How to Take Action Every Day: 5 Powerful Habits

A woman jumping high in the green and lush mountains.

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
Leonardo Da Vinci

One of the biggest and most common problems with improving your life or the success you want out of it is that you may not take consistent action over a longer time period.

Now, consistency isn’t the sexiest or most exciting word.

But it is, coupled with time, what will give you real results in your life.

Sticking with the program and doing something consistently – and not just when you feel inspired or something like that – is very, very powerful.

This is something I have struggled with a lot in the past. And on some days I still do.

But over the years I have found a few things that really help me with this.

1. When you’re taking action, focus only on the process.

I use this one, for example, when I do my workouts and when I write. I don’t take responsibility for the results in my mind.

I take responsibility for showing up and doing my workout/the writing. That’s it.

The results come anyway from that consistent action. And this makes it easier for me to take this action because:

  • I know that is all I need to focus on. And so my energy and attention is only focused in one direction and I do a better job.
  • I feel a lot less pressure on myself. And so I’m more relaxed and prone to continue compared to if I stare myself blind on the potential results that never come as quickly as I may want and if I’m on an emotional roller coaster from day to day.

2. Remember why you are taking action.

Find your top priorities and reasons for why you are doing what you are doing.

It could be to provide for your family, to save up for traveling, to get the job you really want or to improve your self-confidence. Or something else.

To not lose track of why you are taking action and to stay focused:

  • Write down your most important reasons. Take a few minutes, sit down with paper and a pen and write down the top 1-3 reasons for why you take action and want to keep doing that in your life right now.
  • Put that note where you can see it every day. Like for example in your workspace or near your bed so that you see it every morning when you wake up.

3. Reminder: you don’t want to hurt yourself.

When you disappoint yourself and don’t think and do as you really deep down want to you hurt yourself by lowering your self-esteem.

Whatever you do during your day sends signals back to yourself about what kind of person you are. Do the right thing like being effective, kind, going to the gym or simply rest and you feel good.

Get lazy, negative or just plain mean and you tend to feel worse after a while.

You don’t get away, there is no escaping yourself. And there is always a price to pay.

4. Take smaller steps on the days when the big ones seem too daunting.

On some days getting started with any of the the most important tasks may seem daunting. And so you start to procrastinate.

When that happens, one thing that has worked for me is to be kind.

To nudge myself forward instead of beating myself up.

So at such times I take:

  • A small step. I may make a deal with myself to just work for 5 minutes on a piece of a bigger and more difficult task.
  • An even smaller step. If that small step feels like too much and I start to procrastinate I make a deal with myself for 1 or 2 minutes of work.

Sometimes that results in a few dents put into a big task, a couple of smaller tasks being completed and many breaks being taken throughout the day.

And sometimes the easy start or restart to the day is all I need to get going again and to have a good and very productive time before the evening arrives.

Either way, I move forward instead of standing still.

5. Celebrate what you did today.

When you appreciate your good work you feel even better about your life and yourself.

And over time taking more action with less inner resistance becomes possible and you associate action with more positive emotions than you may at this time.

So…

  • Take two minutes at the end of the day to think about what you can appreciate about what you did today. Or write down a couple of self-appreciative things in your journal.
  • Have a tasty treat or a bigger celebration.
  • Tell someone how nice something turned out, how you learned a good lesson or how proud you are over something important you did today.

Reward yourself for the things you did right today to strengthen your action taking habit.

And remember to be kind to yourself for the things you may have missed or not gotten done.

No point in trying to beat yourself up. No point in trying to be perfect.

See what you can learn from it and perhaps try another solution tomorrow and see if that works better.

 

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About the Author

Henrik Edberg is the creator of the Positivity Blog and has written weekly articles here since 2006. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Gothenburg and has been featured on Lifehacker, HuffPost and Paulo Coelho’s blog. Click here to learn more…

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Brendah sharon

    your a blessing to me.
    thank you lots!

  • R

    Awesome stuff Henrik!

  • Great tips, I loved the one about focusing on the process! That’s something I’ve been really focusing on lately, and it’s lead to some great results!

    • Great tips Action Every day Thank for sharing

    • Michelle

      I loved that too! It takes away the pressure and the anxiety!

  • Alani

    You are like a blessing to me. Your emails sometimes come at the right time! You get what I am feeling. Thank you a lot!

    • Michelle

      Exactly!!???

  • Alma Smith

    I love all your posts, even those I don’t feel that are about how I feel! Usually those are the most helpful!
    Thank you for all you do!

  • Hey

    This is really helpful.

  • Hi,
    I am lucky to have landed on your website today. This article takes a realistic approach.

    One thing I really feel gives you a strong connection with yourself is to take few minutes at the end of the day to summarize what you did today and appreciate everything that you did good.

    We usually never do that. We are just lost in this world. Bed has become a refuge and nothing else.
    But, I am sure after you pointing out the fact that one should keep those few precious minutes for oneself. Appreciate yourself and then go to a peaceful sleep.

    I have already subscribed to your newsletters as I don’t want to miss anything.

    Thanks a lot for contributing so much of positivity and hope.

  • Awesome tips, I loved the one about focusing on the process! That’s something I’ve been really focusing on lately, and it’s lead to some great results!

  • Isa.

    Your emails and posts are really like the positive pill of the day. ! Thanks!
    I however have a question for you, how do you stop feeling guilty of the past. It is important to start but how do you deal with late start… time cannot be recovered.

  • Anonymous

    You are awesome! Thank you!

  • Gunendra

    Hi Henrik, you are great and very helpful in what you write. I find them valuable, as I am sure many others do. I wish you, continous and increasing levels of Happiness, Success and Prosperity!!!

  • Another great article. I like the first one. It is important to be mindful of what we are doing in the present moment.

    Many people have their thoughts on the past or the future, and seldom fully on what they are doing in the present moment.
    Khun Greg

  • The thought that NOT doing something is an act of hurting myself/letting myself down, is a new way of looking at things for me and quite profound.
    Many thanks. Stay well.
    L.

  • Awesome tips, I like & also reads all your posts