What all successful people plan to do every day (and you should do too!)

What successful people plan to do every day. Plan a Healthy Life.

What do successful people plan to do every single day? They plan to take ACTION. Taking action toward your goals is not always easy, but it’s the only thing to get you to the finish line. “The difference between success and failure is the ability to take action,” said Alexander Graham Bell. I think he’s onto something.

I love this quote…

“The difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.”

— Alexander Graham Bell

It really spoke to me today.

Maybe you're a person, like me, who loves to plan and set goals.

We read books and listen to podcasts to get inspired to eat healthier or become more fit.

We binge watch "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" on Netflix because we want an organized, minimalist home.

It seems we're always focused on our goal. You know, that ONE THING which, when it happens, will finally make us happy.

It’s easy to set goals. It’s harder to take the action to make those dreams a reality.

Action is what gets us results.

Simple little activities - like taking a 10 minute walk - will, if we repeat it often enough, get us to 10,000 steps eventually. It may be slower than we want, but we WILL get there.

If you think a 10 minute walk is too easy and wait until you have the time for a 2 hour hike, you'll probably never hit your 10k step goal.

The same is true for any goal or project.

Do the work. Take the action.

Sometimes we procrastinate by always learning, but never doing.

Did you ever get excited about a new goal, like maybe decluttering your home? So you listen to podcasts about minimalism, and watch tons of YouTube videos. You check out blogs, and even add fancy new hangers and matching plastic shoe storage containers to your Amazon wish list.

You think about the calm and peaceful vibe your home will have once you toss the crap.

You learn, and plan, and dream…. but you never do the messy, super NOT FUN work, of pulling out the 36,000 items of clothing crammed in your closet and throwing or giving away the ones that don’t fit or that you don’t love.

Learning is a super effective procrastination technique.

I am the queen of procrastination. I listen to tons of podcasts, mainly self-improvement, fitness, and business. But filling my brain with more information doesn't magically bring the results I want into my life. Self-improvement info is incredibly useful, but only if we act on it.

Learning and motivation is easy. We can read a book or watch a video or listen to a podcast.

We can definitely munch on a bag of Doritos while watch a video on the health benefits of eating vegan. Watching the video is entertaining. Actually eating vegan, not so much.

While we keep the focus on learning, we aren’t having to face the discomfort of actually doing.

A simple way to take action (while learning):

Learning and planning and getting yo’ self motivated is incredibly important. Just be sure it’s not learning or learning’s sake.

Now when I read a book or listen to a podcast I ask myself a few questions:

Exactly how can I apply this in my life?
What simple step can I take TODAY toward my goal?
What advice would the me who has already achieved this goal give me? (This is one of my favorites.)

Consider taking daily action toward your goals as a mini challenge.

Many productivity gurus recommend you take action toward your biggest, most important goals, every single day.

Not overwhelming “spend 8 hours cleaning out the garage” kind of action.

But small steps that take maybe 15-20 minutes to complete.

If decluttering your home is a goal your actions might be:

clean out junk drawer
give away 5 pieces of clothing
throw away 4 pieces of paper/mail/advertisements from the kitchen
actually buy the matching hangars so your closet will look amazing when it’s clean and organized (I totally bought these hangars when I decluttered my closet last summer and couldn’t be happier!)

Now that you know how critical it is to take action, it’s time to PLAN it.

Yep, I mean grabbing your planner (I use this printable one) or logging onto Google calendar and setting an appointment with yourself to get ‘er done.

Then keep that appointment with yourself. You, and your amazing goals, are so worth it.

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Welcome!

Are you a busy lady (like me) who really, really wants to live a healthy life? I get it because I’m obsessed with living my best life too. Here you’ll find simple ideas and strategies to plan a healthy and happy life.

I’m Jacqui, by the way, and I’m the crazy busy lady behind Plan A Healthy Life.