Success is in the BEing

As a coach, I talk a lot about the power of making a decision in order to take action that results in lasting, positive change. 

The truth is that many people don’t really understand this fully enough to be able to move forward. 

I used to struggle with this, too. I’d say to my coach “but I made a decision and it’s still not changing anything“. She’d smile and tell me that I obviously hadn’t made a decision because if I had, then things would change. 

That was until I decided to become a runner. I’d always hated the idea of running. I don’t like being out of breath. I don’t like sweating. I don’t like being hot. So running and me were unlikely to ever become BFFs.

Then one day I woke up, put my trainers on and went out running. 

The day began like any other. I woke up and enjoyed a cup of tea in bed as I watched the birds through the bedroom window. As I thought about the freedom they seemed to have, I wondered why I just couldn’t get myself to go out for a run. I’d been promising myself (and my son) that I’d start jogging but so far I’d only managed it a handful of times (on a treadmill). It was hardly a habit, that’s for sure.

As I sat there in bed wondering for the briefest of moments whether or not I wanted to run, I just decided that I WAS A RUNNER. 

I don’t remember how I said it. It just went through my head in a way that ‘felt’ different.

I found myself stepping out of bed, into my trainers and out of the door. It was automatic. I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just DOING it. 

When I said I AM A RUNNER, it was the turning point, because if I was a runner, then I just had to get up and run.

I’ve run 5k more or less every morning ever since. I went from never running to running 5k daily, simply because I decided that I was a runner.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not fast and I don’t think I’ll ever do a marathon, but I get up and put those trainers on every day because it’s who I am being.

That’s the key to creating lasting change and achieving success.

How to connect the decision to the action to achieve success:

• If you’ve made a decision but you still aren’t seeing the success you expected, ask yourself who you are being. 
• Are you being the action, the result, the person? In my case, the question is “am I a runner?” 

Deciding is only the catalyst, it’s the being that makes all the difference.

So, what decision will you embody today to move your business or your life forward?