Do you love the dreaming process but get stuck when it’s time to take action?

Never fear! Sometimes, all you need is a reboot to get into motion, and these 8 exploratory steps are designed to do just that.

So, take a nice deep breath and relax into what comes next. It’ll change the way you move forward, and create an opening into the new possibilities you’ve been waiting for.

8 Steps

1. Breathe

Take another deep breath. YES. Another one. Why?

Worrying about the future, or spinning in an overload of ideas can make true clarity just out of reach.

Intentional deep breathing helps calm down the system, while supporting the ability to be present with what you’re exploring here, right now.

2. Create a Gratitude & Success Inventory

Before you jump straight in to unraveling all the things you haven’t done yet, take a few minutes to acknowledge the good in your life, and what you’ve succeeded at, big or small.

Over the past year, what have your greatest successes or accomplishments been? What have you learned? What challenges did you overcome? What are you most grateful for? How did you grow?

We are designed to crave change...it’s in our nature…so feeling a strong desire to create or do something different is normal – welcome to the club! The downside, however, is that many of us so easily notice what’s missing or “wrong” versus seeing the infinite number of things that are wonderful and great.

If you want to live a happy life, what if you practiced being happy on a daily basis, and not saving it for some imagined future when you “finally reach that goal?”

The good news? All it takes is a bit of practice, and making a Gratitude & Success Inventory is a strong start.

3. Get Curious

If something is stuck or unclear, asking focused questions is a great way to gain new and helpful information.

Take a look at the questions below and notice which ones you feel an energetic or emotional connection with.

If you could experience anything in this lifetime, what would it be?
If you could experience anything this year, what would it be?
How much time are you spending worrying about what to do, versus actually taking action on your next steps?
Who created your goals?
Is it true? Do you really HAVE TO do all the things on your list?
Do you give yourself permission to change your mind, reset, and continue forward as new information unfolds? Or are you sticking to a plan you set ages ago that may no longer fit?

4. Write it Down

Which questions pulled at you or created an emotional response?

Take a moment and write down your responses to the questions that feel most relevant to you.

When you gain deeper clarity or unleash a brand new “aha,” give yourself the gift of mind-freedom and jot it down. Even when something feels so clear in the moment, as though you’ll never forget, it’s amazing how much our minds have to keep track of. A few words written now can help lock that new awareness in, so you don’t have to “remember” in the future.

5. Organize

If you haven’t already, put all of your goals and visions into one place.

If you like tangible things, make something physical to keep them in. Create a colorful vision board and goals list, use a paper planner, or get a 3-ring binder with dividers to store all of your information in by category, and keep it visible so you remember it’s there.

If you prefer digital systems, choose one main project and task management system to use, so you know exactly where to go to find the information.

For both: Set a recurring reminder on your calendar to review your vision and goals, either daily, weekly, or monthly. Bonus? Include a note that tells you where your vision and goals are stored so when it comes time to review them you can go straight to them.

6. Get Support & Don’t Do it Alone

Have you been trying to do this all alone? Or have you been spending a significant amount of time spinning in your own head?

People are designed to need people, and it’s a myth that we can “do it alone.”

Don’t believe me? That electricity you have in your home? The food you bought at the store? 100’s if not 1000’s of people were needed just to make those things available to you. You’re already getting help, so what if you were even more strategic about the help you received, and connected with others who have the capacity and skills to support you?

On top of that, connecting from the heart and being truly heard and seen often brings deep rejuvenation and clarity in itself.

7. Take One Powerful Step Now

Based on everything you’ve uncovered, what’s the most powerful thing you can do to move towards your goals?

Write down your answer, put it on your calendar, and do it.

It’s easy to get lost in the massive amount of steps needed to accomplish a goal, so if you’re stuck or stalling, start here. Take one powerful step now. Then rinse and repeat.

Yes, there are more complex goal-planning and tracking strategies available, and many of them can be very helpful, but beware! If you often map out tons of goals and feel like you’ve accomplished very little by the end of the year…try starting with this method instead.

8. Celebrate

Once you’ve completed your action step…remember to celebrate! We spend so much time planning to reach our goals and relatively little time enjoying them once we do. Once one item’s done, soon we’re off to the next thing we “haven’t done yet.”

Rather than being joyful, our dreams quickly become an overwhelming checklist of life to-do’s.

So…FOR TODAY…what if you committed to just one powerful action? And celebrate the heck out of it once you compete it?

Wherever you are, if you’re living a life you love…keep doing it!

If you’re ready for a change, the time is now.

Even one small shift in a positive direction today will put you in an entirely new place this time next year.

If you’ve read this far, you’re well on your way, and I’m wishing you all the best as you turn your dreams into reality, this year and beyond.

With gratitude,

Lena