Hi, this is Mike Staver, this is Mondays with Mike, a video series where I answer questions from people just like you. Here’s this week’s question:
Dear Mike, I tend to talk a lot about what I’m going to do, but the truth is I’m slow to take action. Frankly, I’m a whole lot of talk and I produce very little results. Interestingly I get a lot done at work, but when it comes to really moving my life forward, I’m lots of smoke and no real fire. What is the best way to get better results instead of just talk?
A couple of things. Get an accountability partner! Find somebody who’s going to hold your feet to the fire about the things you promise. Second thing I want you to do is think through the notion of what small incremental action is. Sometimes the reason we spend too much time getting ready to do the things we know we need to do is because we look at the project as too big. We look at the thing as too big. We decide we’re going to lose 20 pounds instead of deciding we’re going to cut out dessert. And so I want you to chunk down the actions, get an accountability partner, and the third thing is celebrate incremental progress. Celebration tends to re-motivate.
The interesting thing is that you say you’re better at work than you are at home. So there must be a mechanism at work that drives you. So if you say ‘well I get paid to do that at work’ then set up some kind of payment plan for yourself at home. Reward yourself with something when you have big milestones or accomplishments.
Hope that’s helpful! Until next week, I’m Mike Staver and this is Mondays with Mike. Take care.
