“Life is what happens to you

While you're busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

When we want to create something new in life or business, we often find ourselves stuck, frustrated, floundering, distracted.

We KNOW what we SHOULD do, but we yo-yo back and forth between action and procrastination, between follow through and “failure”.

We need to start by cutting ourselves some slack — by not beating ourselves up! Most of the world has been there. It’s quite normal.

However, it’s a dance between giving ourselves that grace AND committing to the way forward. Those who succeed acknowledge their realities AND find a way towards their goals.

This ages me I know, but I remember as a 7 or 8 year old listening to John Lennon, one of my favourite artists, sing “Beautiful Boy”. Credit for the quote should probably go to Allen Saunders, but it was John we all heard. Weird that even at such a young age I was thinking about its meaning: “I get it, live! Time’s passing while you’re busy making plans!” Who knows what John was advising his son, but that’s the meaning I took.

That was then, but decades later I realise how profound that statement is. How easy it is to get stuck in planning/thinking/talking mode. And not moving on to action.

Oprah talks of “resistance”. The bigger the challenge, the greater the resistance we feel, and the more we put things off. That makes sense — big challenges are hard. Our fears come back. Changing is uncomfortable and takes effort. Often our identity — our feelings about who we are and what we can and cannot do — holds us back.

How then do we ACHIEVE, GAIN, CREATE that which we want to bring into existence? How do we cross the chasm between where we are and where we want to be? How do we ENJOY the challenge?

Here’s my #1 answer — KEEP IT SIMPLE! Take ONE STEP towards your goal NOW.

First, get your head straight about people you know who are highly successful — at whatever it is you want to do.

Don’t imagine they were that good on Day One … so you should be too. Don’t imagine they started out with all the answers … or that they have them even now. They STARTED SOMEWHERE, like you. You’re at a different stage of the journey, that’s all. Learn from them, be inspired by them, but that’s enough.

And yes, keep it simple! Do ONE thing now towards your goal. Life is happening TO you, so stop planning and act. You know what to do.

Be present today, in the moment. Life is happening to you NOW.

Don’t judge yourself by who you want to be “one day”, but against who you were yesterday, and what you did today. And enjoy who you are today. Trust me, the results will often come faster and even better if you do!

Take action today, and celebrate! You’ve shifted the rock you want to move just a bit. And I say “rock” because at the start things probably will feel heavy and hard. It takes more energy to START something moving than it does to KEEP it moving. So build momentum. Don’t stop. But do it one simple, achievable step at a time. Why does your car uses more gas around town than on the open road? Because it’s constantly stopping and starting. Life is the same.

And enjoy your progress. Rmember, when we feel good, we do more!

Which leads to this. If you’re taking one action, one step at a time, choose carefully! PRIORITISE!

If you want to transform your body by building healthy habits, what comes first? Drinking two litres of water every day? Walking every day? Eliminating a food or habit that doesn’t support you? Pick one. Your choice! Build that new habit muscle. Then move on. Build success on success.

Same with work. Don’t know where to start? If you try and do everything at once those feelings of resistance will overwhelm you. So … Do you need to develop new products? Find a new market? Learn a new skill? Fix your cash-flow? Find a mentor? Write a list, definitely, but then decide what comes first. Maybe what NEEDS to come first! Do that. Build momentum.

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. So act today. Maybe yesterday would have been better, but tomorrow will be worse.

Simple steps, taken consistently, lead to big results over time. It’s just like compound interest!

Until next time,