Does your story resonate with what follows? You want a successful, non-mediocre life, but even after watching hundreds of motivational videos, reading thousands of self-improvement blogs and applying various productivity techniques, you can’t make a significant difference in your life. I know it can be demotivating. But fortunately, nothing is forever and you can soon be on the greener side. You can change your life for the better.

These 4 proactive ways can bring you closer to your dreams:

1. Awareness

Imagine you are planning to make something different, texture filled for today’s dinner. You go to a supermarket and suddenly realise that you haven’t actually decided what you are making. Can you be successful? No. And that is why being aware of what you want in your life is important. If you don’t know what you want, you surely aren’t getting it. So, first and foremost decide what you want. Is it peace, money, status, a healthy body or anything else?

Let’s assume you have decided you are making a cheese pizza. But, do you know how big? Or with what toppings? If this isn’t specified, you won’t know how much and what to buy. So, knowing how it would be like when you achieve your goals is important. For example, if you want to achieve peace, you know that you’ll be happier, able to control your emotions, etc. If you want money you know that you’ll have 3 Lamborghinis, 1 beachside mansion, and likewise.

“Awareness allows us to get outside of our mind and observe it in action.” – Dan Brule

2. Self Assessment

You decided on making a large cheese pizza with toppings of capsicum and onion. Now, the most important part is do you have the skills to make it? Can you cut or bake? Half of us are stuck here. We know what we want, we know how it will be but we don’t know whether we have what it takes. 

However, the good part is you can always figure out and this is how:

• Make a list of 10 skills you need to achieve what you want. For example, if you want Peace, you must know how to get rid of negative influences in your life. For the money, you should have a business plan or knowledge of the field you are entering in. 

• Make a Likert scale for these 10 things. Suppose you are thinking of becoming a writer and you decide 10 skills that you will need for it. For now, let’s take writing skills. Frame statements like I am happy with my vocabulary, I am happy with my grammar, etc. Each statement will be followed by a 5 point scale like strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, somewhat agree, strongly agree. Do the same for other skills.

• Rank and study the scale. Work on improving the areas that you lag in by framing an action plan.

3. Belief

Maybe you are self-aware and you know what you have to do. Great! But do you certainly and firmly believe you can achieve your goals? 

Case 1: Yes, I do!

Good! Because you think you can, you will do things which make it possible for you. No matter what happens, you stick to your commitments to yourself and get things done. You stay away from excuses. You are ready to prioritize because you know you can achieve your goals and nothing comes without a price. 

Case 2: I don’t know! Maybe or maybe not!

Red Alert! Because you don’t believe you can, you take things lightly. You justify when you are unable to stick to your commitments. You love excuses. You start thinking of Plan B more than Plan A. Slowly, plan B starts turning into plan A. You feel demotivated and shortly give up plan A completely.

Bitter as a pill but “If you don’t believe you can, you can’t”

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” – Gandhi

4. How LONG?

You are self-aware and you believe you can, but still, it isn’t happening? “Keep trying until you don’t get there”, I won’t say that. Every goal must have a wisely calculated deadline. It isn’t practical if you don’t know how long you can keep trying.

It is possible that even after many efforts you don’t see your goals being accomplished. With all due respect for your hard work and dedication, maybe it’s time to explore new possibilities. Tweaks and changes in plans can become your turning points. So, don’t hesitate to give a second thought, if at all necessary. 

But, how will you decide if you should give a second thought or not? Would it actually kill you to keep going? This means, do you have the resources to keep going? By resources, I mean physical, mental and emotional capabilities. 

So, if you think you aren’t making the 20 million dollars you aimed for and you are wondering whether you should continue working towards it. See if you have the physical resources, which can be further loan taking capacity for your business plans. See if you have the mental and emotional resources, which can be working with the same motivation and optimism you had earlier. 

So, “Do you have the resources?”

Yes. Then pause! Resume!

No. Then stop! Recalculate!

These aren’t some hard and fast rules and you can make changes and learn from your experience. Just make sure you are working towards your goals and not away from them. Hope you are feeling powered up and if you wish to keep feeling that way, make sure your thoughts turn into actions.