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How come some people managed to accomplish their goals and some don’t? Yes, it’s true, some people are smarter or stronger or more talented than others and some people just seem to have it easier. But if you look around at the most successful people, which have achieved monumental things, you’ll see a lot of them started basically from nothing.

So what is their secret?

We all want to learn new things, find quick fixes to problems, and come upon life hacks that will make things easier for us – Hell, this blog is all about that…Well, that’s nice and all but you know how sometimes no matter how inspired or motivated you are you just can’t go the long run?

Sounds familiar?

You see, in achieving great things you usually don’t have shortcuts. You actually have to put in the work. Yep, the grind is real. I know you’re probably expecting me to reveal some major life discovery, an original technique that will take you from couch-potato to golden medalist in 3 simple steps.

Well, sorry to disappoint you. I’m not going to teach you anything new. You don’t need it. In fact, 90% of self-help/self-development blogs/books (including yours truly) won’t teach you anything you didn’t already know…

But wait! before you close your browser and go to scroll your Instagram feed – I am here to remind you of the things you already know, but maybe forgotten. (with good news promised at the end…)

What’s the problem?

In (not) accomplishing things there are usually two major setbacks: people that just don’t know where (and how) to start and the ones that quit before they reach their goal.

Problem #1: You don’t know how to start

I see this one A LOT. You know what you want, you might know what you need to do to get there but your standing steel. You’re either scared (the road seem too far from where you’re standing), unmotivated enough (this goal is not you’re top priority) or you just don’t know how to begin.

At this point, I would usually tell you to find inspiration (find others who have achieved what you want to achieve, or who are currently doing it), find a supporting environment for accountability and get clearer on what you actually want (maybe read “The ultimate guide to goal setting (and how to actually achieve them in 2019”).

Today, I’m going for the tough love approach and am telling you: just do it. Gee, thanks Jen – we’re so happy you told us that because we haven’t thought of it ourselves. ‘Just do it’ – sound easy…. well, I don’t mean it like that, I mean, you have to take action.

What should you do?

Take baby steps

Start small. Really really small. Just take a step in the right direction. I know that from where you are the goal you set might seem too big or too far. Or if you’re not going to do 100% you might as well do nothing at all. Wrong! This is why most of us quit diets – we have one little relapse (Cheesecake anyone?) and think everything is lost. It’s not true- life is a marathon and not a sprint (cliché alert!).

If you can’t fly then run if you can’t run then walk if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward |
Martin Luther King Jr

If you want to get into shape, for example, you might think you need to go to the gym 6 times a week (and you hate the gym – I hear you…) but it doesn’t have to be the case. Instead, try taking tiny, baby steps. Just do 10 minutes of exercise twice a week. I know, that sounds so pointless but I think every step in the right direction is a good step. And it’s easy – you can do 10 min of exercise a day… then, do 10 minutes 4 times a week, and then 20 minutes… well, you got my point.

Celebrate the tiny wins

We all get discouraged sometimes – you, me, even Beyonce. The journey to success, whatever it may be, is mostly long and hard and in order to make it sustainable and bearable, you need to acknowledge your small successes along the way. It’s so important to celebrate even the tiniest wins.

Girl, give yourself a pat on the back on a daily basis. I’m not joking. If your mindset is focused on the rewarding experience of accomplishing your goals it will be much more fun and easy to keep going. After a while, all these small steps will add up to real progress and success.

Start now

To accomplish whatever you want in your life, you need to start. Not later, Not tomorrow. NOW. You’ll always have excuses why not, why not now, but you have to take the first step in order to get the ball rolling. I’m not kidding you – right now!

If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse | Jim Rohn

Problem #2: You’re quiting too fast

Everything we do starts out new and exciting: School, work, relationships, new habits and especially new goals. We set our intention, have everything planned out (probably even buy new clothes for the occasion) and we’re super motivated to go.

But then…. We lose our flare, we get tired or busy or just bored and the goals we set suddenly seems so far away that they might not be worth it any more…? (Poor shiny new Yoga pants that we barely wore).

Law of Familiarity

It’s called the Law of Familiarity – when the excitement fades away and the dreadful routine takes over. So what do we do? Try to spice it up, change things, and try to get back our enthusiasm some other way.

This is the stage most of us fail at.

This might be a good solution for relationships but when it comes to success it’s exactly the opposite. Do you think Michael Phelps goes into the pool every morning and tells his coach he wants to learn something new? Hell no. He does the same routine over and over (and over) again until he masters it. So does professional dancers, athletes, and even salesman.

Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment | Zig Ziglar

Repetition, my friends, repetition is the answer. And persistence.

So what is the secret to all these successful, mega-achieving, 27-hours-a-day kind of people? Basically, the answer is in their mindset and in the work they put in. Which is a good thing for the rest of us, It means that it doesn’t really matter how smart you are if you set your mind to it nothing can stop you (cliché alert #2)

What do you think? Do you agree the putting in the work is 80% of success and our starting point is just 20%? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Also, if you have any other tips- please share so we can all learn from one another.

Just do it guys!

XX,

Jeni