4 Essential Strategies to Prepare Your Mind for Progress

Christine Li [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the Make Time for Success podcast. This is episode number 284. I was just thinking that life is a mix of so many different episodes of our trying to either make progress or to prepare ourselves to make progress. And I thought, why don't I put together some of my favorite strategies for preparing the mind for progress for this episode? I think the content in this episode is going to help you whether you've been sunk in a puddle of procrastination or if you feel like you're just ready to bust out and show the world what you're made out of, no matter what situation you are in. I think this episode is going to be inspiring to you. Let's go listen to it now. Foreign.

Dr. Christine Li [00:00:59]:
Hi, I'm Dr. Christine Li and I'm a psychologist and a procrastination coach. I've helped thousands of people move past procrastination and overwhelm so they could begin working to their potential. In this podcast, you're going to learn powerful strategies for getting your mind, body and energy to work together so that you can focus on what's really important

Christine Li [00:01:23]:
and accomplish the goals you want to achieve.

Dr. Christine Li [00:01:26]:
When you start living within your full power, you're going to see how being productive can be easy and how you can create success on demand. Welcome to the Make Time for Success podcast. Hi my friends.

Christine Li [00:01:42]:
Today we're going to talk about the basic rules of making progress and the basic strategies that I think are very, very helpful to get your mind prepared to make progress. I think so often we have our to do list ready to go, but there's another piece that we need. We need to feel ready. We need to prepare ourselves for the task, we need to prepare our mindset, we need to prepare our environment, and so on and so forth. So I thought I would share a few of my thoughts, things that have helped me to get more done, to make it easier to get some things done, and to of course, help other people to get their stuff done as well. The first strategy you should keep in mind when you're trying to get things done is that thought needs to be paired with action. I will say that again. When you're trying to get things done, your thoughts and your beliefs, they need to be paired with action.

Christine Li [00:02:51]:
Now, that may sound really basic or really obvious, but I think what happens when we're trying to get things done oftentimes is that we think. We think, we think, we plan, we strategize, we overthink, we might ruminate, we might have fearful thoughts about the process we might worry about how much energy it's going to take from us, and we get stuck in the thinking zone. And guess what happens when we get stuck in the thinking zone? We end up losing precious time. We end up feeling like the task is harder than it actually is, and we kind of lose ourselves as well. We're thinking we are making progress. But when you're just stuck in the thinking zone, you're just thinking. So remember, whenever you're trying to get things done, remember to always be trying to put your thoughts into action. Even if it feels like it's too early.

Christine Li [00:03:53]:
Even if it feels like you don't have all the answers or the layout completely worked out yet. I think oftentimes it helps just to put a foot forward, essentially, and to get out of your brain and to think, oh, what is my environment asking for? What is my work asking me to do? What am I looking for? In the end, really have your eye trained on your end goal. You're thinking so carefully about a particular outcome that you want to see what is the action that is going to bridge your thoughts to that end? Outcome. It's going to be okay. I think it's the fear and the anxiety that makes us believe that things are not okay, when in reality, things just go fine. When we take action, sometimes our actions are the wrong actions, but we can recover from that. So I just really want you to remember, pair the thought with the action, remember you were safe, and remember that action is really the critical piece you need to get going. You need to keep yourself in flow.

Christine Li [00:05:04]:
So pair your thoughts with action. When we don't pair our thoughts with action, what we end up creating space for is giant buckets of procrastination and procrastination. When layered over with time, procrastination becomes a giant problem for us. So make sure to stay clear of the procrastination. Keep your outcome in mind, keep the actions flowing, and you will get there. Action, when taken, leads to so many wonderful things. We get to change ourselves. We become action takers.

Christine Li [00:05:41]:
We are no longer the thinkers and the dreamers. We are actually the doers. And that's basically where the energy lies, where the newness lies. So you get to be a new person. You get to read the room. You get to see what your action changed. What kind of feedback are you getting from the other people around you, from your heart, from your circumstances? You've created a whole new world by taking action. The second idea that I want you to keep in mind in order to prepare your mind for Progress is that we do really well when we're fueled by our desire.

Christine Li [00:06:21]:
And we don't do so well when we're fueled by our fear. Again, we do really well. Typically when we're fueled by our desire, what we want to see happen, our wishes and our dreams and our hopes. And we tend to go a little bit more wonky or shakily when we are fueled by our fear. And all of us have had experience being fueled by desire. And all of us, I am quite sure, have had the experience of being fueled by our fear. We're just waiting until the deadline approaches and then we're just gonna eke something out. And that is operating from fear.

Christine Li [00:07:02]:
When we're just so afraid that we really can't even think clearly or creatively. I would love for you to practice the other way of being creative and productive. I want you to practice knowing that you have what it takes, knowing that everything is going to be okay, knowing that your creativity is unique and valuable and needed in this circumstance so that you can generate the best possible outcome for yourself. We spend so much time doubting ourselves and sunk in procrastination that I think many of us have shortchanged ourselves from really being in our genius zone, from really feeling powerful when we're getting things done, from really saying, you know, the experimentation is part of the process of creating and success. So let me just be a scientist, let me be the artist, let me be the writer, let me be the genius here. It is going to be okay. And because it is okay, because we need your unique genius, I want you to practice knowing what you want, knowing what your goals are, knowing what your heart is sending you messages about, what is your passion, what is your desire, what is your itch? And follow that, because that is real information for you. That is not hocus pocus, random stuff.

Christine Li [00:08:34]:
It is real fire within you. So chase that fire instead of running from the catastrophe that you're creating in your mind, which is that fear situation where everybody's yelling at you, you humiliate yourself, you don't turn the assignment in on time, and you don't know what you're doing. That is really the false narrative. We want to go with the truth, which is you are very well endowed with a lot of skills, a lot of talent, unique genius. And we just want to uncover, reveal that genius and let it shine in the world. The third strategy that I have for you for preparing your mind for progress is a very pragmatic one. You want to craft a very specific and doable goal for yourself. I think so much time is lost when we stay fuzzy in our minds where we don't really know what we're aiming for, where we are afraid to be very specific about what kind of career we want, what kind of recognition we want, what kind of money we desire, what kind of interactions we are looking for.

Christine Li [00:09:44]:
Be very specific. Be specific, like you're writing a screenplay and somebody's going to act at the role. Because guess what, this is your movie that you're writing. And you don't want to be walking on set without any lines, without good lines to share with the world, without a plot line that you're excited about, without a set that is beautiful and gorgeous and supportive of you and supportive of your particular storyline. You are the author. You are the set designer, you are the actor. So make it fun for yourself, make it exciting. Craft very specific and doable goals for yourself so you're not feeling like you just walked into the middle of somebody else's story, right? We are all crafting our own screenplay.

Christine Li [00:10:37]:
So get better at writing, get better at dreaming, and get better at making these specific, doable goals so that you can make progress and celebrate time after time after time. I really hope you can do that for yourself because it gets very exciting when you see yourself as a successful author of your own life and your own story. Make it a good story. Drama is not necessary. We're just saying drama because we all like a little bit of drama on the screen, but sometimes we just want peace in our lives, maybe with a little bit of excitement thrown in. So craft the life that you really want by crafting these doable goals as little Lego blocks for you to piece together the story that you want to live. The final tip that I have for you today for preparing your mind for progress is a really important one. I want you to get really good at making decisions.

Christine Li [00:11:37]:
And that makes sense, given all the other strategies I've shared with you today. Without the ability to make good, solid decisions and to stick by them, it doesn't matter what our goals are. It doesn't matter how great we are at taking action, because when we fail to make decisions, we are not, again, being the person who's in charge of the story. We are letting our environment, we're letting circumstances, we're letting time really dictate what what happens, like what players are coming into our story, how the plot unfolds, it's beyond us. We want to take the reins. We want to really have a very active, powerful, confident role in the story and the Way we do that is through the way we make decisions. When we hem and haw, we lose time, we lose power, we lose steam. But when we get very sharp in our decision making capacity, when we trust ourselves, when we use our best instincts, when we read up on the subjects that we're dealing with, when we prepare ourselves, when we sleep well at night, this is all part of the process of becoming great decision makers.

Christine Li [00:13:00]:
And you really can do this. You may have had a long history of, of self doubt or low self confidence, but you can build this skill in your life. I promise you you can. Because this is something that I have done in my own life and I promise you I was not a good decision maker. I did not have that skill. I did not have self confidence. But over the years what I've learned is that when I want something, I need to get good at knowing what I'm doing and, and knowing what decisions I'm making and need to be made in order to enjoy the eventual success. But I also along the way realized that success is mine if I decide to search for it and work for it and wish for it and make it happen.

Christine Li [00:13:50]:
And you know what? The same rules that are in my life apply to your life. You can get the success that you're hoping for, the success that you're worried might slip by you. You can grab it for yourself by using the strategies that I just shared with you. Pair your thoughts with action. Get control over your life. Decide that you're not afraid of taking action, you're actually excited to follow your desires. Decide that the goals that you've made for yourself are not only doable, but they're already done. You're going to start with the attitude of I've got this, nobody's going to stop me.

Christine Li [00:14:33]:
It is definitely happening before the end of the particular time period that you choose. And then of course you're going to have your great decision making to back you up. Whenever you show up with a new idea, you've got a record to rest on, you've got your reputation and, and you've got your beautiful self confidence and desire right on scene, right on time in a beautiful way. I hope these strategies have motivated you to think more creatively, to think bigger for yourself and to take one really important action today. I would love that for you. Feel free to share with me what you do. DM me over on Instagram. I'm procrastinationcoach and I can't wait to hear about your successes.

Christine Li [00:15:24]:
If you'd like a free worksheet to work these strategies through for your own life and your own to do list and your own dream list. Please go to maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/progress again maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/progress. You have got this. You've got this free downloadable resource to help you. And you've got this podcast to come back to week after week too. Thanks so much for being a loyal listener of the Make Time for Success Podcast. I will see you next week. Bye.

Dr. Christine Li [00:16:01]:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Make Time for Success Podcast.

Christine Li [00:16:06]:
If you enjoyed what you heard, you

Dr. Christine Li [00:16:08]:
can subscribe to make sure you get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also Visit our website maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com for past episodes, show notes, and all the resources we mention on the show. Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram too. You can find me there under the name Procrastination Coach. Send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts are about the episodes you've been listening to. And let me know any topics that you might like me to talk about on the show. I'd love to hear all about how you're making Time for Success.

Christine Li [00:16:41]:
Talk to you soon.