Creating goals and plans for the future is fun. Sorting out our dreams and generating ideas of how to accomplish those dreams can be thrilling.  The thought process and planning can be energizing.

But, often the goals, plans, dreams and ideas of the future seem to lay dormant in the mind or in a journal. The ideas you created do not have a follow through or an initiation at all.

Things come up.

Issues arise.

The plans we make never get to an agenda.

We experience obstacles.

Set-backs arise.

The idea you had sounded great at the time, but now the busyness of everyday life took over. 

Now the goal seems impractical.

You wonder if the dream made any sense at all.

Your goals and ideas then wither away. They join the long list of plans and dreams that once lit a fire in you, but now fizzled away. The plans you made may never burn brightly for everyone to see. 

How can you make these goals, plans and dreams for your future a reality? 

Instead of planning, begin doing.

Go from a thinking mindset to an action mindset. 

I am sure you have thought out your dreams. I know you have studied, researched and analyzed how to achieve your goals. You have looked at every angle and every scenario. 

You have thought it through. Now is the time to take action. 

I know! It is risky. Action takes discipline, dedication and courage. But, in order to advance, you have to take action. It is time to take that leap of faith and go from the thinking mindset to action mode. 

Action Mindset

• Identify a small step you can take today to move your goal forward. 

Evaluate your big goals and ambitions. Choose one of those goals and identify one small step you can take today to move your goal forward. In the book, “The One Thing,” by Gary Keller he shares these steps to help you define the step you need to take. 

Follow these steps:
What is the ONE Thing I want to do someday?
What is the ONE Thing I can do this year to achieve my someday goal?
What is the ONE Thing I can do this month to achieve my someday goal?
What is the ONE Thing I can do this week to achieve my someday goal?
What is the ONE Thing I can do daily to achieve my someday goal?
This is the habit that needs to start today!

• Spend more time producing than consuming.

We live in an information world. Whatever you want to achieve, you can learn from books, seminars, courses, and the internet. 

What you need to achieve success is not due to lack of information. There is usually plenty of time consuming information and learning.

But to produce results, you must pivot from consuming the information to producing through action.

Seminars, courses, books and the internet teaches you strategy and even how to work a plan. However, you are not taught execution. 

It is important to transform your knowledge to action and execution. The action will be powerful to achieve results.

• Create a sense of urgency.

Successful people have a sense of urgency to create what they want. If your goals and dreams do not match action with a deadline, you will probably never achieve.

Do you have a sense of urgency to achieve your goal?

When would you like to achieve your goal?

If you have an open-ended timeline for your goals and dreams, I am going to bet that you may never get it done. 

Focus on what needs to be done, determine the step you will take first,  and set a deadline to achieve it.

• Become solution oriented

To create success in any area of your life, you have to accept that you will have set-backs and failure. Learn to accept these, evaluate the situation and create a solution to move on despite the barriers. 

Most successful people learn to keep moving despite the barrier or set-back. This takes an action mindset. Determine how you will react to the situation through action.

Whatever your dream or goals, motivation plays an important role. It is crucial to influence our ambition. However, it cannot live alone. The truth is, you have to take action. In fact, action can lead to motivation and give you the momentum you need to keep going.
After you take your first step in the action, you see progress from your efforts, which produces motivation to continue the movement. 

Taking the first step can be tough, but you cannot think yourself to success. You must take action. 

If you would like this message and would like to hear more, go to the Become More Podcast!