How To Get Yourself To Consistently Take Action
We need to take consistent action to move towards our goals.
But we don't usually take consistent action, and often we even have trouble getting started in the first place. Why is that?
The reason is that these actions are usually outside of our comfort zone. We feel some resistance and fear about taking these actions because we're not sure if we can cope with doing them, especially if we make a mistake and it goes wrong and we don't get the outcome we want.
Or we might take the action the first time, but because it feels so uncomfortable, we think that something is wrong, and so we stop doing it and we don't make any progress.
Building a music business and career is a long-term project. It's important to realise that for you to achieve that, it's not just about taking some actions. You have to go through transitions and ultimately a transformation into a professional musician and an entrepreneur. You have to learn a new skill set, new mindsets, new values, new habits, get into new environments, go through new experiences, develop new relationships.
But you can't have that transformation without first taking action.
Action is the basic building block of success, the foundation. Once you're taking consistent action, then you can direct that into transitions and then direct those transitions into transformations.
So it's crucial that we get leverage on ourselves to take the actions we need to to build our dreams.
To get leverage on ourselves, one of the dynamics that we need to pay attention to as we're taking a new action, and then at a higher level when we're going through transitions and transformations, is the process of acclimation.
When we get into new environments, go through new experiences, have new relationships, and learn new things, there is a phase of discomfort at first. Then there is assimilation and coping, and then it feels natural, like it's just supposed to be this way. This is the process of acclimation.
As you take an action, you want to notice what it feels like. It's critical to pay attention to this because in the observation of what it's like is the potential for a lot of growth.
Particularly, the two things you want to pay attention to are:
First, what are the sensations? What is the internal experience like? What are the physical and emotional sensations and thoughts like?
And second, where do you feel any resistance that comes up?
Noticing these things gives us clues about how to build willpower and the ability to direct ourselves.
After you've taken that action, you want to process the experience emotionally. This is where a coach is really valuable, but you can do it yourself by journalling.
Ask yourself:
How did it feel?
Was there any resistance?
This is how you can start to acclimate to how it's going to feel if you're taking that action regularly.
Again, we want to be able to get ourselves to take those valuable actions regularly. Because that's how we get from merely taking actions, to going through transitions, and ultimately of having a transformation and going to the next level in a particular domain in your life, whether that's your health, relationships, finances, education, or your music business.
We also want to be aware that we experience acclimation on different time horizons.
Acclimating to an action is relatively short-term. It's about just being present and noticing any resistance you feel.
Transitions typically involve taking on a new role in your life, like getting into a relationship or a new job. So acclimating to a transition is about noticing that you have a different role in life. Acclimating to a new role means acclimating to a new feeling that's happening all the time.
This means that transitions require a longer term acclimation, usually months. Because you're experiencing this new feeling not just once like with acclimating to an action, you're now experiencing that discomfort all the time, there's a much greater inclination to want to stop. So it's important to understand that it's natural to feel this greater level of discomfort and resistance because you're in a transition.
Acclimating to a transformation happens up at the level of your identity. Your conception of who you are in the world is evolving. So instead of just seeing yourself as a musician - someone who writes, records, and performs songs - your identity expands and you start to see yourself as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, as a personal brand, and as a marketer.
Part of the process of transformation is an identity crisis. You're asking yourself “Who am I, and what am I supposed to be doing?” You have to leave behind old beliefs, mindsets, habits, and behaviours. You have to look at the world through a different lens, and so you're going to feel anxious and confused for a while.
Transformations usually happen over the course of a year or two. So it's important for you to recognise that this is an even longer-term acclimation than transitions.
I'll tell you a few situations in my life where I've harnessed the power of acclimation.
I've been doing fasting for the last couple of years. I've done intermittent fasting a couple of times a week where I'll go without food for about 18 hours. I've done longer fasts of 3 and 5 days, and even a 12 day fast. Most people aren't willing to even skip a meal let alone go for several days without eating. They think they'll be really hungry and it will feel really uncomfortable. And initially you do feel hungry and it is uncomfortable. But if you keep in mind that you can acclimate, you can drink some water to satiate the hunger pangs and remember that they'll pass, and you just go about your regular activities. And after you've gotten through the first fast, you know that even though it was uncomfortable at first, that you acclimated, you did it, you got through it and you didn't die. And now you're more willing to do it a second time because you know that you can cope.
Another area I've used acclimation is taking cold showers. This is another health practice I've initiated in the last couple of years. Again, most people aren't willing to do this because they think of the cold water hitting their body and think it's going to be uncomfortable. And it is at first. But if you keep in mind the you can acclimate, you step into the cold water and after that initial shock has subsided, you notice that your body adjusts to the temperature and you get through it.
One last example of where I've used acclimation to get myself to consistently take action. I realised a few years ago that in order to become a successful coach and build my coaching business, I would have to do public speaking in one form or another. Because I'd need to share my ideas and present information to create value for people, appear in videos, initiate conversations and relationships with people.
Public speaking and appearing on camera is something that most people feel a lot of fear and resistance to - me included. You might have seen my videos and thought “Lish is just naturally good on camera,” or “Lish is an extrovert and outgoing. I could never do that.”
I am definitely not naturally good on camera or an extrovert. Quite the opposite. I'm extremely introverted. And if you had known me several years ago, you'd say I was one the the shyest people you'd ever met. I'll tell you just how shy I was.
Before I became a musician, I was an artist. When I finished highschool, I went to TAFE to study art. I didn't know anyone there. I didn't have any friends who went there. During the classes that wasn't too bad because we had the lesson to focus on. But I was so painfully shy that during the lunch breaks, I would hide in the toilets because I didn't know anyone there and was too shy to talk to anyone.
As I developed an awareness that I'd need to cultivate the skill of public speaking in order to fulfil my dream of being a coach, I started deliberately putting myself in situations that were out of my comfort zone in order to grow: teaching group workshops, presenting at open mic nights, doing weekly Facebook Live videos for the last couple of years, more recently doing live classes with coaches from all over the world who are much more experienced and successful than me.
This is the transformational power of acclimation. Acclimation took me from being so shy that I would hide in the toilets to teaching group workshops, presenting at open mic nights, and doing weekly Facebook videos. I don't say any of this to brag or to bignote myself. I say it to give you an illustration of what's possible in your own life.
As a human being, you are the most adaptable creature on the planet. If there's something outside your comfort zone that you think you could never do, whether it's public speaking, doing a Facebook Live video, or learning about marketing your music so you can build your audience and make a living from your music, that's just not true. You can acclimate to anything. I stand before you as a testament to the power of acclimation.
And if you look at your own life, you'll find that you've acclimated to plenty of things without necessarily being consciously aware of it. Maybe it was acclimating to a new fitness program, or changing your diet in some way like becoming vegetarian. Maybe it was acclimating to a relationship, or coming out of a relationship, or becoming a parent. Maybe it was acclimating to a new job, or going to study a certain subject.
Whatever it was, it's proof that you can acclimate. If you've done it in one area of your life, you can do it in another.
The key is getting started. You want to take one action in the direction of your goal:
eating one healthy meal,
doing one workout,
going on one date,
regulating yourself through one upset,
reframing one negative or self-critical thought,
taking the first singing lesson, playing one gig, writing that first song, doing that first Facebook Live video.
And then process the experience. Notice how it felt, and where there was any resistance. And then go and do the action again, and again. Do it regularly. Become consistent.