It’s Thanksgiving time!
Yes, it is a time to reflect and be thankful for all of the people, things, and experiences in our lives that make us better.
This year, I want to challenge you to give thanks from an additional perspective that you probably haven’t done before.
What can you do now that your FUTURE SELF will thank you for?
Your Future Self is who you aspire to be. Your Future Self has achieved the goals that you’re working on now (e.g. to start a business, to have a more fulfilling job, to be in great shape, to have passion and purpose in everything that you do, etc.).
Your Future Self has also successfully made the necessary changes within yourself in order to have gotten to the place where he or she currently is (e.g. to be more confident, to have more courage, to be more resilient, to have more grit, to be more committed to one’s own happiness, to be more disciplined, to be more focused, to not take things personally, to overcome fear of failure, to overcome fear of change, to stop overanalyzing, to be more proactive, etc.)
Here are 4 steps that you can implement today that your Future Self will thank you for.
They are “The 4 A’s”:
1. Awareness.
- The first step is becoming aware of what you want to change in your external world AND what changes you need to make in yourself in order to make it happen.
2. Ask. Ask yourself:
– Do I really want to do something about it? Be honest. How BAD do I actually want it?
– If I really want it badly, am I willing to work really hard at it?
If it turns out that you want something to change in your life, but you’re not willing to work really hard for it, then there’s no need to continue to steps 3 and 4.
Don’t despair though. Find something that you ARE willing to sacrifice time, money, effort, and your comfort zone for. Then, go back to step 1.
3. Action. Start by making small, concrete action steps that are within your control. Make sure that the action steps move you in a positive direction, are completely within your control, have a good size-to-time ratio, and are specific and measurable. (e.g. I will attend Wednesday’s networking event and speak to 5 people about what I’m looking for, or I will be more direct with my boss on Tuesday instead of being passive aggressive, or I will send out 10 resumes on Monday and follow up with a phone call if I don’t hear back within a week, etc.)
Make consistent action steps and follow through on them.
4. Acknowledge. If you follow through on your action steps, take time to acknowledge yourself and anybody who helped make it possible.
Keep in mind that an acknowledgement is more than just praise. It is recognizing a quality in yourself and in others that was exemplified that you would like to acknowledge.
This Thanksgiving, I challenge you to implement the “4 A’s”. By next Thanksgiving, you will be a lot closer to the Future Self that you envision.
Be thankful in knowing that you already have everything inside of yourself to become who you want you to be and to do what you want to do…just don’t take yourself for granted.
Now that’s something to be grateful for!
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, friends!
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