4 Ways to Take Immediate Action

I can get a little unfocused at times and before I know it, the hour I was supposed to be zoned in for, turns to 50 to 40 to 30 minutes. AHHHH!!!! What’s good is I (usually) eventually take action, but I’m not here to eventually level up; I’m here to LEVEL UP NOW! Now feels so much better than anything else if you haven’t noticed yet!

With this post, I am passing along 4 different ways I have learned to turn my distraction into action – IMMEDIATELY. I must warn you though, this is not a hypnotism, where you read the 4 ways and are instantly going to follow them. This is a training, a practice, an awareness and it’s something that you must stick with in order to see results. But with that warning, I can PROMISE you that with enough practice, these exercises will work wonders to your effectiveness and efficiency of getting your shi*t DONE! Here we go –

1. Train yourself with cues

I watched one of my favorite teachers and mentor’s IG story the other day (@edmylett) and he was talking about creating cues with himself when he’s on the golf course. He was having a particularly hard time with a specific hole and drive, so he took about 50 golf balls out the the course and hit them over and over. After he’d hit one, he pulled his shirt on both sides and did it again. He was training himself with the cue of pulling his shirt for the next time he’d go and hit that hole again. In addition to this new training he implemented, he also snaps a lot. What this does for him is put him in the present and cues a powerful state.

What kind of cues can you create and build for yourself to go from nothing (or something else) to taking immediate action?

2. Talk to yourself out loud (+ in third person)

I’ve written about the benefits of talking to yourself out loud. This is one of them. Imagine you are sitting on your couch, with your computer in front of you just waiting for it to be worked on and you are on your phone scrolling through social media (sound familiar?). Take a moment, be aware of what you’re doing (procrastinating) and in the next splitsecond – don’t give yourself a chance to think it through! – say something to yourself “Shay, get off your phone and start working on your computer.” You may need to say it multiple times. Don’t say it like a robot either. Say it like you mean it, like you are your friend trying to take your phone out of your hands so you can work on the important stuff. Tell yourself “Shay, get off your phone and start working on your computer”.

This is the first key to taking IMMEDIATE ACTION by talking to yourself out loud (+ in third person). The second key is to listen.

3. Use your one word

Evan Carmichael, the creator of Believe Nation and a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers wrote a book called Your One Word. Your one word is a summation of your core values and something that gets you up in the morning. Think about it. What is your one word? And even further, what is one word you can create a cue with? Make sure that word means something to you. For example, say your word is “power”. Don’t just pick “power” just because it seems…powerful. You won’t get very far with that. What does “power” mean to you? “Power means having the power to push through the barriers and blocks that are trying to stop me from pushing through! I won’t have it! POWER!” Great! Now, any time you feel you are getting off focus, you say the word “POWER!” and get back on target!

Again, what is your one word? Write it down! Think of it often!

4. Take a break

This is if and ONLY IF, you are going in-between one task and about to start another or you are in the middle of a task you’ve been on for a while and will continue to work on. Your brain needs a break! Stand UP! While you’re up there, do some jumping jacks! Maybe some push ups! Something to get your blood flowing. Go outside for 10 minutes, get some air. Go drink some water. For real…GO DRINK SOME WATER. (I just took my own advice and took a big drink of water). Better yet, set a timer! After your 10 minutes is up, get back to work…IMMEDIATELY.

Obviously this is not the end-all be-all of ways to help yourself take IMMEDIATE ACTION, but who knows, maybe one will stick and will change your life! Which one is your favorite? Is there an exercise you have found that calls for IMMEDIATE ACTION that you’d add to the list? Comment below and let me know!

#LevelUp

I hope these will help you take IMMEDIATE action towards your goals. All you have is now! And right NOW, YOU’RE AWESOME! ❤

Level Up! With Shay