Focus On The Action, Not The Goal

Hey Everyone! What's your implementation plan for 2025? Join me for this quick end of year episode as we talk about the importance of focusing our energy on our actions and not the dream state that our goals continue to live in because we don't put enough action behind them. Happy New Year and God Bless You All!

Takeaways

• Goals without actionable steps remain dreams.
• Prayer is a powerful tool for clarity and direction.
• Obedience to one's calling is essential for success.
• Planning and plotting out tasks is necessary for achievement.
• Small actions can lead to significant results over time.
• Commitment to change is vital for personal growth.

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Transcript

Hey Everyone, I hope that you are all well. I hope that you are feeling good in the midst of the holiday season and as we wind down this year. I can’t believe there are only two weeks left in the year! And on top of that the next two Wednesdays are a holiday, so this will be the last episode of 2024, but no worries, I will be back with new episodes for you all in January. And hopefully, this episode will resonate with you and offer something positive to your life and your plans as we prepare to usher in 2025. 

Time is fleeting, y’all. And why is it that there is always this race to the end of the year? My colleague and I were just talking about this. It’s really the hurry-up-and-wait game. We gotta get all these deals over the finish line before the year ends, but once that’s done and it’s time for action and for  the real work to begin, you can certainly expect it to take a while.

Now we were talking about customers and onboarding here in my professional life, but you may be able to see some of this in your personal life as well.  I know that I can for sure. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if it didn’t have to take a while?. What if we’ve just been out here stalling the process because we have been getting in our own way?

When we set goals for ourselves, it’s easy to keep our eye focused on achieving the goal- because that’s the prize. But the truth is we are probably focusing too much energy on the achievement of the goal- getting our prize, and not enough time on our implementation plan- which is made up of the actions that it will take for us to be able to claim our prize.

Now you know that I am not a person for resolutions. However, I do believe in deciding to commit. And this is one thing that I am personally deciding to commit to. I am making a commitment to move my primary focus from the goal to the action. Because I’ve always appreciated the journey. But in order to keep moving on the journey, we have to take action.

And the reason is simple. We all have goals on some level. And sometimes the goals haven’t made the transition yet from a dream to a goal, but either way, it’s something that you desire and would like to achieve. Oftentimes, goals and dreams can be lumped all together. Because the thing is, the difference between a dream and a goal is that a goal is a specific target that you can achieve with actionable steps. But with no actionable steps the goals, even as you have mapped them out on paper, or in a digital tablet, or a voice note, are nothing more than dreams. With no actionable items attached to them, the goals will seem unachievable and out of reach. And therefore very much like a dream. 

But today is the day that we stop dreaming y'all. We have to stop dreaming and get working. We know what we want. We’ve thought about it a million times over, but it’s time to go get it! And the only way to get it is through action. 

Now you may not know where to start. What steps to take to get the ball rolling on whatever it is you are trying to achieve? So let’s talk about some actions that you can take to get the ball rolling. And as I go through this little list here, you’ll notice that the same action applies in lots of the areas that we talk here on the pod. But think about it as reinforcement training. We have to drill it into ourselves until we get it and keep drilling it in so we don’t start slipping. 

So your first action is to pray. 

Prayer should be the first step we take before we do anything, and if you find you don’t know where to start to get yourself on track with something, it is the first step that will bring you clarity on what you need to action on. If you’re journaling, if you are reciting affirmations, if you are meditating, these should all be compliments to your prayer life, not a substitute- you’re meditating on your prayer- you’re journaling your prayers- and you’re affirming your prayers! Prayer is an extremely powerful, underutilized tool that we have been gifted with. So pray, pray, pray. 

And once you have clarity through prayer, it’s time to do what I think is one of the hardest things to do and that is to be obedient. No good can come of knowing what to do and choosing not to do it anyway. Can you think of a time when that has worked out well? If you can, I’d love to hear about it. But I don’t have any examples to share. 

When it’s made plain to us what we should be doing, and we decide to take another path, all we are doing is making things harder on ourselves. Not going with the current. Creating more resistance. Not setting ourselves up for success. 

And listen, your goals or whatever you are pursuing may be in alignment with what God has for you. The prize that we are trying to obtain may actually be something that was reserved for us. But what about the method we are using to get there? Are we going about it the right way? And during the right time? These things matter. So when you have that clarity, take the action of being obedient. 

Next, do some Research!- Y’all, we have to do the research. There is no reason to be fully going into anything blindly, or allowing ourselves to be misinformed because we didn’t do our own due diligence in this age of information. Being too lazy to take a closer look at ourselves and trusting others to guide us without vetting the information is actually how we often end up wasting our efforts. 

And that can be discouraging if you finally find yourself getting into motion and into a rhythm. You would have done all of that for what?  

But we have so many resources now, that there is no reason to find ourselves in these situations. It doesn’t take much to get a baseline of information- no one is saying you start off as an expert. Head over to the internet and start researching how-to’s on your topic from trusted resources. And if you are still feeling overwhelmed, or not quite sure where to start your search, just start with ChatGPT! 

But use the resources that are available to you. Researching really costs nothing these days, but our time. And if you aren’t willing to give up your time for your dream, you really don’t deserve it all. I hate to break it to you like that but it is what it is. No one can craft the life you desire for you. 

So once you’ve done your research- you know what to do next. Plot it out. However, you like to plot things out. Make a task list, or a timeline, or a Trello board. Whatever it is, plot it out. It won’t plan itself out. 

And then Commit to carrying out the tasks you have plotted. Listen, I know how it feels to write down all the to-do’s that need to get done for something new and then never ever complete those tasks. Months later you find yourself staring at the same list. Or maybe a new list that you wrote out but where all the tasks are the same. Now is the time to stop that madness. Do you want to go into the new year having the same conversations with yourself that you had 6 mos ago or a year ago or 5 years ago? No! So we are doing something different. 

And let me say that I’m not only talking about lofty goals here. But even those subtle changes in behavior you’ve been saying you want to make, but keep finding yourself back at square one. You gotta commit to carrying out the tasks and making the change. 

I’m sharing a quote from Rita Bailey today: She says start wherever you are and start small. 

You can start small y’all. Take action on what feels achievable. And those little actions will add up to a big deal and before you know it, you’ll be at the big prize of achieving your goal. But it all starts with focusing on the actions. You may not have thought of the things we talked about today as actions needed to achieve your goal, but they are. They are necessary, and they are the foundation of getting you to the prize. So just keep actioning. 

I love you all. Thank you so much for listening. If what you have been hearing has been beneficial, please do not forget to leave a five-star review of the pod wherever you are listening and most importantly, share. That’s how we grow! 

And keep in touch and share your thoughts with me. You can send a text to the pod by accessing the link in the show notes, you can DM me on IG and TikTok- I will respond, and you can also email me. If you have thoughts on topics you’d like to hear in the new year, let me know that as well. Remember, we are a village and all voices are heard here. And with that, I can’t wait to chat with you all again in 2025. Take care until then.