Blog: MAKE IT SO EASY THAT YOU CAN’T SAY NO Because of the vastness of the Saharan desert and the lack of landmarks, the French had placed empty oil barrels along the track as markers. The barrels were placed 5 kilometers apart, so you could always see the next barrel. The meaning of this principle is to go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you can see farther. Complexity & Lack of Confidence = Two chief enemies of the would-be high achiever. Complexity: You have an idea of what you want to do, it’s something that really excites you, and it’s something that you believe in your heart you were meant to do, but you’ve no idea how you are going to get from where you are now to where you want to be. This complexity issue almost always leads to one thing… INACTION. People become frozen to the spot because they can’t figure out the whole journey, so they end up doing nothing. Lack of Confidence: The origins of this often come from the promises we make to ourselves and then habitually break. This has a seriously damaging effect on how we see ourselves. ‘I guess I’m not the kind of person who finishes things’ we say. The solution is to MAKE IT SO EASY THAT YOU CAN’T SAY NO, and if you still say no, make it even easier and easier and easier until it’s so easy you just have to laugh. We’re not trying to conquer the world in one day; we’re just trying to get some forward momentum. For example, you’ve always wanted to run a marathon. You’ve tried to train and failed in the past and you’re so out of shape now that running 26 miles seems like an impossible task. If you can’t run 5 miles then run 1, if you can’t run 1 mile then walk it, if you can’t walk 1 mile then walk for 5 minutes. The important thing is that take action. It’s a tiny promise that you can make and absolutely keep to yourself. The moment you begin to follow through on these promises, your confidence will start to grow and your pride will help you to keep going long after the 5 minutes are up. Once you confront ‘complexity’, you will see that it’s not nearly as complex as you had imagined, and once far off barrels will soon be near. What is it that you’ve wanted to do for so long, but continued to put off because it seems too complex and overwhelming? What tiny tiny action can you take tomorrow that is so easy that you couldn’t say no? Plan it for right now. However small the action is, take it and then celebrate it ☺. You are now heading in the right direction and you are the kind of person who keeps their promises to themselves. Let me know how you get on, I’d love to hear some feedback tomorrow. Stephen
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:40:30 +0000
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