This document accomplishes various tasks which will help you achieve your goals.
It is a step by step guide which provides:
- information to help you understand all the individual pieces of achieving goals
- information on habits and how to break and them
- a guide to take you through the process of creating your own, personalized action-plan
- and many additional / miscellaneous tools, tips, tricks, and advice you can use to become more productive
Two types of actions:
There are two types of steps in this document. Follow-along actions and conceptual ideas. The follow along action steps are quite simple. For example, I will tell you to write down a list of some sort and your job is to come up with that list and write it down. You can think of them as tutorials, instructions, or recipes. The conceptual steps are more intangible and can be difficult to fully grasp. However, they are still incredibly important steps and entirely worth the effort. These steps will be broken down into four parts:
- what the concept is
- why the concept will help you achieve you goals
- how the concept works
- how to use the concept
You still need to try:
This guide will be very helpful to starting down the road to completing your goals, but it isn’t the end-all be-all. This guide will only provide you with the information and tools you need to succeed. It is a roadmap. It is then up to you to use the provided tools and information. This document does not accomplish your goals for you. It only tells you the most efficient path toward your own success. You still have to put in the work to not only accomplish the tasks outlined in this guide, but also follow through on the direct actions of achieving your goal.
It is very common for people to get stuck while consuming self-help media. Some people will read self-help book after self-help book without ever applying anything they’ve read. That’s why I’m telling you to keep your mind on your end goal. You are reading this book to help you accomplish your goals. Make sure you do just that
For example:
This document walks you through creating an action plan. One of the steps of the action plan is to list all the various actions you can take to achieve your goal (don’t worry, the actual tutorial is significantly more detailed). In order to succeed and truly achieve your goal, you need to go through the exercise I outline; creating that list, and then you need to do whatever action you wrote down on that list. If your goal is to lose weight, the exercise would have you list all the various ways in which you can lose weight: diet, fast, workout, surgery, etc. From there, you then need to start dieting, fasting, etc. in real life. The mere act of writing down a list doesn’t accomplish everything, you need to still actualize it.
The point I’m trying to get at is: achieving your goals is a lot of work, and you should be prepared to commit fully to the idea and to yourself. If you fail to achieve your goals with this guide, then it is most likely that it is your fault for not putting in the adequate effort needed to achieve your goals. You cannot blame this guide or any of its methodology for failing to achieve your goals. A failure to act on this advice is not a failure of the advice, but a failure of the actor. I have done all this work for you so that you can succeed. You have the ability and pretty soon, the know-how. Go out there and get it.
This guide is work:
This document is a guide. It is an instruction book. It is a recipe. This document isn’t meant for you to read while relaxing on a beach. This is work. To get the most out of this document, you need to sit down at a desk, in front of a computer or notepad, and follow along. Give yourself 30 minutes to an hour at a time. Don’t try to rush it. Work on this over a few days. Give yourself sometime to process the information and create your plan and solutions. Remember, your ultimate aim is to achieve your goals. Your ultimate aim is not to finish this guide. Going slowly and working through this guide correctly and earnestly will do a lot more to help you achieve your goals than rushing through just to cross it off your todo list.
As you go through this guide, be sure to use a journal to follow along. Make sure you use the same journal throughout the entire guide. It doesn’t matter if it’s digital or physical. And in case you are wondering, yes, the journal is absolutely necessary if you are serious about achieving your goals. You will write down many, many things in this journal and will have to go back and read it many, many times throughout your journey to accomplish your goals. What you write in that journal will keep you motivated and on the right path. If you opt to not write in a journal, no matter how smart you may think of yourself, you’ll only be doing yourself a disserve. Humans function significantly better when they are able to use checklists and have easily accessible references as opposed to having to remember everything. In addition, the writing exercises force you to spend more time on each step which in-turn gives you more time to think and reflect. It’s the reason your text messages and emails get across the points you want to make while you often forget to say things in conversations, only to be in the shower the next day when the perfect comeback comes to you. Slow down and write things out. Preparation is the lion’s share of the battle.
Side note on written vs physical journaling:
Written information is remembered better, whereas digital information is more easily accessible. You could even write in a physical journal and then upload it to a digital repository to access remotely if you so choose.
Main example:
As I walk you through this guide, I will use myself as a real example. Currently, I am working on becoming a professional photographer. As we go over each step in this guide, I’ll be working alongside you. I’ll be responding to the very same prompts as you. Feel free to use my examples for structure and guidance, but be sure to think for yourself and add in your own flair, style, and opinions.
That all said, let’s get to it.