[Success Tip] Create appropriate action steps, and take them one step at a time

Do you become overwhelmed in trying to reach your goals? Do you give up before you get there?   Does your plan seem hard or energetically heavy?  Do you become paralyzed or inefficient with the enormity of your project?  If so, it might be because you are not making and taking appropriate action steps.  Whether you want to earn $1,000,000 this year or you want to take off 100 pounds, the key is the same:

Success Tip: Create appropriate action steps, and take them one step at a time.

In many years of coaching, I notice a common tendency for people to stall out or slow down instead of making steady progress, due to overwhelm from a huge goal.  Here are some tips to transform this pattern:

1. Realize that sitting back and waiting is not appropriate action.  That is being victim to circumstances.
2. Shift from being victim to being at cause by creating specific, bite-sized, baby steps that move you forward.
3. Schedule the steps in your calendar.
4. Be accountable to someone (your coach?)
5. Create new habits by choosing just one thing to shift, and stick to that until it becomes automatic.
6. Then choose one more thing, and do the same.

Here are two examples:  An O.W.L. weight loss graduate gave up one thing – sugar.  She kept eating everything else as usual.  As time passed, she gained the confidence and strength to address something else.  An O.W.L. Certification trainee wanted to bring in additional clients but was afraid to call a lot of people.  She scheduled and called one person a day to practice having conversations until she gained the confidence to increase her activity.  “One step at a time” is the key!

Warmly,

P.S.   Registration for our O.W.L. 2014 Certification and Training Program for coaches and health professionals closes next week.  If you or someone you know is interested, check out http://www.owlweightloss.com/programs/certificationtrainingprogram/ for more information.

Success Story

One of the most important results O.W.L. has produced for me in addition to weight loss has been an incredible confidence when it comes to my professional life. When I first started my business, I felt frumpy; and wanted to hide out where no one could see me because I felt so overweight. I hid behind my desk, behind my baggy clothes and by being quiet, not seeking the clients I knew I needed for my business to succeed. After entering O.W.L., I began to see how eating and weight gain were part of my hiding out as well. The holistic approach the O.W.L. Program affected not just weight, but my whole essence, and resulted in me feeling strong, confident and owning my strengths and abilities – and that has meant a huge increase in clients and income.
~Debra Gilroy, PhD, Wellfleet, MA