4 Simple Steps to Achieve Your Dreams

How does one go about bettering oneself?

For as long as I can remember I've been trying to be better and could never get the grasp on it. When I was in school I knew I should study but I never could. I lie, I did, but only for a little while. I might give it a day or two of being really into it, then I'd make out the great study schedule and follow it; then within a short time I'd be back to my old habits. Same when I was in college. Same when in my working life. I'd leave everything until the last minute, then do all in a rush.

I'd get into it for a while, then stop, then get distracted, and procrastinate. I've been trying to get into writing for ages. I'd tell myself "Saturday now I'll sit down and write for the whole day", then Saturday would come and I'd get up early(ish) and have breakfast and watch TV for a while and someone would ask me to help with something, and so on, and so on, and then it would be the end of the day, and I would say "Sunday...", and it would all start again.

Every now and again I'd read something in an article, or someone would give me an idea, or I'd think of something myself, and this would be my new way of driving myself forward. Some new plan that was going to make all the difference to my productivity! I always slipped back. One thing that I always wondered was why can other people do it?; why are there others out there who just leap into their work? They just do it. If you ask them why they'll say something like "it has to be done". That seems to serve as their justification, and that drives them on to do it.

How do they do that?

Why are they like that, and why am I not?

Some people say it's passion for what they are doing, but why are some people into it while others aren't? Surely we all have passions?

How do you find your passion?

I could never figure it out. I tried to just drive myself to do what I needed to do through willpower, but that was never enough for me. I wondered was I lazy, or had I some sort of success problem. I don't think I'm lazy because when there's work in front of me I'll stay at it until I'm done.

I wondered then did I want to do the stuff I thought I wanted at all. Was I just fooling myself into thinking this stuff? Perhaps I had no interest in writing and just thought I did. Was I after the wrong thing? I've tried lots of exercises that are designed to help you to find your passions but none worked, not for me anyway.

Well, one thing I've come to realise, or at least suspect, is that what you think about all the time is most likely what you want to do. All of us have a bunch of things floating around in our minds all the time, but if you look through that bunch you'll find there's a few things that are always there, and have been there probably for as long as you can remember. What are they? In the top three to five I expect you'll find your passions. I think all the time about my book I'm writing (that's probably top of my thought list), and ideas for my blog. Of course my girlfriend is at the very top:).

I'm starting to believe you don't have to find your passion at all. I suspect you already know it.

If you find your passion, one thing you'll discover is that knowing your passion doesn't mean you'll do anything about it. You'll still procrastinate. I know this. I've been doing it for years, but I also know that if I were acting on my passions in some way I'd be a lot happier with my life.

But how to avoid procrastination?

So, I accepted then, that if I'm thinking about these things all the time, then I must want to do them, they are my passion.

Why am I not doing them?

One thing I've found is that no matter how clear you are on what you want to do, you'll still procrastinate. You'll still perform variations on what you want, always to avoid the real thing.

I discovered that in writing my book, I was always writing for other people. I was always thinking about how people would react, or what they would want to see, or read in the story. That's no good! I kept getting stumped. I never knew what was the right or wrong thing. I'd write a bit, and then go off and leave it, as I had to think about where the characters were going next. The good was taken out of it for me. Why? Because it was my story too. I should get to read it too. The same thing happened in my blog articles. I was writing first for people. I was writing to people and it became almost like a lecture. It was heartless.

I just felt like I was doing a project, or homework, or something I didn't want to be doing. One of my best lessons was one day I was actually able to admit to myself "Hey, this doesn't interest me! I don't want to be writing this stuff!". So I asked myself what I did enjoy. One thing I do enjoy is letting my thoughts flow freely, letting the ideas just jump out of nowhere. I'm now writing both my book, and my blog like that. Now, instead of them being this chore that I feel I have to do, they've both become an adventure for me. I usually have a fair idea of the direction of my story, but if I don't, if I'm stuck, then I just write anyway. I just let the words flow and see what happens. Why? Because I know I can trim the fat afterward. I can fix the problems after, but right now I'm having fun! That's the main thing.

That's how I write both my book and my articles. I just write and I don't give a shit who's reading because right now it's for me. Now there's one more thing. Even though I'm enjoying it, and I love it I still will procrastinate, and I'll avoid it if I can. Don't ask me why! I just do. So I've set myself a goal of so many words per day, with the aim of turning it into a writing habit, then increasing the word count as the habit becomes embedded. So, for example with my book, I start with 200 words and I do that for 21 days. 200 words is not a lot and that's exactly why I picked it. I knew that I could do it, so no matter how much I wanted to procrastinate, I could say "it's only 200 words, I'll just get it out of the way", and that's what I did.

I'm doing the same with my blog, and the habit is becoming more embedded every day. It's still hard. I still have to get myself to do it, and sometimes, it's after a long day's work. Sometimes even at two in the morning. (Really need to start getting up earlier but that's another habit entirely!). The main thing is I stay doing it. I've discovered that there's no one thing, or no trick that helps me do it. I've seen people say passion gets you to do it, or will power or whatever.

So how to get things done then?

I think it has to be a combination of them all. Passion and will power are great, but neither of them are reliable. Both of them wane, and they can come and go as they choose. For me, sticking at it has been, I think, because of four main elements, and I imagine they should work for everyone:

Passion - I think about it all the time,

Will Power - Just to say I'll go and do it now even if I don't want to,

Habit Forming - I know that if I miss a day then I'm back to square one again,

and Enjoyment - I have to say that when I'm doing it, I'm in the zone, I just love doing it, and that keeps me there and helps me back the next day, the thought that "I enjoyed it yesterday".

I've heard cited any individual one of those to keep you going at something, but I think that's wrong. I think you need them all, in the right mix.

Oh, and one last very important thing - You have to decide to do it!

(P.S. the decision is the hardest part).

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6191896

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