It’s not easy to shift your work/life into a different gear. What is easy is staying in the same day-to-day routines. The truth is, if you want different results you have to do something different. Often leveling up requires us to not just do one thing, but many things differently. So where should you start?
- Decide – leveling up requires you to first make a decision. I find that most people don’t struggle with ideas. They have a multitude of ideas. Instead they struggle with deciding what to do. If you don’t know what to do, then you are deciding to find out. Even if you know what you want to do, this begets the question “How do I do it?” Leveling up means that you release indecisiveness. You won’t let uncertainty be your ruler. Whether it’s starting a practice or losing weight. You may have to decide everyday. In fact, leveling up means that you will stick to your decision. It doesn’t mean you won’t get scared or falter. It means that you are “committing.”
- Commit – leveling up requires you to make a commitment. The commitment is not to the idea(s). Instead the commitment is to yourself. It never feels good when you say you are going to do something and you don’t do it. It feels like a betrayal. It can chip away at your esteem. It can also erode the faith and trust that others have in you. Leveling up means that even if you are uncertain, you will wake up every day and stay connected to what you decided mattered enough to pursue. Most things we commit to require daily engagement. That’s what makes it so challenging. It means we have to change habits. Leveling up means you are committed to yourself. It means you won’t let yourself off the hook. This is not the same as being hard on yourself — it is exactly like being true to yourself.
- Execute – leveling up means that once you have decided and committed to your decision, you follow through on the tasks to make it happen. This is where many people get lost. In fact without consistent execution, it is arguable that you have not successfully decided or committed. As a coach, I would ask “Is this what you really want?” Sometimes you have to go back to step one. Sometimes we are not executing because we really haven’t made a decision. You can’t execute something if you have not committed to it. We often think that we have not accomplished something because we are procrastinating or “being lazy.” It is important to decipher the true reason for not executing on tasks so that you can address the actual next steps.
- Release excuses – leveling up means that you release excuses. This is not the same as being self-critical. Quite the opposite. Criticism and the blame game can stop you from leveling up. It damages self confidence and self efficacy. When we truly examine what is getting in the way of execution we can problem solve. You will run into a continuous stream of challenges and problems. This does not mean anything is actually going wrong. Welcome to life. Life quite simply doesn’t care about your agenda. Leveling up means that you will decide, commit, execute and release excuses in favor of problem solving. Take note of the problems so that you can keep tackling them one by one.
Remember if you haven’t leveled up yet, you get a chance every minute of the day. Don’t stay stuck in the past. What are you doing right now? #levelup
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