Goals and Motivations are no better than wishes and dreams without an action plan. If you read last week’s article, then you already have your top 3 well-defined goals all supported by powerful motivation. Now its time to bring them to life.

##Building an Action Plan

To make an effective Action Plan, you need to do 3 primary things

1. Break down your goal into small, concrete, actionable steps.
2. Anticipate obstacles and set up solutions to deal with them.
3. Build systems and habits to ensure success in the long-run

Let’s review each step in detail:

STEP 1: Break Down your Goal

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. - Lao Tzu

Every big goal starts off fuzzy. You know where you want to go, but the steps to get there have not been defined, which makes it hard to take action. Our goal in this breakdown is to take the fuzzy and make it concrete.

Break down your goal into smaller segments

First, lets create smaller targets to measure our progress against. There is no one correct answer on how small your targets should be, but I find it helpful to break things down into monthly segments.

So for my sample goal of Reaching 15% bodyfat by April 1st, I can break the task down into:

21% bodyfat by February 1st
18% bodyfat by March 1st
15% by April 1st

If your goal is to write a book, your subgoals could be number of pages written, chapters completed, etc. Smaller, short term targets are easier to focus on and help make sure you progress each month towards your bigger goals.

Brainstorm specific action steps

Now that we have measurable short-term goals, we need to create action steps to achieve them. Let’s take our goal and then brainstorm all the steps you think you might need to take to get there. Don’t aim for order or reasonable, just get as many ideas as possible on paper. This is very similar to the brainstorming process I’ve written about before.

If you do the process right, you will have a long list of ideas, some crazier than others. For my Health Goal, my brainstorm includes things like: Sign up for a Spartan Race, Get a fitbit to track my daily steps, Research a good weekly mealplan, remove unhealthy foods from the house, etc.

Create a list of actions and do one immediately

There is no expectation to do all the above items. I, for example, am unlikely to sign up for a Spartan Race, but by freely associating ideas, you are able to come up with more total ideas, including a few good ones you might have otherwise ignored. Review your brainstorm list and pick 3 things you are 100% willing to commit to. Do one immediately and start building momentum. After that, review your list regularly (I suggest weekly) and continue to build momentum and take action.

STEP 2: Anticipate Obstacles

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

I hope that everyone reading so far is excited and motivated about your goals and plans. Breaking things down into concrete action steps and taking even a single step towards your goals is invigorating and liberating. Hopefully you keep that feeling and momentum going for a long time.

The Road of Trials

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy” - Helmuth von Moltke

Unfortunately, the day will come when our momentum and inspiration fades.

Your bed is comfortable.

Chocolate cake is tasty.

Television is entertaining.

Going out drinking is fun.

We all face obstacles and challenges in achieving our goals. If there were no obstacles, these things wouldn’t be goals in the first place! If something is easy to do, it isn’t a goal, its an afterthought. It is only the challenge that makes goals worth pursuing.

The first step to facing challenges is to reframe them. Obstacles are a necessary part of worthwhile goals. Facing setbacks is not a personal failing, but just part of your personal hero’s journey. Having the right mindset will help you face your personal dragons.

Trap Yourself

Each of us is a composite of two selves. The rational self plans for the future. The rational self is reading this article right now. You can see the advantages of short term sacrifice in favor of long term goals. You have a vision for the future and plans to bring it to life.

The second part of our psyche is the instinctual, animal self. This is the part of you that wakes up groggy in the morning hunting for food, coffee, or just hitting the snooze button on your alarm. The instinctual self takes over all the automatic day-to-day operation of your life.

The instinctual self is programmed by millions of years of evolution to want the easiest, most comfortable path forward in this very moment. This instinctual self has been around far longer than the rational, planning self and it is far more powerful.

This is why, despite the best laid plans, over 90% of people fail in their resolutions. The instinctual self is more interested in sleep, food, sex, and comfort than whatever long-term goal your rational self has in mind.

To master your instinctual self, you need to set things up so the easiest path forward is also the path that moves you towards your goals. You do this by setting up traps for yourself. Set things up now so that it is much harder for you to give up on your goals later.

Each person’s motivations are slightly different, but in general the most powerful motivations use these psychological principles

1. Loss Aversion-people fear losing things more than they prefer gaining things
2. Social Pressure- people want to look good and be accepted by others
3. Cognitive Dissonance- people want their actions and beliefs to be consistent
4. Principle of Minimal Effort- people will tend to do whatever requires the least effort

How can you leverage these principles to create traps? Here are some examples

• Schedule workouts or writing sessions with a buddy
• Pre-pay for a workshop, class or personal training session
• Post on social media about your goal and update with progress
• Setup a website blocking service like freedom.to to prevent web-surfing
• Sign up for a competition or performance showing off your new skill
• Make a bet with a friend that you owe them $100 every time they see you smoke
• Start a competition with friends with money and pride on the line.
• Use an online commitment device like stickk.com to hold you accountable
• Sign up for a coach online at coach.me to monitor your progress
• Move your alarm clock to the other side of the room

Each of these activities binds your future self to your present desires. Pick at least one of the above and set it up now, while your enthusiasm is high to keep you on track during the inevitable dips.

Bonus tip: You will have the most success if you pick the option above that scares you the most.

STEP 3: Build Systems and Habits

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. -Bruce Lee

I saved this step for last even though it is the most important for two reasons.

1. Many of you would have stopped reading if you read this first
2. I’m about to contradict some of the things I said in last week’s article

The truth is that even with all the tips in the world, we will not reach all of our goals. This does not mean, however, that they are not worth striving for!

Moving towards goals can inspire us and motivate us and make our lives more meaningful. We simply shouldn’t be too attached to the outcome of any given pursuit. Our lives will be far richer if instead we focus on the journey towards our goals, rather than the goal itself.

This journey is made up of systems and habits. These are the things that we do every week, day in and day out. This routine aligns our instinctual and rational selves to build the foundation for our character and our lives.

If in the process of moving towards a goal, we can develop even one improved habit or system that sticks, then our lives will forever be improved. By focussing on systems and habits, we can “succeed” at improving ourselves and moving towards our goals, even if we don’t achieve them in the timeframe we hoped.

The Rule of 3

Our brains are wired to think in 3s. Just as we picked 3 major goals to focus on, we are also going to pick 3 habits to focus on for each day and 3 for each week. Each positive habit you develop (or each negative habit you replace) will set you up not just to succeed at your goal, but to be improved for the rest of your life.

So think now for a minute about which habits you want to pick. I’ll give some examples below

3 things you can do each day

• Start writing first thing after you wake up
• Replace sugary drinks with water.
• meditate during your lunch break
• Write down 3 things you are grateful for before going to bed
• Do 10 pushups before getting in the shower

3 things you can do each week

• Schedule 2 training / weightlifting sessions
• Plan meals for the week and pre-prep several of them
• Set aside a 2 hour block on your calendar for deep work on your project
• Schedule a mastermind meeting with friends working towards the same goal
• Track progress towards goal (bonus points for public tracking)

For help in how to ingrain these habits, check out my article here.

Make Time to Review

So now, you should have a 3 New Years Plan’s that look something like this:

Health Goal
Get to 15% body fat by April 1st

Subgoals
21% body fat by February 1st
18% body fat by March 1st
15% body fat by April 1st

Motivation
When I have low body fat, I feel better, have more energy and think more clearly. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish my workout each morning. I can do more each day and engage in fun activities I love like dancing, surfing, and swimming. I see myself in the mirror and feel good. I feel my body and mind as alive and energetic and free from the aches and pains caused by excess fat.

Things I Can Do Right Now to Trap Myself
Sign up for a Coach to Hold me accountable at Coach.me
Schedule weekly workouts with my girlfriend
Post a public article committing to my goal

3 Things I Will Do Every Day
Track my food and nutrition breakdown in myfitnesspal.com
Exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes in any form
Track my weight and bodyfat via scale.

3 Things I Will Do Every Week
2 Weightlifting Sessions and a 1 Hour Yoga Session
Plan Meals for the Week
Track my measurements with a tape measure

Take one minute each day to review your plans to keep them fresh in your mind.

Each week, review how your progress is going towards your monthly goals.

Reward yourself and celebrate when you are on track. Rewards help reinforce good habits!

Recalibrate and try again when you fall off track. Remember that the systems and habits you build are more important than the goals themselves.

Stay happy, stay motivated, and together we can turn our resolutions, goals, and dreams into reality.

(pictures above sourced from pixabay.com)

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Hi, I’m Justin!

I am an entrepreneur and game designer. I love reading, writing, dancing, meditating, learning, and helping others. Learn more about me here.