Imagine a goal you want to achieve.
Have you got it in your mind?
Now flesh it out in really concrete terms, and imagine that you’ve achieved it.
Answer this question: How do you know that you achieved it?
For me, the goal that I recently achieved was to lose around 8 pounds of weight creep and stop the habit of stress-eating sweets at night.
The reality is that I achieved this through a whole bunch of daily actions over the course of a six-week nutrition challenge that included the following:
- Refraining from eating processed carb snacks, and for that matter, anything with refined sugar.
- Doing my best to have at least 2 cups of spinach or veggies, 20 grams of protein, and no more than 8 grams of healthy whole fats at every meal.
- Logging everything into myfitnesspal.
- Staying accountable by posting at least 3 times a week in a private Ultimate Nutrition Challenge Facebook group.
- Continuing to do my CrossFit workouts 4 times a week.
Note: Even though this blog is about building an entrepreneurial business mindset, the fact is that I think most of us gals can relate to fitness and health goals. We find that when we feel our best, we do our best work in all parts of our lives.
In my case, I wanted to lose the weight creep and put a stop to the unhealthy habits that had led me to avoid putting on my jeans all summer. AND, I also wanted to increase the number of potential coaching clients that I serve by building my email list and expanding my reach.
We are taught, on a very basic level, to make goals and to focus on results and outcomes and instant gratification, not unsexy and boring achievements like eating 2 cups of spinach 
with every meal and tracking our food consistently, or making three sales call a day for the next three years.
Here’s the million dollar question: How do we motivate ourselves day in and day out to engage in certain habits, given that we often won’t see results all at once and that the REAL goal may not be reached until years down the road?
Success is not built overnight but through a chain of small habits that we engage in day in and day out.
I really like the following quote from Warren Buffett:
“Chains of habits are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
One powerful way to stay motivated is to change our understanding of who we are.
So, instead of thinking, I want to lose 10 pounds, we think this: I’m the type of person who joins nutrition challenges at the gym that will hold me accountable and provide me with support. I’m the type of person who gets up and exercises several mornings a week and is willing to put in the effort required to change my eating habits, one meal at a time.
In this case, I’m identifying myself as a healthy eater and fit person, and giving myself credit for everything that I do that substantiates that line of thinking. It’s not so much that I’m doing these things to lose the weight, it’s that I’m doing them BECAUSE this is my identity. This is me.
Here’s another example: Instead of thinking, I am going to write a book by the end of this year, think this instead: I am a writer who writes 5 days a week before work for 30-45 minutes at a time come rain or shine, no matter how fogged up my mind feels or whether I actually feel inspired or not. I also write blog posts based on my book content, and I regularly ask for feedback from my readers and use it to fuel the direction of my book. These routines that I have established over time reinforce that I am a writer. I’m not just writing to write a book. I’m writing because I’m a writer and that’s what I do. I write regularly. This is me.
Let’s recap:
Instead of focusing on the goal, focus on the actions that you want to take.
See your actions as part of the identity that you are coming to recognize.
Give yourself credit every single time you take the action that connects you to that identity.
Allow your actions to shape and reinforce your identity, and be willing to feel really good every single time you do something, no matter how small it is, that’s connected to that identity.
What we do in one day may not get us very far. But if we keep up the action most days for a period of time, our results will compound and we’ll reap the rewards.
You’ve got it. You can do this!
