One Easy Way to Turn Intentions into Action
August 21, 2009Daniel No Comments »There are so many things I want to do– things that will help me enjoy better relationships, become a better communicator, become more creative, contribute more to the community, increase my general knowledge, and more.
But these good intentions did not often turn into action– and we all know that action is the key to achieving our goals and dreams. I often got caught up reacting to life, instead of deliberately planning for and responding to it, whether it was social obligations or school work or some form of distraction. I did what I felt I should/ought to/had to/must, under those circumstances.
“It’s alright, I’ll suppose I’ll write down my goals another day, when I’m free.”
“I guess I’ll spend time with my family next weekend instead, when I’m free.”
“I’ll read that book at the end of the year, when I’m free.”
But when are you really going to be “free”?
So, clearly, there was a disconnect between the person I wanted to become, and the person I was actually becoming.
I realized that if you don’t schedule in the things that are important to you, you will never be “free” enough to do them. You’ll get caught up doing urgent things that are not actually important. It’s Stephen Covey who said that the essence of time management is to make sure that all the things you do are important, but not urgent. But how do you ensure that?
I believe the key is to MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOURSELF. That, too, is one easy way to turn intentions into action.
I have many lists that I keep: monthly goals, yearly goals, long-term goals, habits that I want to cultivate, improvements that I want to make in my life for the next 6 months. But for a long time, these lists were simply that– lists that were collecting dust, that did not translate into anything of value. I had written them down, but I did not review them or ask myself if I was taking proper action to achieve those goals.
It takes barely two minutes to review each list, so I thought that I would surely review them “when I was free”. But this didn’t happen– because whenever I had two minutes to spare, I was much more likely to watch a Youtube video than review one of those lists.
But I now realize the power of MAKING AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOURSELF. Look at it as making a promise to yourself, just as you would look at it as a promise to your boss that you’ll be at his office at 2pm when he says he wants to meet with you at 2pm. You wouldn’t dare to break that kind of promise, would you?
Whatever you use to keep yourself organized– Google Calender, Outlook, a physical organizer– just make an appointment with yourself to do that thing which you intend to. I strongly recommend doing weekly planning at least, and monthly planning if possible/necessary. Do your weekly planning for the coming week on Sunday, and do your monthly planning for the coming month in the last week of previous month. Pencil in all the important events for the month, and their specific time too: birthday celebrations, time with family, seminars that you have decided to attend, etc. This way, you are committed to these important events, and you won’t end up missing your brother’s birthday celebration because you got caught up at work.
For your weekly planning, write down even trivial appointments: “Gym workout, Wednesday, 7am to 7.45am.”
I guarantee that the chances of you going to the gym on Wednesday morning are much higher this way, compared to if you simply think to yourself that you’re going to hit the gym before work on Wednesday 
And you don’t have to feel guilty if you can’t keep an appointment with yourself. Of course, if you never keep any of your appointments, even with other people, then you might have some other issues to work on… But none of us are perfect, and sometimes things will come up that make it impossible to keep our appointments with ourselves. So don’t beat yourself up if you can’t keep an appointment with yourself, but ask yourself what the true reason for that was.
Determine that your goals are fixed, but that your plans are flexible– but not too flexible, though
And keep in mind that all these “small” actions– which stem from our good intentions– really do add up. As John Maxwell said, “The person you are going to be tomorrow, you are becoming today.” I really do believe that your destiny is not built in a day; your destiny is built day by day.
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOURSELF TODAY. It has worked wonders for me, and I guarantee that it will for you too, as you really look at that appointment as a promise that you make to yourself
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