Postpone. A silent killer. But who doesn’t procrastinate? I’ll give you five strategies for achieving your goals by taking action.
“Some people want it to happen
Some wish it would happen
Others make it happen”
It is sometimes said that 95% of mankind does not achieve what they want or can achieve because of procrastination. On the other hand, there would be 5% who do manage to achieve their goals. This 5% is successful in (almost everything) they undertake.
Surveys, no matter how thoroughly done, can always deviate slightly from reality, but personally I think this particular survey comes close to the truth. From my own observation, I think I can distinguish three categories of people:
- People who don’t want to grow, have no desire for self-development and think everything is fine.
- People who really want to grow and develop, but for whom it is difficult or not always successful.
- People who grow and develop no matter what.
Do you belong to group 2? Then this blog is written especially for you.
THE DILEMMA: STRIVING AND DESIRE VERSUS ACCEPTANCE
Longing for something you don’t have is bad luck, right? So how can you pursue goals? A point about which, understandably, you may be confused.
The Buddha said:
“The secret to being unhappy is having what you don’t want and wanting what you don’t have.”
REACH GOALS
So if you have goals you would like to achieve, if you want to take action and get things done, it is important that you are first satisfied with your life as it is now. That you accept what you have and what you don’t (yet) have. Only from this acceptance can you achieve your goals without having to fear that you will not succeed. After all, your life is already good.
Taking the above into account -and that is the paradox- it is also vital that you are hungry for what you want to achieve. Your hunger and desire gives you the power to make the goal you seek, the desired outcome, come true. In other words, be happy and content with what you have, but at the same time be hungry for your goal. Just don’t get attached to the outcome: whether or not you achieve your goal should not affect your sense of happiness. Whatever the outcome, it’s good either way.
ABOUT DISCIPLINE AND FAILURE
There are two major misconceptions when it comes to achieving your goals. The most important of these is that failure should not be allowed. Look familiar? Failure is the worst thing that can happen to many people. So much so, that the fear of failure keeps people from growing.
The second misconception, is that discipline and willpower are the way to growth and development. If you don’t possess these characteristics you might as well quit.
“Success is 99% failure.”
The above quote is from Soichiro Honda, founder of the automobile and motorcycle factories of the same name. And he was right. In the Netherlands, failure is terrible. People who fail are failures. Because of this collective view, many people stop pursuing their goals when things don’t work out for a while. And yet it is precisely at these crucial moments that perseverance is of the utmost importance: you are so close! There is no artist, athlete or scientist who has not failed time and time again before breaking through.
Dare to fail; rejoice! Only then will you eventually get where you want to be.
Discipline and willpower are very useful qualities when you want to get things done. However, they are temporary features and they also cost a lot of energy. Remember: even the most strong-willed people eventually break down if they don’t have a stable strategy. They won’t last. Setbacks become sledgehammer blows, resilience and flexibility disappear and giving up or becoming burnt out are the consequences.
Motivation, inspiration and strategy are far greater and more sustainable forces than discipline and willpower when it comes to manifesting your desires.
It’s about being strategic. We can learn from top-class sport: top-class athletes do not focus on winning or losing the match, but on the process of becoming better and better. Every game is an opportunity for growth, regardless of the outcome. It’s because of that attitude that matches are won. And does a top athlete not win the competition, but has he or she improved a personal record or experienced other growth? Then it’s a valuable profit.
I would like to introduce you to five strategies for achieving your goals that I have based on five laws of nature. Natural laws, like the law of gravity, are inexorable and insurmountable. If you try to deviate from it, you make it extremely difficult for yourself. So if you go with it and work with it correctly, you make it much easier on yourself. Unfortunately, laws of nature are often unknown to most people. We’re going to make a difference today.
Take the following example: you want to write a book, but experience resistance and reluctance every time you sit down to do so. You may feel the fear that it won’t work out after all; you’ll make a few classic mistakes that can be circumvented by the right strategies.
5 STRATEGIES FOR TAKING ACTION
1. THE LAW OF VIBRATION
If there is one thing certain in life, it is that everything is constantly vibrating – or vibrating. Everything around us is energy: everything consists of vibrating molecules and atoms. The air you breathe and even your thoughts and emotions (energy in motion) consist of and because of energy.
Every vibration has a certain frequency (so do you). The interesting thing is that different aspects of you can vibrate at different frequencies.
You can have a very high vibration in your career and be chairman of the board of a multinational, but at the same time vibrate physically at a very low frequency, be overweight and have unhealthy eating patterns. You can vibrate at a very high frequency spiritually and experience compassion and bliss, while in your relationship you are constantly upset by your low vibration on that level. In short, it is essential that you manage your vibration in all areas of life.
Each vibrational frequency has an energy gateway to the next layer. Writing a book, for example, is such a gateway. Once you have published a book you vibrate (within that aspect) on a different frequency and attract other people and experiences: think of co-authors, publishers and so on.
An important, complex project at work, can be the energy gateway to the next career frequency. Optimizing your body can be the gateway to a whole new fit and energetic physical frequency. When you see it that way, it can be an enormous motivation to make what you put off come true. It is the gateway to a new phase in your life, a step closer to your goal.
Strategy & Action:
Map out the approximate frequency at which you vibrate per area of life. Within the Bridgeman Method, we distinguish ten life areas: Personal growth, Health & physical, Relationships & love, Professional development & career, Spiritual development, Training and courses, Finances, Self-confidence & life challenges, Home & family and Giving & contributing to the world. Go over each life area what it takes to get to the next frequency and see if it is one of the projects you are putting off. Use this information to motivate yourself.
2. THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
It is important that you follow what you want. That you are confident that it will work and that you have a good plan to achieve a product or result.
In the example I outlined earlier in this blog, I long for books, theater shows, and a movie. I am 100% confident that they will all be successes and I have a plan in place for both books, the show and the movie. Following that plan is the process.
Step by step, whenever there is inspiration and time. I have a clear vision of the end product: I can see, feel and hear it. With that I put an image in the field and I can let the law of attraction do its work. I’m already vibrating on the frequency of what I want to achieve. Essential is that I am willing to let go every moment. If one of the projects is unexpectedly unsuccessful, then I have not failed, but learned. In doing so, I surround myself with people who are already vibrating at the right frequency. Writers when it comes to books, theatre makers when it comes to theatre and so on. We’re picking up each other’s vibrations. Not for nothing is the saying:
‘Tell me which 5 people you hang out with the most and I can tell you how you’re doing’.
Strategy & Action:
Make a list: not a to-do list (that’s a thing of the past) but a creation list. A list of everything you want to accomplish: You use this list in much the same way as a to-do list. You look at it daily and take action on the points you can take action on. The difference is that you simultaneously visualize the outcome of the points and trust that they will become reality. For each point, think about whether there are other people who could do this for you and what you could do for them in return. In this way, let what is on your list come into being.
3. THE LAW OF RHYTHM AND DECISION MAKING
The law of rhythm says that everything comes and goes, rises and falls. The same goes for the inspiration and commitment you need to do or develop something. You can’t force yourself to sit down and work if your system isn’t ready for that at the time. Therefore, let go of the idea that things have to be done a certain way at a certain time. The most important thing is to make the decision that you are going to do this project and finish it.
I am currently writing two books (my fifth and sixth), developing a theatre programme and making a documentary using this system. I’ve decided that I’m going to publish those books and the movie is a done deal. Now I let go of the outcome and take the steps necessary for it as it presents itself.
The inspiration for my books comes and goes. Sometimes I have a sudden inspiration and write 20,000 words in a day. Then I have another two weeks of no inspiration and do other things. It’s not about whether things get done: it’s about whether the process is up and running.
Strategy & Action:
Look at your creation list each day and feel what inspires you most to do things that day. You’ll notice that some days project x will suddenly be on the rise and everything you need to do for it will flow effortlessly from your hands. The next day is more suitable for project y. Afternoons are good for different actions than mornings. Experience what works best for you.
4. THE LAW OF CORRESPONDENCE
So above, so below. So in, so out. Everything in the Universe is connected to each other. In consciousness, but also on a material level. Suppose you would look at the earth from the moon, then you would see one small ball in an immense space. On that sphere, separations are an illusion: it is one organism of which all people, energies, thoughts and actions are a part.
Eckhardt Tolle says beautifully: You are the universe in the temporary appearance of a human being. Everything that happens outside of you, also happens inside of you and vice versa. This makes your outside world a kind of mirror, a dashboard on which you can read how your inner world is doing.
When it gets very busy outside of yourself, it makes sense to look for peace within yourself. What’s really going on? You might ask yourself. If you experience a lot of stress because you want to or have to meet certain deadlines, is that right? Or have you imposed yourself from willpower that this is how it should be?
If things seem to be getting too much, let them go. Go and do something else: meditate, go for a walk, have a beer with a friend – I’ll tell you what. Don’t take your life so seriously, your environment is a reflection of yourself and that environment starts with your thoughts, emotions, personality and physical body. You have it. You’re not it.
Strategy & Action:
Take a good look at your surroundings. Start from within, with the thoughts in your head, the state of your body, the emotions you feel. Go out from that starting point: to the relationships you have, your work, what’s coming up, your projects, deadlines and other people’s opinions. Observe the bumps and strains. In what areas is it not right, where does it go wrong in your life. Follow those tensions inward and examine where they come from. Do the same with the projects you’re putting in front of you. Where in yourself are you blocking? What fear, emotional blockage, limiting thought or belief is holding you back from achieving your goals?
5. THE LAW OF PAIN AND PLEASURE
All animal species -and therefore all humans- are by definition pain-avoiding and pleasure-seeking. This is an ancient survival system in your brain: our brain is a survival device. That serves you primarily to stay alive and reproduce. You can also use it to become happier and develop yourself, but that only comes secondarily.
Deep in your brain is the Pain-Generation-Principle, the PGP. This mechanism traditionally avoids pain – after all, that can mean death. It seeks pleasure at the same time. That could mean something to eat or a chance to reproduce.
When you procrastinate, it means that somewhere in your brain pain is linked to the project you’re putting off, for example because it’s something new that you don’t yet know how it works. Or because it seems like a lot of work, while you associate work with pain. It may also be that the fear of failure with its associated pain is stagnant. Either way, the key is to reverse engineer the PGP and learn how to use it. You do this by linking pleasure stimuli to the outcome of your project: if you make it clear to your brain how nice and tasty it will be when you have achieved your goal, you ensure that your brain will pursue this pleasure and help you to turn your project into reality.
Strategy & Action:
Make sure you are sitting or lying down comfortably. Close your eyes and visualize your project as successful. See in your mind’s eye what life will be like when your project is completed. Feel how you feel. See how people treat you, what opportunities arise because you have passed through this energy gate, what new people you meet and how good that feels. Make this image-with-feeling as strong as possible and add all the pleasure stimuli you can think of for yourself. You can exaggerate as much as you want. Every time you look at your project with a negative charge, don’t see it coming or feel reluctance, repeat this enjoyment visualization.
FINALLY
You now have five rock-solid strategies for achieving your goals. It’s time for action. If you work with the above strategies every day for a week or three, you will give yourself a chance to integrate them into your life. If you want help with it, turn to a Lighter Life Coach trained by me.
