As writers we know it’s always easy to say we want to write something (a book, a short story, do freelance work, a blog) but then not do it.
Why is that? Why is it that we say we want to do something, or want to start something but then we don’t do it. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. We do absolutely nothing.
And we’re all guilty of this.
I’ve been studying this for a lot of years now, especially about why we procrastinate, why we resist doing things we know we should be doing, and why we resist doing things we WANT to do.
The answer is because we don’t know how to do it, or where to start. So as usual, we revert to doing the easiest thing that we know how to do, which is to watch TV instead or get our phones out and scroll through a load of time-wasting nonsense.
Sound familiar?
If you want to get on in life and do all the things you want to do (or you want to stop doing the things you know you shouldn’t be doing), then what you need, is to not only know what you want to do, but HOW you’re going to do it.
And this involves making a list (I love lists and use them for so many things). Your list needs to contain every step of what you need to do. You see, it’s not enough to know that you want to do something, you also need to know how to do it. And most importantly, where to start. And writing a list of all the steps you need to take, is usually the best (and easiest) way to start. If nothing else it gets you thinking about what you need to do and once you have your list of steps you can put them in the right order.
Once you have your list, it’s easy to working on the first step and keep referring to your list to make sure you’re completing all the steps.
A list like this can help you achieve just about anything you want to do.
Want to lose weight? That’s great but how are you going to do it? What will you be eating? What will you avoid eating? What sort of exercise are you going to do? When are you going to do it?
Want to quit smoking? How? Are you going to cut down how much you smoke? Are you going to do a quit-smoking course? Go do hypnotherapy?
Want to save for a new car? How? Are you going to re-budget your money? What are you going to stop wasting money on? Are you going to earn more money to help save?
Want to spend less money and save more? How? Are you going to draw up a list of what you spend your money on? Open a savings account? Have a no-spend month?
Want to be more assertive? How? Are you going to take a course? Buy a book? Practice?
Want to have more time? How? Going to keep a time management diary? Going to get a book on how to do it? What are the unnecessary things that you do every day?
Want to write more? How? Going to carve out more time to write? Going to do a specific daily word count? Going to have a set writing routine? Want to change to writing in a different, and more enjoyable, genre?
Want to write a book? How? Are you going to write it into the dark? Are you going to use an outline? How are you going to write an outline? How detailed do you need to make your outline? How many words/hours a day are you going to write? What do you need to do first? How are you going to create a cover? How are you going to publish it?
These are just a quick off-the-top-of-my-head examples of how writing out a list of what you need to do can help with anything you want to do to improve your life.
But it doesn’t stop at just writing a list. You need to be proactive. Don’t want till situations crop up. Even if you only take baby steps to start with like cut out one of your usual cigarettes every day, eat one less snack, save one more dollar. It doesn’t matter how little you do, but it does matter that you do something. As long as your heading in the right direction, you’re moving closer to your goal.
And it all starts with knowing what you want, and, more importantly, knowing why you want it.
It’s important to know how a change will help you, and then you can work out how to achieve it.
And it all starts with a list.
Mission Critical For Life: Start Living Life On Your Terms By Pursuing Your True Life Mission
Ten simple steps to living the life of your dreams
https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/MCFL.html