Purpose Part 3: Choosing to Take Action
Now that you have taken some time to become aware of your priorities, why they are important to you & if your actions do/don’t support them, it then becomes time to figure out a plan to invest your time (or continue investing) in them if you haven’t already.
Let us recall example one from part 2
Example 1: You are trying to go on daily walks
Reasons you might NOT take action:
Could be the weather is too cold
The day gets away from you
Could be you don’t really care enough to do anything
It’s not a priority to you
Reasons you are taking action:
You set a timer to go on your walks every 1-2 hours
Your dog tells you it’s time to get outside
Your wearable technology mocks you for sitting all day
You are connected to why you’re doing it
Now let’s take a deeper dive into those examples and gain an understanding of what the next steps are in order to help start turning your awareness into actions. Remember, these are just examples - the key is to find the small actions that will be most sustainable for you.
Could be the weather is too cold/or just bad in general.
Action to take could be to check the weather forecast a week ahead and pick out a couple days where you think you could go out and get that walk.
The day get away from you or you run out of time.
Action to take could be to not put a time limit on the walk. If you have a 10 minute break (or even 2 minutes) in your day then go for it. Maybe you will get a couple more chances throughout the day. It doesn’t have to be one long walk it can be several small ones down the road and back or to the end of the driveway.
Could be you don’t really want to do anything.
Action is to figure out why you don’t and dig deeper to see if it aligns with your goals. It’s okay if you don’t want to go on a daily walk. Maybe you rather do yoga, laundry, or 300 jumping jacks. Whatever it is it’s your responsibility to figure out what works for you and why.
It’s not a priority to you.
Action is going to be to reaffirm your why. Go back to align with your priorities. It might not be time for you to take action, yet. You could take more time to notice the things you enjoy, go through that survey and be honest with yourself. Are these things you really want? If not, what are they?
By using the tools of building awareness, understanding, and taking actions you can provide yourself with a checks and balance system that can ultimately hold you accountable. In very uncertain times the worry can be overwhelming, so it is very empowering to find ways to control what you can in your life and be able to bring yourself and sense of calm and comfort. That being said, understanding your limitations on what you can change at once takes patience and a plan. ONE habit at time is the best way to implement these actions so you don’t give yourself paralysis through analysis or build a foundation of unsustainable behaviors.
Part 4 will go through step by step on how to create a plan to set yourself up for success and start taking action.
