or weeks go by and we're already taking a nap and have fallen off the wagon. Never has this picture been painted clearer to me than January at the gym. The gym is my second home year round, and I dread January 1 because it's a mad house for a few weeks. February rolls around the place is cleared out and back to normal. (I should really be happy for those people that they're taking initiative, so I've decided to encourage them this year instead of looking like grumpy cat.) No matter what your goals are this year, this post is all about encouraging you to get moving and accomplish those goals!

Last post Dream Big in 2017 was all about dreaming. After you take the time to dream and write them down (seriously make yourself just stop and sit and dream for 5 minutes), find a way to start accomplishing those dreams. Break down that huge dream into smaller goals and just start where you can. Small steps are still steps. Even a step in the wrong direction is alright. You'll figure it out as you go, but just get started!

One of the most important things I've learned about dreaming and goal setting in the last few years is that it's super easy to procrastinate, take a nap, work on it tomorrow, and defer those dreams until we "have more time". I'm definitely guilty of these excuses, so I've learned to set deadlines for myself. Goals are dreams with deadlines. Let's face it, we're all better at getting things done with a deadline. When the teacher gives a deadline, homework gets done. When you know company is coming over to your house, everything gets cleaned up and put away. When your boss assigns you a project, work gets done on time so you can get paid. Things get done when you have a deadline. 

So after the dreaming (which is my favorite part), I also took time to plan and set deadlines for my goals. Writing those goals down and taking action is half the battle. I'm taking the time to dream, write down my goals, find a picture to match those goals so I can see what I'm working for, find a scripture to match my goal, and come up with action steps to get started. I put all that in a book so I can travel with it, but you could put your goals on a poster board or tape them to your bathroom mirror. Just put it somewhere you'll see it every day (not a drawer where it gets lost until December). I plan flip through that book of goals every day to keep them fresh in my mind and keep me motivated! I want to look back on 2017 and be able to say with confidence, "2017 was the best year of my life! I accomplished my goals!" 

Don't procrastinate! Take time to dream, then break that down into smaller goals with deadlines, and get started! Do it now! Don't put it off until later. The longer we wait to start on something (even when we say we want to do it), the harder it is to actually get going. There’s actually a name for this — it’s called the Law of Diminishing Intent. Even if you only have an inkling of clarity about what to do, it’s imperative that you act immediately. As my mom tells me, "Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!" Take action before your momentum fizzles.

I recently read a great blog post by Michael Hyatt talking about this very thing. Let’s say you want to lose weight, write a book, or start a new business. Getting started requires action. And that can be tough, even risky. After all, how can you…

• make room in your schedule for the gym?
• find the hours it takes each week to sit and write?
• know if your new product will sell?

Those are all good questions. And they’re important to answer. But they don’t encapsulate the real risk. They don’t even come close. The real risk is this: When facing these sorts of challenges, instead of taking action, we can coast on the good feeling of the dream without taking the necessary steps to see it realized.

The Law of Diminishing Intent says, the longer you wait to take action, the less likely you will be to take it. Jim Rohn originally noticed this phenomenon and coined the term. Don’t defer your dreams. Don’t delay your goals. Don’t procrastinate on the one thing you need to do today to make meaningful progress in your personal or professional life. If you feel like your resolve toward a task or goal is starting to disappear, use these 4 simple steps to act now (and see results!).

I've decided not do defer my dreams anymore. My decision to act will effect how my year is going to go, which is pretty empowering. It's time to take action! I don't want to look back and feel like I wasted any part of my life in 2017. I get to decide what goals I'm going to achieve, what kind of legacy and values I'm known for, and how to improve relationships with people in my world. 

What’s your plan? 

Tip – get a plan! Take time to dream. Write your goals down. Keep them before your eyes. Take Action!
Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!
2017 is your year. 

PS. I've learned so much about keeping my dreams before my eyes from Terri Savelle Foy over the last few weeks. Her podcasts are awesome! Check out this episode Why You Need a Vision With Goals. Terri encourages and equips you to have a vision and set goals in a way that will set you up to achieve more and do greater than ever done before.