How to Build Micro Habits

Habits · Personal Growth · Mindset · 2026

How to Build Micro Habits That Create Big Life Changes

The biggest mistake most people make when trying to change their lives is starting too large. Here is why tiny habits are the most powerful tool available — and exactly how to use them.

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You have probably done this. January arrives, or a significant birthday passes, or a moment of honest self-reflection produces a decision: things are going to change. You create an ambitious plan. New exercise regime, better diet, daily meditation, reading before bed, morning journaling. You commit fully. You manage it for several days, perhaps a week, and then life intervenes and the whole structure collapses — leaving you not just back where you started, but slightly more convinced than before that lasting change is somehow harder for you than for other people.

CHANGE · STARTING OVER · DECISION

You Don't Need a Plan to Change Your Life. You Need a Decision.

Why waiting until it's all mapped out is the thing keeping you exactly where you are.

A Note From the Elite VIP Circle Editorial Team: This article has been rewritten and expanded from our archive to reflect Elite VIP Circle's current editorial standards. The core topic remains the same; the guidance below is new.

Somewhere along the way, most of us picked up the idea that real change needs a plan first: the five-year vision, the perfectly sequenced steps, the certainty that it'll work before we start. So we wait. We research. We tell ourselves we're "preparing" — and years pass in a holding pattern that looks responsible but is really just fear wearing a sensible outfit.

Here's what nobody tells you: almost nobody who's actually rebuilt their life had it mapped out first. What they had was a decision, made before the plan existed, that they weren't willing to keep living the old way. The plan got built by walking, not before the first step.

Why "I need a plan" is often just fear in disguise

A plan feels safe because it promises to remove the risk of failing. But real change — a new career, leaving a relationship that's shrinking you, rebuilding your confidence after years of putting yourself last — was never going to be risk-free, plan or no plan. If you've read about why most people never actually change, you'll recognise this pattern: the mechanism that makes change stick is a decision that gets renewed daily, not a document that gets finished once.

Waiting for the plan to feel complete is often just waiting for permission to feel less afraid. That permission doesn't arrive from more research. It arrives from moving anyway, in a small enough way that you can survive being wrong.

Worth asking yourself:

1. What decision have I already made, deep down, that I'm still pretending needs "more thought"?

2. What would I do this week if I trusted that the plan would build itself as I went?

3. Whose approval am I really waiting for before I let myself begin?

The decision comes first, always

If you're in your forties, fifties or beyond and wondering whether it's too late to change direction, the honest answer sits inside a piece we wrote called Starting Over At 50 — the short version is that "too late" is almost always a story about fear, not a fact about time. Every genuine transformation follows the same order: decide, then act imperfectly, then let the plan catch up. Reversing that order — plan, then decide, then maybe act — is how good intentions quietly become nothing at all.

If you want a fuller, practical walk-through of what actually moves someone from stuck to different, our piece on personal transformation steps that actually work is the natural next read after this one.

This is exactly the identity-level work we walk through inside the 7-Day Self-Worth Reset — a free plan for women ready to stop waiting for permission and start building the evidence instead.

Start the 7-Day Self-Worth Reset — Free

A short daily plan to help you decide, then act — instead of waiting for certainty that never comes.

Get the Free Reset →

What this looks like this week

Name the change you've been "planning" for months without moving. Make the decision official, today, even quietly, even just to yourself. Then take one small, imperfect, reversible action in that direction before the week ends — not the whole leap, just proof that the decision is real.

A book worth reading on this:

The Mountain Is You by Brianne West — a sharp, honest look at the self-sabotage that keeps us circling a decision instead of making it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I make the decision and it turns out to be wrong?

Then you'll know something you couldn't have known from the sidelines, and you'll adjust — which is exactly what happens to everyone who changes their life, plan or no plan. A decision isn't a life sentence; it's a direction you can correct once you're actually moving.

How do I know if I'm truly ready, or just impulsive?

Readiness rarely announces itself as calm certainty. If the pull toward change has been steady for months (not a single bad day), and you can name one small, reversible first step, that's readiness — not impulsiveness.

What's the smallest possible first step if I'm completely stuck?

Tell one person your decision, out loud. Speaking it to someone else is often the moment a private wish becomes a real, accountable decision.

The plan was never the missing piece. The decision was.

IT'S TIME TO GET OVER IT! - Powerful Motivational Speech for Success - Les Brown Motivation

How Seven Questions and Seven Traits Can Create Your Life Design

The Sevens

There are two sets of sevens that helped me create a life design framework for women and men ready to construct their best life. The first is a group of seven questions that I ask women who are planning their lives:

Life Planning

These questions help create a framework or blueprint for you to fill in to create your ideal life.

1. What will my legacy be?

This isn't about finances, although that may be part of your thinking. How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to change the world - or the lives around you - in some way? I will always remember the professor who introduced me to transformative learning as well as my great aunt, who made the world's best apple pie. Both of these people's legacies are part of the life I've created for myself. I help people transform and, although I can't recreate Auntie's pie, I best some of the best cookies around.

2. What meaningful work do I now want to do?

This goes beyond paid employment. For some women, happiness lies in the perfect career; for others, the ideal volunteer activity; for some, a combination of paid and volunteer work. One friend chose a relatively dull job so that her energies were free for her political activities. One woman I interviewed has a high-powered job and still manages to be actively involved in raising prize-winning alpacas. Others have moved into heading non-profit organizations.

3. How can I fulfill my need to nurture?

Some women live for their grandchildren. Some bond with their pets. Some cuddle infants in hospitals and orphanages. Some have wonderful plants. Some mentor. There are many ways to nurture. The two rescue cats that boss me around can tell you that.

4. How can I sustain meaningful relationships in my life?

As we age, our relationships within our families and friendship circles change. Some will move from single to in relationship; some will become parents, grandparents, perhaps great-grandparents; some will lose spouses or life partners. People move away. People die. Interests change. The need for meaningful relationships, though, continues.

5. How can I express myself creatively?

Although we may not all be painters or sculptors or writers, we all need some means of expression. It could be baking or helping friends pick the perfect outfit or gardening. It could be singing in the choir or planning perfect parties. Whatever your outlet, creativity is part of a joyous life.

6. How can I meet my spiritual needs?

Spirituality does not need to be limited to formal religion to be part of a balanced life. In this context, spirituality refers to awareness of something greater than yourself from which you gain meaning. Perhaps you worship regularly. Perhaps you meditate. Perhaps you spend time in nature. Spirituality is about having a regular outlet for self-renewal.

7. What surroundings do I want?

This is about finding the right place for your ideal life. For every woman who moves to a big city later in life, there is another who seeks a simpler, more rural life. Will necessities like medical care or mobility limit your choices? Who will you want to be near? What services do you need? What activities are important to you?

Creating a Vibrant Life

The second seven is a set of characteristics that I found in the women I interviewed. These are the traits that supported creating a satisfying, lives and wild life:

1. Resilience.

Most of us face challenges in life. What's important is having the ability to bounce back; to rise above them; to find an alternate path. Yes, we may initially respond with depression, immobility, grief and that's both understandable and normal. But at some point, it's time to move on. I've interviewed women who have lost children, husbands, parents, friends. I've interviewed women whose businesses collapsed, who got fired or lost jobs, who filed for bankruptcy, who survived floods and fires and rape and abuse and cancer. And they all found a way to learn from tragedy and to rebuild their lives. And they're happy and successful moving forward.

2. Persistence.

If something didn't work the first time, these women tried again. Or tried something slightly different. Or found a whole new path to achieve what they'd wanted from the original goal. They didn't give up or walk away.

3. Curiosity and Restlessness.

So many women are lifelong learners. They are always exploring. Some described themselves as easily bored. It amazed me to find so many women whose attitude was, "been there, done that, loved it." This was always followed by asking what's next. Curiosity keeps us live, aware, exploring, and excited.

4. Openness to New Things.

This is similar to curiosity. Women who create their ideal lives are much more likely to say "why not?" than "why?" If offered the opportunity to create a new business or move to Asia, they're there.

5. Scanning the Environment, Recombining and Synthesizing.

What do you see when you look at the world? This is about being able to take both a broad and narrow view. It's easier to create your ideal life when you see how everything you know or have done can be recombined and synthesized - reused in unexpected ways or brought together in an unusual manner. Many of the most successful women I spoke with were also able to scan the horizon and see emerging trends and possibilities.

6. Dealing with Fear

Many of us may be afraid on a regular basis. What do you do when faced with fear? How do you separate unrealistic fears from realistic ones?

7. Creating a Legacy and Having Fun

According to Jung, the second half of life is about making meaning. What will your legacy be? What will you have contributed to the world. And finally, are you enjoying your life? Fun keeps us vibrant and young. What's fun for you?

So, here are fourteen things for you to think about. I'll go into greater details on each in the next few weeks.

Women over fifty are creating wonderful lives for themselves - and you can too! Create a Blueprint for your next phase, repurpose your skills, and discover how seven characteristics can help you create the life you deserve

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10 Steps to Detox Your Life

1. Frequently late

The cure to lateness is twofold: learn to estimate time better, and get more organized, so you are not delayed by looking for last minute items. "How to Stretch Time" can help. Perhaps the most important reason to cure yourself of lateness is that it is rude to others, and costs you their good opinion. If your partner is late, stop waiting! Set a reasonable grace period (eg: 15 minutes) and then leave; leaving a note about how to meet you wherever you're going. That way, you are not forced to operate on the other person's time schedule. You'll be surprised at how quickly he or she will learn to be on time.

2. Often angry or irritated

Being easily angered or irritated is a great way to punish yourself. It raises your blood pressure, and tends to create unnecessary problems with others. Anger interferes with clear thinking, and being irritable makes it unpleasant and difficult for others to work or socialize with you. To reform this habit, you must develop more emotional maturity. Understand that your anger is not seen as power by others, but as childishness and petulance. It will lose you far more than you will gain. Learn to slow down, and reduce your overly high expectations. Allow others to be themselves, and don't expect them to march to your drum. Counting to 10 works wonders, as does taking three deep breaths when you are upset.

A discipline like yoga, meditation, tai chi, or another calming pursuit will teach you patience. Strenuous physical activity is a great way to burn off excess anger. If none of these work, see a therapist or join an anger management group.

3. Unsure of ability to do something

Insecurity and feelings of incompetence are definitely stressful, but they may also be useful. Find out if you really are unprepared for the task ahead. Don't be afraid to ask questions, or ask for help. It's OK to be a beginner, even if you're an expert in other things. If you don't try to pretend you're better than you are, you will get more help from others. Take it slowly, and allow yourself to learn as you go. Above all, be supportive to yourself, and don't subject yourself to harsh internal criticism.

4. Overextended

Frequently becoming overextended can be a sign of grandiosity -- overblown expectations of your abilities -- or of trying to control everything. Reduce your expectations of your own accomplishments, and allow others to help you in their own way. In the long run, being a team player is usually more efficient than trying to do it all alone and becoming overwhelmed.

5. Not enough time for stress relief

This is an aspect of being overextended, and may be a sign that you always come last in your own life. Learn to schedule time for yourself to relax and to play. If you write personal time on your schedule the same way you do appointments with others, you'll be more likely to actually do it. Join a class or group that meets regularly for a relaxing activity such as dancing, stretching or meditation, or schedule a regular massage, manicure or facial, so you'll have a guaranteed place to relax.

6. Feeling unbearably tense

If your anxiety is this high, you may need therapy. Anxiety and panic attacks are among the easiest things to fix in counseling sessions. Anxiety is usually the result of non-stop negative self-talk, which keeps you anxious about everything. Try affirmations and/or prayer to counteract the running commentary in your mind. Learn to breathe deeply from your diaphragm when you feel anxious -- it slows your heartbeat and calms you down.

7. Frequently pessimistic

A negative attitude is a result of negative self-talk, and of a negative attitude probably learned in childhood. There are many self-help books which will guide you in learning to change the nature of your approach to life, including It Ends With You. Techniques such as prayer and affirmations, counting your blessings, and setting small goals every day will help you turn this around.

8. Upset by conflicts with others

All conflict is upsetting. The key is to reduce the amount of conflict in your life. Many of the above techniques, such as anger reduction and positive self-talk, will contribute to improving your relationships with others. In addition, you can learn better social techniques such as active

listening, positive regard, win-win negotiation and clear communication which will eliminate the source of conflict. Learn to listen to others (even when you don't agree) and, before speaking, consider how your words might feel to the other person. Treat other people more as you would like them to treat you, and, most important, stop and think before reacting to someone else.

9. Worn-out or burned-out

Burnout is the result of feeling overextended or ineffective for a long period of time. Most of us can deal with small amounts of frustration or feeling overwhelmed, but if it goes on too long, we lose all our motivation, and become burned out. Motivation comes from celebration and appreciation, so learn to celebrate each little accomplishment, and seek appreciation when you need it. If you have trouble doing that, perhaps it's time to make a career change or to change some other aspect of your life.

10. Feeling lonely

Loneliness may not result from actually being alone, but more from feeling misunderstood or not valued. People often isolate themselves because they feel inadequate in social situations. Value the friends you do have, and make new friends by attending classes or other group events where you can focus on a task or assignment. This will take the pressure off your contact with other people, and give you something in common with them. Be wary of spending too much time on your computer, in chat rooms, etc. These activities absorb time, but do little to dispel loneliness. Make sure you schedule some time with a friend at least once a week, and if you don't have friends, then use that weekly time to take a class or join a group (for example, a book club or sports group) which will give you a chance to make new friends.

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Mastering Motivation - Lessons in Creating Forever Change - How to Stay Motivated When You Don't Feel Like It

Self-Trust

What to Do When Motivation Runs Out

Nobody feels motivated permanently, and waiting to feel it before you act is the quiet reason so many good intentions never make it past the second week.

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A Note From the Elite VIP Circle Editorial Team

If you have started something with real excitement, watched that excitement fade within weeks, and quietly assumed something was wrong with you, we want to offer a different explanation: nothing is wrong with you, motivation was simply never built to last on its own, and the people who keep going are not the ones who feel it more often, they are the ones who stopped waiting for it.

Why "Motivation" Is Such a Slippery Word

Ask ten people to define motivation and you will get ten different answers, and it is worth knowing that this is not because any of them are wrong, it is because the word is genuinely being asked to do too much work. For one person it is a feeling that shows up before a run. For another it is simply a reason they have to do something, five children to provide for, a father's heart attack to avoid repeating. Fear can motivate. Vanity can motivate. Hunger can motivate. The word covers all of it, which is part of why it feels so hard to pin down, and why advice about "finding your motivation" so often falls flat, it is trying to locate one thing when what is actually being described is a whole family of different pushes and pulls.

This article is not really about that whole family. It is about the specific kind of motivation people mean when they talk about lasting change, the new habit, the improved health, the different relationship with money or work, and specifically about what happens to that motivation once the initial excitement wears off, which it reliably does.

The Problem With Treating Motivation as a Feeling

For most of us, motivation shows up as an emotional state, a genuine lift, and for a while it works exactly as advertised. You feel it, you act on it, things move. The trouble is that feelings, by their nature, fluctuate, they always have, and when the feeling fades, which it will, the behaviour built entirely on top of it tends to fade with it. This is not a character flaw. It is simply what happens when a changeable thing is asked to be the sole foundation for something that needs to last.

Editorial Insight: Most of us alternate between can't-be-bothered, kinda-motivated and genuinely in the zone, often within the same day. That alternation is not evidence that something is broken in you, it is closer to the default operating condition of being human, which is exactly why building anything lasting on top of it alone rarely works.

This is also, honestly, why most people who start things do not finish them. Not because they lack ambition or willpower in some deep sense, but because the plan was quietly relying on a feeling to stay constant when nothing about feelings works that way. We start the book and get to chapter two. We join the gym and go four times. We change how we eat, for three days. None of that is a personal failing so much as a predictable outcome of the approach.

The Shift That Actually Works: Behaviour Before Feeling

The more useful reframe, and the one this article is really built around, is that motivation works better as a commitment and a choice than as a feeling you wait to arrive. That sounds like a small distinction. In practice it changes almost everything about how you approach a hard day.

The pattern tends to run in an order most people assume is backwards: you choose to act, you act despite not feeling like it, and only afterward does the feeling of motivation actually show up, often within a short amount of time. Acting first is not a trick or a workaround, it reflects something genuinely true about how emotional state tends to follow behaviour at least as often as it precedes it. Change your posture, your pace, your tone, your follow-through, and the internal state has a way of catching up to match it.

Try This: Next time you catch yourself thinking "I can't be bothered today," do the smallest version of the task anyway, just the first two minutes of it, before deciding whether to stop. Notice whether the reluctance is still as strong once you are already moving.

How to Actually Keep Going

Decide before the moment arrives, not during it. Waiting until you are standing in front of the decision, gym bag in hand, alarm going off, to figure out whether you feel like it, hands the whole outcome to whatever mood happens to be passing through that morning. Deciding in advance, the night before, the week before, removes the negotiation entirely, there is nothing left to talk yourself out of in the moment because the moment was already decided.

Act the part before you feel it. Posture, pace, tone, and follow-through can be chosen independently of how you feel, and choosing them tends to shift the feeling that follows. This is not about performing enthusiasm you do not have, it is closer to giving your own state something concrete to catch up to.

Attach the goal to a plan that expects the bad days. Spur of the moment, purely emotional decisions rarely produce change that lasts, because they were never built to survive the inevitable dip. A plan that already accounts for the fact that motivation will run hot and cold is a plan that does not collapse the first time it does.

If perfectionism or over-preparing is part of what keeps a plan stuck at the planning stage, our guide on how to stop overthinking and start moving forward goes deeper into that specific pattern.

Let small, finished things count. A ten-minute version of the task, completed, tends to do more for your follow-through over time than an ambitious version that gets abandoned halfway. Finishing, at any size, is the skill actually being practised here.

Expect the fluctuation instead of being derailed by it. A bad day, a flat week, a stretch where nothing feels exciting, is not evidence the plan has failed. It is simply what the middle of any real change tends to feel like, and knowing that in advance tends to make it far less likely to actually stop you.

Books That Can Support This Practice

Reading is not a requirement for any of the above, but for readers who want a more structured companion, here are two resources from our approved library worth knowing about.

EDITOR’S CHOICEAtomic Habits by James Clear. We recommend this first because it is built entirely around the idea at the centre of this article, that consistent small systems outlast dependence on feeling, and it gives that idea far more practical structure than a single article can. It is best suited to readers who want a concrete system to build, not just a mindset shift, and it complements the "decide before the moment arrives" practice above directly.

SUPPORTING RESOURCEStop Overthinking by Nick Trenton. This one is here for a different reason, for readers whose stalled plans have less to do with lacking motivation and more to do with getting stuck circling a decision before ever acting on it. It suits anyone who recognises the "ten years of planning" pattern in themselves, and it pairs naturally with the point above about deciding before the moment arrives.

What This Looks Like in an Ordinary Week

Picture the morning the alarm goes off and the honest first thought is that you cannot be bothered. The version of this that actually works is rarely a burst of sudden enthusiasm talking you out of that thought, it is getting up anyway, doing the smallest possible version of the plan, and letting the feeling catch up or not, since either way the action already happened. Do that enough times and something genuinely shifts, not because the flat mornings stop coming, they will not, but because you stop needing them to feel a certain way before you are willing to move.

Key Takeaways

• Motivation is a fluctuating emotional state, not a fixed resource you either have or don't
• Behaviour can precede feeling, act first and the motivation often follows, not the other way around
• Deciding in advance removes the in-the-moment negotiation that derails most plans
• Lasting change depends on a plan that already expects the low days, not one that assumes constant enthusiasm
• Small, finished actions build the habit of follow-through more reliably than ambitious, abandoned ones

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I lose motivation so quickly after starting something new?

Because the initial burst of motivation is an emotional state, and emotional states fluctuate by nature. If the new habit was relying entirely on that feeling staying constant, the habit tends to fade at the same rate the feeling does.

Is it possible to feel motivated all the time?

No, and expecting to is part of what makes the drop feel like failure rather than simply what was always going to happen. Most people move between low-motivation and high-motivation states regularly, sometimes within the same day.

Can you really act motivated before you feel it?

Yes, and for many people this is the more reliable direction. Choosing the behaviour first, posture, pace, follow-through, often shifts the internal state to match it, rather than waiting for the state to arrive on its own first.

What is the single biggest mistake people make with motivation?

Treating it as something to wait for rather than something to decide in advance. Plans made in the moment, based purely on how you happen to feel that day, are the ones most likely to collapse the first time the feeling dips.

Conclusion

Motivation was never going to hold steady on its own, that was never really the problem to solve. The more useful question is not how to feel motivated more often, it is how to keep going on the days you do not, and that turns out to be entirely learnable, through decisions made in advance, small actions that get finished, and a plan honest enough to expect the low days rather than be derailed by them.

Want a Structured Way to Put This Into Practice?

The VIP Performance Playbook walks you through building consistency, confidence, and follow-through into a single, practical system, the natural next step once you have read the theory.

Get the VIP Performance Playbook

Affiliate Disclosure: This article may contain Amazon affiliate links. Elite VIP Circle may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you. Every recommendation reflects our genuine editorial assessment.

YOU ARE THE CREATOR | Warning: This might shake up your belief system! Morgan Freeman and Wayne Dyer

This is one of the truths of our universe! Love this! What do you guys think?

Here's How Your Life Changes In 1-2-3

Get Real.

Here's how your life changes in 1,2,3.

Pull the veil back. This takes 3 minutes. And if you let it? This will change your life today.

1. Get real. First off this is the most important bit because I'm asking you to get real with what's not working in your life. Take a breath - is it your sex life? Men? Money? Job? House? Where you live? How you live? Kids? Not having kids? Illness? Death? Trouble? Yes this is the get real bit. What's been happening for you these past few days? What got you down? What's getting you down now? Say it out loud to me and then write it down, just jot it down now on a bit of paper. See? This is you getting real - Goddess it suits you!

When you're honest with yourself you can only make good decisions

You deserve to - so take a breath and ask yourself:

2. How long have I been putting up with this? Dealing with this? Trying to make it work? Has my approach worked? Again - time for you to get real. It's OK, this is where you get real honest with yourself and it's OK if your answer is no. Truly.

Acknowledging the truth to yourself lightens the load.

Excuses and fakeness weigh real heavy when you believe in them

So you've heard yourself say what's really bothering you and whether or not your approach has been helping, so...

3. What action can you take that will alter your life? Remember baby steps make the big steps! Allow yourself to hear it - what action naturally springs to mind when you're honest about your situation? And here's the thing - there's usually something in the way or you would be doing this action already - right? So if you're not doing this action this minute - what thought is in your way?

Here are some of the gems I've picked up along the way from coaching clients and from the inside of my head - and they seem very real at the time:

It's OK, it will work out, it's all good! It will get better. I'll do it soon. It's up to them, not me. It's out of my hands. Who am I to do this? They won't believe me. They don't listen to me so what's the point? I can't handle that right now, it scares me. It's not the right time. I'm not good enough. I'll lose everything. That it's unchangeable.

What thought do you need to DROP this minute? Tell me out loud as you jot it down. Because this thought - is what keeps you going round in circles and not up and outta here!

So to take the action you need to and to feel better right now - what story can you begin telling yourself right now?

That you always win? That you're the STAR of your own story and the heroine (that's you) had to get real to realise she was short changing herself? In accepting a life that didn't fit her anymore? Because she was worth more than that and so today she's going to tell herself that she can have this situation exactly as she wants it and so she's going to take action right now on it which makes her feel like a million dollars... and so... and so... how does the story end?

I'm all ears! (Tell me in the comments below.)

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How to Become the Person You've Always Wanted to Be

Top Ten Ways to Find SYNERGY in Your Life

Have you ever experienced the difference between life flowing, everything lending itself to more, and life stuck in the mud with every move being a chore? Having synergy in your life is that great energy when all the pieces come together, compliment each other and the next steps happen easily and effortlessly. Here are a few basic points to get your life flowing...

1. Plug in. Identify what gives you ENERGY in your life. Make a list of at least 5 things that give you energy. What do you love to do? To what do you find yourself naturally attracted? Know what these are, because they are your fuel and keep you charged.

2. Clean house. What is the clutter that is slowing you down? What are you tolerating? What are the cobwebs and dust that cloud your understanding of life? Make a list of everything you can think of and then challenge yourself to make it a priority to take care of the items, one at a time. You will notice taking time to handle what you were putting off will actually give you more energy and space to do the things that are really important in life.

3. Be authentic. Get in-line with your HEART & SOUL; the part that authentically represents you. Who you are. What you stand for. Your purpose for being on earth. The gifts you have to share. List these key passions (characteristics, traits, natural God-given gifts/talents that you want to share with the world).

4. Live your values. What is important to you about life? What is important to you about living? These are the things that if you honor them in your life, everything is good. If you are not honoring them, you may get out of rhythm, anxious, frustrated, upset, etc. What are your true values? Start with listing your values and then select the top ten, and then from those, the top four. Are you living a life that supports your top four values?

5. See the vision. Establish your personal VISION. Where do you hope to be in 5 years? What do you hope is read in your obituary? You have one life to live. What are you going to do with it?

6. Plan a direction. How are you going to get there? What do you need to do to make that vision a reality? List and prioritize the main steps and then break each major point into clear baby steps.

7. Aim precisely. With your direction in mind, define your FOCUS for accomplishing the first major step. Visualize your target. See the process and evaluate the baby steps to make sure they are measurable. Put in a timeline to help hold yourself accountable and to stay on track.

8. Cultivate change. Evaluate your current position. Assess what is working? What changes and shifts would serve you better? Identify any obstacles or things that may be distracting you from your vision/focus. Make a plan for how you will address the distractions. Make sure your environment supports your plan.

9. Make it happen. Do something. Commit to the plan and take action. Tell others about it. Be held accountable. Every day take a step toward the goal. Stop and measure weekly.

10. Affirm daily. Make habits that reinforce the ideas and habits you want to cultivate in your life. Whatever you need to be most reminded of and encouraged to focus on, write it and post it where you will see it. (Tape the statement to your mirror, on the dash of your car, etc.) Make a routine to read these so they become part of your subconscious memory. Feel the success and joy of each step and celebrate them as your forge toward your dreams and goals!

BE ENCOURAGED, INSPIRED & EQUIPPED AS YOU REFLECT, ASSESS & DESIGN YOUR WORK & LEADERSHIP!

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