I would like to have a little chat with you today. Every now and again it is VITAL to you as a person to take a step back from this craziness and chaos we call life to reflect on where it is taking you. So for today, let’s pretend that you had me over to the house to get some direction with your health, life, career, relationships, and ultimately the legacy you want to leave behind as a mom and a person.
Imagine we are sitting on your couch…
Let’s start today by doing an exercise that I personally do about 2-3 times per week. This will really help you separate your thoughts and is the foundation to the rest of our conversation…
1:00 Minute Mental Reset: Living Your Dream
Okay, sometimes we need to step back and get some clarity on what we really want in life. I want to you close your eyes, relax, and ask yourself this question.
“In 20 years from now, what do I want my life to look like”?
Now think about this for 1 minute without letting other thoughts creep in. Paint yourself a mental picture that is so detailed you can see yourself living it in the future. You will start to notice details about your life that are the most important to you and things that you may want, take note of these. Things, like a better job, more money, bigger house, better health, good work relationships, a great marriage, successful grown children, living in a different state, try to notice as many details as you can…
Ready…1 Minute…GO!
Okay that was easy, right? The simple part is knowing what you want out of life. The hard part is getting there. I am going to teach you two principals that are a prerequisite to thinking backwards from your dreams and taking action steps to inevitably reach your goals.
Work Ethic and Massive Action
You have that perfect picture painted in your head, right? You still might not know exactly what steps you need to take to get there but one philosophy that trumps all uncertainties you may have, and that is…
Working hard and taking imperfection action is better than taking no actions at all.
There is no substitute for a strong work ethic. Working hard will get you whatever you want in life as long as you are striving to make better decisions on a daily basis.
Here is my advice…
If you apply hard work, passion, and excitement to your dreams there is no way to fail. These things will trump sitting around and doing nothing every day of the week. You will mess up along the way so expect failures. Anyone who is successful has failed or screwed it up 1,000 times before getting it right. Make quick and calculated decisions and take massive actions on them, if you screw it up, shake it off and don’t make the same mistake twice!
One of my favorite quotes comes from a book I have been listening to on the philosophy of exceptional athletes. This one comes from Julius Erving.
“Success as a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.”
That quote can apply to EVERYTHING in your life, so next time you don’t feel like getting your workout in for the day, remember this moment and why it is so important to make yourself do what you put your mind to. Taking action each and every day towards that vision in your head, right or wrong action, will take your reality to places that used to be only in your dreams.
Building Your Action Steps
Now that you have your mental picture and you know that you have to work hard and take massive action, wouldn’t you want those actions to be more precise? Let’s talk about how to create a list of action steps on a daily basis to reach your life’s goals.
For this example, we will consider that your life’s goals consisted of the following things when you did your 1 Minute Mental Reset: to be extremely healthy and fit, to have a great marriage, to have a bigger house, and to be retired.
First off, you HAVE to have a to-do list. The list is king when it comes to changing your path to a more productive one. And in this to do list you have to write down 3-5 things that will work TOWARDS your dream. I have a list I call my, “Get Stuff Done” or “GSD List”. Each night before I go to bed I write my 3-5 tasks for the next day down. I ALWAYS get them done each day. Even on the days I don’t feel like it, I make myself do it. I take actions regardless of any excuses I can muster up. If you write down your “GSD” list the night before, you will be sub-consciously more prepared to conquer the tasks the next day.
Here is how you build your action steps.
Go back to your mental picture, and revisit the most important things. For our example I will show you how to build action steps using an average list of what most people like you may want out of life. Next to the bolded “dreams” will be three examples of a “daily action steps” that you can take. The 3 examples are interchangable and can be an example of a “GSD” list for one day.
In 20 years…
I want to be as fit and healthy as possible: I must work out today, I must go grocery shopping today, I must find a personal trainer to help me today.
I want to have a great marriage: I must arrange a surprise dinner date for Saturday, Tell my husband/wife I love them 5 times, Bring lunch by his/her office
I want to have a bigger house: I must create a unique idea and present it to my boss, I must actively search for jobs that make more money, I must read a book that teaches me about making more money.
I want to be retired: I must have a meeting with my financial advisor, I must put money away in my 401 K, I must stay an hour after work to get ahead of the game.
See how simple that was?
This is REALLY easy if you just work backwards and start with your dreams! New ideas, more specific action steps, and more efficient planning will come with practice!
What’s Your Legacy Going To Be?
You get one chance on this Earth, one chance with God, one chance to raise your children, one chance to have a long and lasting marriage, and one chance to take care of your own body. I often visualize what I want my legacy to look like when I am gone and it tends to put a serious focus on what is really important. If you want to leave a true legacy you must have influence over others.
We are talking about life in general, today. But you probably follow me for health, fitness, nutrition, fat loss, and motivational reasons so this aspect of life is obviously important to you. My question is what actions are you going to take to make yourself healthier? If your legacy leaves behind a healthy person who cared about others you must first be healthy yourself.
Use this Newsletter today to do just that. Get yourself right first.
Take a step back and read this a couple times. If you truly dream to be a healthy and fit person then it is also part of the obligation to your dream that you teach others what you have learned. Others will not follow if you do not practice what you preach. I want to have a legacy as a Fit Moms Community who changed the world one city at a time but cannot do it without you!
You are the movement.
You have the passion.
You have the power.
Now, make yourself right and go teach others what you just learned!
GET STUFF DONE!
Keep Moving,
Devan Kline
PS – It’s actually, “Get Sh*t Done”, makes it sound cooler and more urgent 🙂
PPS – …And by the way…I AM CRAZY…check out this video of me and you’ll see why!