Inform Yourself

Now that you have committed to achieving your goals and have determined if you require an accountability partner to reach them, it is time to develop your course of action. Exactly how do you plan to get from your current location to “Your Blissful Life?” What course must you chart to achieve it? At first glance, this question may seem overwhelming. However, when you break it down in the following pages, you will see exactly how easy it will be. This course will lead you to your promised land. Also, you will enjoy taking action because you know exactly where you’re headed: to Your Blissful Life!

Developing your course of action is an easy process. It is much like planning a vacation. Everyone enjoys planning for vacation! If you are like most individuals, you probably plan a vacation every year. This process involves choosing a destination (which you have already done), planning how you will get there (plane, car, train etc.), how long you will stay, and when you will return. The best part about your current journey is the fact that it is a one-way trip! You are headed to complete satisfaction, in every “part” of your life. You can forget about a return trip. Once you are there, you won’t ever want to return to where you are now! Where you are headed is so much better!

To develop your course of action, do the following:

1. Select the part you will focus upon according to your parts ranking in my prior post Your Blissful Life: Your Discovery.

2. Review the desired outcome for the part you have selected. Now the fun begins.

3. In a moment, you will go forward in time in your own personal time machine: your mind! That’s right, one of your many hidden talents will allow you to travel through time in your mind to see, hear and feel yourself having already achieved your goal! Doing this very easy. You already have all the tools you need to experience it. If you like, have your accountability partner walk you through this exercise. Now get yourself into a comfortable position, such as sitting in your favorite chair or relaxing on your couch. The key is to be comfortable. Now, close your eyes and relax. Take a deep breathe through your nose, hold it for a few seconds and slowly exhale through your mouth. As you exhale, feel how relaxed your mind and body are becoming. With every breath you take, your body expels all thoughts, worries and tension you might be experiencing. Take another deep breath through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and slowly exhale again through your mouth. Notice how loose and free your legs and arms have become. Also notice how relaxed your neck and shoulders are. Take your third deep breath, hold it in, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Notice how relaxed your torso has become. Your heart rate has slowed considerably. You are now in a totally relaxed state. Enjoy how good it feels to be so relaxed. Your mind and body are quiet. Now, picture yourself in the future having already achieved your goal for this “part.” Notice how you look, what you are saying and that special feeling you have right now.

4. Take a look back toward the present, taking note of all that you have done to get where you are currently standing, having achieved your goal. What specific actions did you take? What specific thoughts did you think? How did your feelings about yourself change? What are others saying about you? Jot down your answers on a sheet of paper. Take note of every action, every thought and every feeling.

Now, slowly come back into the moment, into the present. Leave your totally relaxed state behind. You are now completely refreshed. Remain seated or lying down for a few moments until you are fully back into the present moment.

5. Take another sheet of paper and restate the items you noted in Step 4 above in the following manner: For each action you imagined yourself taking, restate it as an action to be taken. Review the notes about how you will think about yourself. Do you need to take any actions to begin thinking about yourself in that manner? If you noted a change in your thoughts about yourself, create an action item stating that you must start thinking about yourself in the manner you noted. What did others say to you? Do you need to create any action items from the comments they made to you or about you?

6. Determine which actions you took first in order to achieve your goal. You can rank them by numbering them in the margin. Continue down the list until all items have been given a number.

7. Repeat this process for a maximum of three (3) parts.

NOTE: Attempting to focus on more than three (3) parts leads to an unfocused journey. Individuals who attempt this path find they become lost and confused. Keep your action plan simple, keep it focused.

8. Once you have your prioritized Action Item List, review it with your accountability partner. He or she should talk with you to ensure that you are certain of the prioritization of your tasks. This where your accountability partner’s work begins. They need to hold you accountable for completing your Action Item List so that you can achieve your goals. You must verbalize to your partner that you give them permission to hold you accountable for getting what you want. They must also commit and verbalize to you that they will hold you accountable.

9. Set up a meeting schedule with your accountability partner. This meeting will be at whatever frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly etc.) that you need in order to keep you on your path. The key here is consistency. You both must commit to the schedule and hold each other to it. During these meetings you will review your progress, discuss areas in which you may be struggling or need to learn new strategies, and what items from your Action Item List need to be moved to your focus area. I am confident that if you have successfully selected an accountability partner that is right for you, they will assist you in discovering what you need to do to eliminate any struggles, as well as discovering the new strategies you require to achieve your goals.

The above process assists you in developing an achievable action plan. As you move toward and achieve your goals, select your next part and add its action items to your action list. This ensures that you are always moving, always listening, and always feeling the power of moving toward your goals. Using this process is so easy because you want nothing more than you achieve your goals.

The single most amazing thing about this entire process is how easy it is to execute. The more you execute it, the easier it gets. Hour by hour, day by day, week by week, and month by month, your journey becomes easier and easier and ever more satisfying.

I enjoyed this part of the process immensely. Perhaps it was because my accountability partner had a prior background in time-line work and was very good at it, or perhaps it was because I knew I was laying out my course for moving toward and getting exactly what I wanted, just the way I wanted it. Whatever the reason, I had fun with it. The most amazing things about the process for me were how easy it was to imagine myself in the future having already achieved my goals and how clearly defined the path was that I had taken to achieve it when I looked back to where I had been. I believe that the reason it was so easy for me to move into the future to see, hear and feel me already having achieved my goals is because I wanted them so deeply, so badly, so much more than anything else in the world that my mind and deep inner self wanted me to experience this more than my own conscious mind could provide. My subconscious mind was just waiting for me to give it permission to go there. I had to move my conscious mind aside and allow my subconscious mind to explore. Once there, and looking back to where I had been, I could see so clearly exactly what I had done to get where I wanted to be. My accountability partner noted all of these items as I noted and described them to him. This became the basis for my action plan. It was so easy. I couldn’t believe it! I had struggled with all of this for so many years and, finally, right there in front of me, there it was! An “Ah-Ha!” moment for me for sure!

Once I came down off my “Ah-Ha” cloud, my accountability partner and I developed my Action Item List. I couldn’t wait to get moving. I had waited for so long. My issue, just like so many others, is that I wanted everything to get done yesterday. What I soon realized is that everything had to be done in order. The reason is that you—just as I did—will learn something on each step of the journey. The lessons learned while completing my current action items put me into proper alignment for moving forward. This ensures that, at each step, you have exactly what you need in order to succeed! I could not rush the process. I quickly learned to slow down and enjoy the journey because it held many experiences and lessons that I needed to learn in order to get what I want. So don’t rush it. Live each moment, taking away all that you can, learning all that you need. You will succeed.