3 Step Process For Getting Things Done

How many times have you finished a day, week or period in your life and said quietly to yourself “I wish I could have gotten it done!”

I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty “take action” type of person…better than most when it comes to being conscious of my time, trying not to procrastinate and making sure I take action on my dreams.

Yet, I still remember the realization my wife and I came to 10-years into having children when we both wondered what we had done with all of the free time, all of the dreams we had before kids (when we had evenings and weekends to ourselves).

That proved to me that even though I thought I was being efficient with my time, there was still room for huge improvement in terms of getting things done.

Since then, I’ve become rather fanatical about making sure dreams are turned into actionable goals AND that I spend far less time thinking or considering how to approach each goal favoring taking action and figuring it out as I go.

ALONG CAME THE 3 STEP PROCESS FOR GETTING THINGS DONE

After trying many different approaches to setting priorities, time management, motivation, etc…it really came down to these 3 steps when the task was to get things done.

1. Be Clear About What You Will Accomplish

In order to get things done, the THING must be crystal clear in your mind.  It’s not enough to “want to lose weight” (for example), instead you must have a clear objective in mind – it could be “I will be 20-lbs lighter in 30-days” or “I will workout 4-times a week for at least 45-minutes for the next 6-weeks”.   Either of these is fine, the former is more aligned with a final result, the former is a concrete depiction of a definite action.  Either one will get you results, the key is to be specific and clear on the action and the timeframe.

2. Belief & Commitment

In Attracting Greatness it is shown that some of the most successful people in the world have an incredible ability to create an inner belief and commitment quickly where there was none before.  Some people call this “a leap of faith”, others call it an “inner strength”, the bottom line is that getting things done requires a suspension of disbelief (even where there is no reason to believe) combined with the learned skill of “inner blackmail” (my phrase for fooling your mind to believe you have already accomplished a task even though you haven’t figured out how yet).  As you may realize, in the beginning this “blind” belief and commitment is closely linked to having a strong sense of self-confidence.  If you struggle with constant defeat, self-sabotage and procrastination then work on your self-confidence to the point where you know that you can jump into something and figure it out as you go coming out stronger on the other end.

3. Jump In

You have a clear plan fueled by a strong desire, you have locked down belief and commitment to the point where you are convinced you can get it done even though you may not understand exactly how, the final step is to jump in.

Imagine you are standing on a diving board, a cliff or even just on a boat dock and you badly want to jump in the water.  First, you have the desire.  Second, you are working on your belief that everything will work out (the positive voice inside your head is battling the negative thoughts).  Still, it may take you minutes to actually make the jump.  Nothing happens until you jump, you can have all the clarity and belief in the world, but you still must have the guts to jump.

Use these 3 steps to getting things done no matter what your objective.  It could be goals around personal health, career, finances, relationships, self improvement…the process is the same.

• Gain Clarity
• Build Belief and Commitment
• Jump In – Take Action

As with anything in life, the first few times you work through this process will be more challenging than subsequent times.  The great news is that each time you follow the process, you grow as a person.  Your self confidence grows, your belief grows and over time, your life changes as this process becomes as much a natural habit for you as procrastination and doubt is today.

It all starts with the first…what will use this to accomplish first in your life?