What is your next aligned action? I specifically included the word “aligned” because we often are so focused on taking action, any action that we forget to discern whether or not it is an aligned action. An aligned action is one that aligns with you internally, with your goal, and which leads you in the direction you wish to go rather than an action that serves as a distraction or an action that feels like a “should.”
Often, one of the challenges with taking action is that it seems overwhelming. There is so much to do that you become immobilized, feel overwhelmed and then shut down, thereby taking no action. This perpetuates the cycle of stating a goal, becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of it, backing away from the goal because you can’t figure out what to do, judging yourself because once again you haven’t followed through, and on and on. All of that being said, you also have the experience of being really busy all day long and yet feel like you haven’t accomplished anything.
Sound familiar? For some of you it will be spot on, for others of you it will be perplexing that anyone approaches goals that way. If you are in the former group, here is an idea for taking aligned action.
Envision your goal/dream/desire as richly as you can. Feel what that would feel like. Notice how you would move, be, act if that was true and from that space ask yourself, “What is my next step?” This simple process helps you move from your head and into the next aligned action, the next step. It lets you settle down to focus on the next step and only that step.
This process takes practice. Your mind chatter often sounds like this – “But what about all of these other steps? You need to figure it all out before you take any action because you might not get it right. If you think about it some more then you’ll know what to do. You don’t have to take action because maybe you’ll fail.”
As you practice taking aligned, focused action that mind chatter settles down. You begin to have the experience of trusting yourself to follow through. What is your next aligned action? Have fun with this process as you explore your next step, and then the next step, and then the next step. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Give yourself permission to explore.
This one takes some real thought for me. I have to be very careful of what goals I set, because it crazes my workability energy when I begin the steps to a goal…because I always feel that I have to finish if the goal is tangible. If it’s an intangible goal, things change because there is only me to judge that I haven’t taken the steps I need to take. I’m in the midst of life changing relationships that are shaking the foundation of the life I’ve lived and
will continue to value …that makes goals very difficult to set. Right now, it seems logical to have the goal of not back sliding or wallowing in sadness or inactivity…and, with this in mind, I’m setting a few tangible goals that I can easily attain…hopeful that that will keep me “aligned”. Many years ago, I decided to rarely use periods when I write because I believe that the written word is a living thing…my goal then, as it is now, is to keep moving forward to the fulfillment of the life I want to live…for myself….with few periods and lots of exclamation points….
I love it! Here’s to more exclamation points!!!