How to Create ʺThe Action Habitʺ
It’s easy to get into a mode of inaction, but building the Action Habit can be a lot more difficult.
Do you have a plan for the next 90 days? Here’s how to make one.
It’s easier to put things off than to act, it’s easier to seek comfort than to push into discomfort, fear, and stress.
So how do we start taking action in our lives?
The answer lies in a simple method for creating the Action Habit:
Pick one positive action Make a list of the main things you want to do. Pick the No. 1 thing in your top 3. Now pick one small action you can get done on this project in the next few minutes
Make it tiny and easy You don’t have to do the whole project right now. Just one tiny step. For “Write a book” it could be as simple as “Open a document and write down a few ideas.” Make it as ridiculously easy as possible, so that you can’t really say no. Once you get into the Action Habit, you’ll be able to do the other steps later. But for now, just focus on one tiny step. This is how you create a habit
Set up positive feedback If you get one or two people into an accountability team, you’ll make it much more likely that you’ll succeed. That’s because with accountability, you get negative feedback for not doing the actions (a bit of embarrassment) and positive feedback for doing the actions (a bit of pride in your accomplishment). Ask one or two friends to be on your team. Tell each other what tiny steps you’re going to do today towards important long-term goals. Check-in at the end of the day, or when you’re done with your three tiny actions
Put everything you have into it Now put your entire self into starting the action. All you have to do is start. Act as if your life depends on it. Act as if nothing were more important than keeping your word to yourself. Act as if this one tiny action were the entire universe
Repeat Doing your first tiny action is amazing. Now focus your entire being on the next tiny action. Just repeat this method, re-evaluating your list once a day or so, taking tiny actions all day long, with breaks in between. This is how you form the Action Habit, and it will be incredible
This might sound too simplistic for some people, and you might be tempted to skip this and go read something else. This is a mistake — try this method and see if you can create the Action Habit today.