“We judge ourselves by our intentions, but others judge us by our actions.”

Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

How many times have we told ourselves, “I’m going to _____ from now on,” with the fill-in-the-blank being more organized, more productive, exercise more, save more, eat better, etc.  You get the idea.

 

It seems we all start with good intentions and sincerity … only to have our enthusiasm fizzle away (myself included) … and so all our best intentions come to nothing.

 

It’s the most common thing in the world — the honest and fervent desire for self-improvement, followed by inaction or giving in to temptations, followed by guilt or giving up.  It happens to the best of us.  It’s inertia at work, mixed perhaps with a bit of laziness as well as the very human trait of giving in to desires despite all the good intentions in the world.

 

So how do we beat inertia and temptations? 

 

There are four basic ways:

 

1. Start moving a little bit at a time.  Inertia is beat only by movement.  Once you get going, momentum builds up and inertia is less a factor.  So one key is to get started.  A second key is not to try going from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds when you do get started.  Instead, try to go from 0 to 5mph in a day or two.  That’s doable.  It’s all about baby steps so we don’t injure or frustrate ourselves … and increasing the odds we will not give up.

 

2. Positive Pressure.  Laziness, the second culprit, is beat by a bit of public pressure.  We all get lazy from time to time (or to be more honest, all the time), and there’s nothing wrong with that. But to beat laziness, we must apply a bit of pressure in the form of accountability.  There’s nothing wrong with a little pressure either, as long as it’s not overdone.  Pressure is a motivating thing when it’s positive. Positive pressure includes encouragement from family or friends, an online forum, a help group in your church or neighborhood, etc.

 

3. Forgive your failures.  Giving in to temptation is OK.  We will always give in to temptation. Plan for it, accept it, move on. There’s no need to beat yourself up.

 

4. Motivate yourself.  Most importantly, whatever it is … you want to really want it.  It’s not enough to feel pressure to do something — you have to really desire it.  This means not just thinking it’s something you should do, or that you’ll be a better person for doing it, or that your spouse will be happy if you do it.  You have to want it for yourself.

 

Given those strategies for beating the obstacles to turning good intentions into reality … how do we implement them?  How do we go from good intent to actual action steps?  Here are seven simple steps that you can do today. Really.

 

1. Start right now.  All the good intentions in world mean nothing if you don’t actually get started. The only way to get started is to take action, right now.  Not tomorrow, not later today, not in an hour.  Right now!  Look at your calendar, and make an appointment with yourself to create your own personal action plan.  Or better yet, take the first action (“Go walking today in the park,” for example). What’s the first action you can take to make your desires a reality?  Create a healthier meal plan for tomorrow?  Create a place for everything you use at work, so your organizing system doesn’t fall apart after a day?  Decide what that is and make an appointment for it with yourself right now.  When you do, make that appointment the most important appointment on your schedule, more important than a meeting with your boss.

 

2. Set a small, achievable goal.  Remember, inertia is a powerful force.  If you haven’t been exercising for a couple years, it’s hard to get started.  You’re used to the way things are, and even if you want to change, it’s difficult.  So don’t start out trying to conquer the world.  Just conquer something small. It might sound wimpy to say, “I’m going to walk for 10 minutes” or “I’m going to stretch for 10 minutes,” but those are much more likely to beat inertia than, “I’m going to exercise for an hour today.”  Be realistic, and make it achievable.  It’s the only way to beat inertia.

 

3. Commit yourself.  It’s this commitment that will keep you going after you overcome inertia.  Sometimes we get filled up with enthusiasm, but then a few days later, that enthusiasm wanes and we give up.  So instead, make a commitment publicly.  State your small, achievable goal, and tell it to as many people as you can.  Call or email friends and family, tell all your coworkers, join an online forum related to your goal and tell all of them.  Tell someone, anyone.  Make sure people are aware of your goal and that there’s sufficient positive pressure to overcome laziness.

 

4. Baby steps.  This bears repeating.  Inertia is a very strong force.  To repeat … the best way to change and to stay on course is through baby steps.  This means one small step at a time.  Don’t try to bite off too much.  How is this different from the above step, setting a small and achievable goal? It’s the same concept but reaching beyond the initial goal.  It’s taking things one little small goal at a time. If your goal is to run a marathon, then it’s walking around the block, then jogging around the block, then jogging around 2 blocks, then jogging a 5k, then a 10k, then a half-marathon, and finally a full marathon.  Taken in steps, even running a marathon is realistic.

 

5. Hold yourself accountable.  You’ve committed yourself publicly … but it’s not enough to tell people your goal. You have to make it clear that they must hold you accountable to reporting to them your progress. Then report your progress to them regularly. Daily is better than weekly. Reporting to them makes sure that you will think twice about being lazy and forgoing your action plan.

 

6. Motivate yourself.  We’ve already discussed accountability and commitment, which are ways to put positive pressure on yourself.  Those are great, but you also want other types of motivation.  Find ways to make your progress feel great … through rewards, or the positive way you feel about your progress, or the positive way you feel when others see how well you’re doing.  Find several different ways to motivate yourself.  The more the better.  Include these into your plan.  Then tell people about them and let them help push you along.

 

7. Just keep doing it, no matter what.  You will encounter challenges and you will have small failures.  Keep going anyway.  You will face temptations and give in.  That’s OK.  Keep going. Mistakes and discouragement are all part of life.  So no matter what happens, keep going.

 

You’ll get there.

 

“Help is not help until it is given, so turn your intentions to help into acts of help.  We judge ourselves by our intentions, but others judge us by our actions.”
-Lee J. Colan, Orchestrating Attitude

 

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