To set some context – I am essentially talking about lifestyle changes and personal dreams. This may be exercise, fitness, health, budgets, careers, your everyday life, routine, habits and so on.
So what are these 3 simple yet big packing actions? Over the next few days I will be sharing on:
Definition, Discipline and Actual Action
Today I will be talking to you about point 1: Definition.
Definition
Well if you have even made it this far in reading the blog I am guessing you already have a dream in mind. Maybe you have already kicked off the journey to actuating your dream into something tangible? Or maybe you have something which has been on your mind… Regardless, before you can really kick off your change in lifestyle you need to really understand what you want and this comes through defining what it is. Let’s start small… the biggest and probably the most common lifestyle change would be getting fit or losing weight. So how do you define this? Well, firstly you need to define it enough to know that you are serious about it in the first place and that this and not just another person saying “yep I am going to lose some weight too”. If you are serious – this definition of you losing weight will lead to the discipline and essentially the action you do to make it happen.
For example…
If you are overweight and you want to lose weight – but you don’t have a goal of how much you need to lose, that is fine. I would focus on actually starting in the first place but understanding how you plan to do it. The common one today is a sugar-free approach (as seen in ‘That Sugar Film‘). So when defining this you are saying I will be on a sugar-free diet. But you must understand the parameters and boundaries of this as people will always challenge you. So if you are going sugar-free can you have fruit? Honey? What about milk and bread? What about snacks such as chips… let’s be honest… everything has some sense of sugar… Here you need to understand your plan and boundaries. The more detailed and structured you are – the more impact it will have on your result… but the key here is once you have the definition in place you need the discipline. (more on this in part 2)
To recap – definition is essentially your baseline, your blueprint and your guide in staying true to what you want to achieve. Remember it is your goal and your dream so if you set this definition up front and take the oath to yourself to achieve it, then you only have to impress one person. Yourself. Yes, you can share and gather support from others, but I can honestly say, they will try to pick up faults and errors on your behalf… why? Because I believe they are jealous that you are making a difference to your life and it is working. But do not worry about them. Focus on your mission, focus on your goal. You’ve got this.
We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile. — Earl Nightingale