Note: Today’s post is part three in a series that began last week (read it here and here).
In one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard, and one that is particularly relevant to today’s topic, Mel Robbins said this in an interview with Darren Hardy of Success Magazine –
The one thing I want you to take away is, you’re never going to feel like it.
Stop waiting around. Stop waiting around for motivation. Stop waiting for someone else to do it. Stop waiting to feel like it.
The difference between people that feel stuck, and people that feel powerful and great in their lives, is that the people who feel powerful and great get up in the morning and do the stuff they don’t feel like doing so that they can have what they want.
It’s really that simple.
But how? How do we get ourselves to take action when we don’t feel like it?
Answer – good old-fashioned grit!
It’s not sexy, but that’s what is required.
But that’s not all.
For an awful lot of us, myself included, our action taking muscles are in a severe state of atrophy from lack of use. So massive action right out of the gate is out of the question. In fact, the quickest and surest way to fail is to attempt too much too soon.
If a person aspires to be able to run a mile, but has spent the last 10 years sitting on the couch eating potato chips, they can’t expect to be able to run a mile the very first day. To attempt it would be self-defeating, and certainly not conducive to their long term running success. More often than not, they’d be right back to the couch and feeling defeated in record time (chips anyone?).
What then?
Well if we can’t go big – let’s go small (really, really small!).
In his wonderful little book, Mini Habits (seriously, you need to read this book!), Stephen Guise describes it this way –
A mini habit is a VERY small positive behavior that you force yourself to do every day. Small steps work every time, and habits are built by consistency, so the two were meant to be together.
There is power in that passage. And it’s exactly where mainstream Self-Help completely drops the ball.
Want to feel powerful and great? Get your grit on and go small every day!
Rich Proctor 