Excerpt from “You Can Have a Better Life: 21 Secrets to Getting the Life You Desire” by Dawna Stone.
If you’ve ever thought, “There must be more to life than this,” you’re not alone. Simply desiring something and believing in yourself isn’t enough. Positive change only comes with action. Things begin to happen when you make them happen. It sounds simple because it is simple. If you push ahead, the effort you put forth will begin the forward motion needed to capture success. You’ll notice I said “capture.” Success isn’t going to find you just because you want it. It’s not going to seek you out just because you’re a good person. It’s going to happen when you desire it, believe you deserve it and, most importantly, act upon it.
You have the power to succeed because you possess the power of choice and the power of action. It’s up to you which direction you want to move; it’s up to you to make it happen. You can alter your life by simply moving forward, and I’m not necessarily talking about making a huge shift. Even small, simple actions can make a major difference in your life, finances, relationships, happiness, and overall success.
So How Do You Make Success Happen?
We all have the ability to turn something mediocre into something great; we must do only two things—develop a plan and follow it. Creating a plan is the easy part; acting upon it is where most people get stuck.
Early on in my career, I felt so stuck that I not only experienced emotions of despair, but also those of immense hopelessness. I worked at a job that I very much disliked, and I spent four years being miserable. I wanted to do something else and dreamed of finding a job I loved, yet I didn’t do anything about it. Every day I would wake up and drag myself to my job. Why? Why would I spend four years of my life doing something I didn’t want to do? I look back now and wonder why I wasted all that time when all I needed was to implement a plan and act on it. Like most people, I was waiting for a positive change to find me rather than creating a proactive strategy to go after it.
When I finally decided I’d had enough, I devised a plan for getting a new job that involved updating my resume, researching industries and companies that interested me, writing a cover letter, putting together a list of contacts, etc. The amazing thing was just how simple it was to make that plan. It took less than a week for me to gather all the pieces so that I could start making calls and arranging interviews. The simple act of moving forward in the right direction landed me my dream job in a completely different industry—in the city where I wanted to live.
Because the plan of looking for a new job and the act of actually reaching out and making meetings proved so easy, I often wonder why I didn’t begin sooner. Stop waiting for change to find you. Go out, and make change happen.
Start Right Now!
Where do you feel stuck in your life? Where would you like to see change take place? Do you want to improve your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend, your spouse or your kids? Do you want to build stronger friendships? Do you want a new job, or do you want to start your own company? Do you want to make more money and have more freedom to do the things you love? No matter what you’re looking for and regardless of how stuck you may feel right now, make a plan. Sit down and write out a list of three to five things you could do that would move you in the right direction. Then under each item, write what necessary action can make that happen.
Start right now—no matter where you are in your life at this very moment. No matter how stuck you feel or how dire life feels, decide that you will take some daily action; no matter how big or small, that will move you forward.
Quit expecting or hoping, and start acting!
Exercise:
Start by writing down one thing you want to change in your life. It could be something about your job, your finances, your relationship, your health, etc. Then take a few minutes to record three to five actions that will move you in the right direction. Then take it one step further: Under each item listed above, write a specific action that needs to take place for you to succeed. Set a timeframe for each action, and then schedule it into your day.
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