Success Advice

How a 4-Step Action Memo Can Help You Smash Your Goals in 24 Hours

Published

5 years ago

Jan 6, 2019

What is it that keeps you from achieving your goals? Is it a lack of focus? A lack of motivation? A lack of specific strategies to accomplish those goals? Or is a combination of many things? What separates armchair entrepreneurs from true entrepreneurs and business people is the ability to take regular action on top priority goals.

True entrepreneurs have clearly outlined goals which are backed up by principles refined over time. These principles provide them with guidance on what is important. Defining these principles and outlining these long-term goals come easily to some, but for others it can be a huge challenge. Once these long-term goals have been identified, the challenge becomes how best to tackle the day-to-day tasks and actions that are required to turn dreams into reality.

Sometimes, the hardest part of taking action is the planning that goes into it. Big ideas are sexy and exciting, but day-to-day monotonous tasks are rarely as exciting. Armchair entrepreneurs would rather dream big and assume the hard work that goes into day-to-day activities will just take care of itself. While some people choose to dive into the action without thinking, those who want to really make lasting change and reach their goals must plan ahead.

When people think about something they’d like to accomplish, they tend to focus on the first step. Whether it’s a trip they’d like to go on or a skill they’d like to learn, they usually look at the very first thing that needs to happen without considering the longer term implications.

Try creating an Action Memo to help you connect your long term goals with concrete actions and stay motivated even when you struggle to keep moving forward.

Below is a 4-step action memo which can help you smash your goals instantaneously:

1. Purpose

What do you want to accomplish? Provide background on your current plan and why exactly you want to accomplish a certain goal or take a certain action.

As the author and leadership coach Simon Sinek often reminds us, organisations and individuals need to “start with why” to get to the core of why they really want to be in business or why they want to accomplish a certain task. If you think of this as a miniature business plan, the background should be your executive summary. Ask yourself, why do you want to take action NOW?

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” – Winston S. Churchill

2. Actions

Outline specific actions and tasks. Once you’ve described the background, list out the top 3 to 5 actions that each take under 24 hours to accomplish and which will get you closer to achieving your long-term goal.

This is a core part of the Action Memo, because it provides you with a list of actions which will need to be accomplished in the next several days. Make sure you keep these actions small enough that they can be accomplished in a day. For example, rather than say “write an eBook”, break up the larger task into several small sections. In 24 hours you might be able to create a chapter outline for your book, or contract a designer to help you create a cover.

3. Deadlines

Review your timeline. Ask yourself – when will these actions be done? The second most important part of this Action Memo is the timeline, because it helps keep you on task and forces you to think about which tasks need to be accomplished in which order. Without a timeline and specific deadlines, you will lose motivation and will lack the drive to take urgent action.

Urgent action is the name of the game when it comes to creating a habit for taking action. Write down when each action from stage two will be completed, and then try your best to stick to those deadlines.

“We have to live life with a sense of urgency so not a minute is wasted.” – Les Brown

4. Performance & Accountability

How will you measure performance? How will you define success? What does success look like to you in relation to completing these tasks? If you want to write a new business plan, perhaps finishing a 5-page outline is a sufficient indicator of success. If you want to increase sales in a new product, perhaps emailing 10 new clients and asking them to buy your solution is a good success indicator.

Just as you track performance, be sure to keep yourself accountable. One of the best ways to ensure your continued success over time is to keep yourself accountable by working with others who will check in with you and make sure you’re completing your tasks.

I urge you to reach out to someone via email, text or phone and send them your Action Memo with the dates and deadlines in place. Ask them for their support and wait to hear their response. Write a few sentences here about how you will keep yourself accountable and who you will reach out to.

Whether you’re looking to get more done on a current project, or you’re trying to finally get off your butt and start working on your next side project, I would highly recommend writing out an Action Memo as outlined in the stages above. It’s a great way to provide yourself with a concrete action plan which you can keep going back to for motivation and inspiration as you take steps towards your overarching long-term goals.

Which one of these 4 steps do you need to work on the most? Let us know below so we can help you out!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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McVal Osborne

McVal is the founder of We Write For Growth, a platform for businesses to connect with talented writers and researchers and growth hackers. He is also the author of How to Make $2,000 a Month Online and Start Up your Life: Why we don’t know what we want, and how to set goals that really matter. McVal writes about motivation, decision making, and strategic thinking. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2011 with a degree in Spanish, and has since worked as a market researcher and business consultant in Washington D.C., New York City and London. You can reach him on Twitter @mcval or on IG @mcvaliant.

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Success Advice

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All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.