What are you gonna do differently?
I love this line from Tony Robbins, one of the world’s profound doers:
“Never leave the site of a goal or an idea without figuring some way to apply it immediately.”
This is how I use this to achieve goals myself or with clients.
Whenever I get stuck with the results I don’t like, whenever we are in a bit of a rut with my clients, I always like getting back to asking myself these 3 simple questions:
-
Why are we getting the results we’re getting? Which actions (and inactions) add up to this outcome?
-
What will we do differently from now on to create a different result?
-
And, now empowered by Tony's quote and equipped with the Behavioral Science toolkit - what systems will we put in place today so that the new action happens almost on autopilot tomorrow? - systems to remind us of a new action when we can actually do it, systems to make it easier to take that action, systems to remind us why it’s important, keeping us accountable for what we do or don't do.
Deciding isn’t doing. Understanding isn’t doing. Willpower isn’t a system.
Every aspiration is like a seed that needs to be put into fertile soil with the right kind of nourishment to set roots, sprout and produce fruits of our future 🌱
None of this requires more grit. It requires better conditions. And THAT - we can design.
A quick design checklist (steal this)
-
Prompt: What will remind me at the right moment? (Calendar block, alarm, visual cue, buddy ping.)
-
Make it easy: How can I make the first 2 minutes stupid-simple? (Shoes by the bed, doc open, template ready.)
-
Reduce/increase friction: What will I remove or pre-decide? (Hide the app, put phone in another room, pre-order meal plan, block out time on the calendar for the learning.)
-
Why now: What does making this progress mean for my future? Who can I share my journey with to remind me of this often? (Streak tracker, done list, public commitment.)
Over to you dear reader, what systems and context need to be put in place to consistently do things differently, aligned with the future you want?