So what exactly is the Power of Do? Well, in a nutshell – it is the single driving force between having goals, and achieving them.
There is little doubt that creating goals, to-do lists, or putting your dreams down on paper can all have an incredible impact on your life. But at the end of the day, a list is just a list unless there is action. And that action needs to be consistent, even if just a little is accomplished every day.
Whether you want to create your first garden, start a new business or career, build a tiny home or farm, retire early – or follow a passion, it all starts with a plan.
And yes, that plan is an extremely important first step to success. It keeps you focused. It keeps goals and dreams front and center, and at the top of the mind.
But it won’t make your dreams happen. No matter how much time you spend creating it, or how perfect your list is. And that is where many a dream is stalled. But the answer to it all can be found simple in the Power of Do!
The Power Of Do – How To Accomplish Dreams With Action
When it all comes down to it, nothing is ever completed or accomplished without an act of Doing. You can talk about your hopes, wishes and dreams all day long, and you can plan them for months and years, but until you start Doing – it’s only just a dream.
And that is exactly why most goal lists end up falling short, or failing entirely. Because there is too much dreaming and planning, and not enough Doing. Or perhaps in some cases – not any of either!
Every single day, when we wake up, we have a choice. A choice to work at our dreams – or a choice to simply dream about them. In fact, you can even say the choice starts every morning when you decided to get up. Early to attack the day? Or sleep in to keep dreaming.
For us, it all started in 2010 with the dream of creating a little farm where we could live, work, garden, build, write, cook – and slow down to a more simple life in a world that was filled with chaos.
Coincidentally, those things listed above were always huge passions of ours. But ones that we didn’t seem to ever get around to doing. So in 2010, we sat down and wrote our first annual goal list to put us on the track to chasing down our dreams.
Putting Your Goals Into Motion
I remember well looking at our first annual To-Do list up on our refrigerator and being totally intimidated. Some of the goals would take months and a lot of action. Others could be completed in a few days. And still more we had no idea at all how long they might take, or if we could even do them.
And that is when the Power of Do took over. We coined the “Power of Do” phrase one night early on. We began to realize we were paralyzing ourselves with the end of the goal, and not the process.
So instead of getting lost in our big dreams, we dug in trying to accomplish something little every day toward one of the goals. And that, along with 2 other little daily principals made all of the difference. And to us – became the Power of Do.
The 3 Principals Of The Power Of Do – How To Accomplish Your Dreams
#1) Do Something Every Single Day Toward Your Goals – The Power of Do
This is the big one – and the one that sidetracks most people from accomplishing their dreams. Do something every single day to help make your dreams come true. It may be research, it may be making phone calls or writing emails.
Every single day, we still write down a list of small daily tasks in our favorite little recycled notebooks. Tiny goals to accomplish that day that always lead to a larger goal. But it keeps us doing, and that is so important.
There is massive power in the Power of Do. Too many folks wait for the perfect time. When in reality, the perfect time is today. Maybe you want to paint your shed, but don’t have 6 hours to complete it. So paint a side. Or even two boards. But paint something. And before you know it – you can check it off that list.
Want to write a book? A book needs chapters first. And before that, it needs paragraphs. And before that sentences. So even if it’s a sentence, write one today. Do that for a few days, and you suddenly have a paragraph. Then a chapter, and a book!
It is the same for any project, big or small. Just move the needle. Advance the ball a little. The power of Doing really does get you there. Way more than waiting for the perfect day to do it.
#2) Attitude Is Everything – Especially A Positive Attitude! – The Power of Do :
Everything, especially completing your goals, starts with having the right attitude.
A positive attitude is infectious – people want to know more, want to help, and want to see you succeed. Surround yourself with positive thoughts, positive people and a willingness to work a little every day at your dreams – and great things happen.
#3) Accepting You Will Fail But Not Accepting Failure – The Power of Do
And finally, that goal list is going to bring you some rough moments. Don’t quit because of them, embrace them. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, failure has become something people don’t want to talk about. We not only talk about it – we laugh about it!
The reality of life is that you are going to fail way more than you can ever hope to succeed. But it’s how you deal with the failures that makes all the difference in your personal happiness.
Mary and I have screwed up so many projects that we long ago lost count. But we have lost count because it’s not the end of trying – just the beginning of figuring it all out. And honestly, the fun is always in the process – not the finished results.
About That Goal List…
So back to that annual goal list. We indeed have a strange way perhaps of setting our yearly goals. But for us, it has been not only fun and exciting, but a great way to come together on shared dreams.
At the end of each year, we begin by writing down 24 things we want to do or accomplish by the end of the following year. But we do this separately. Then, we sit down together to combine each of our lists to a single list of 24.
It’s interesting to see each of our takes on what we are thinking. And to sit down together and figure out what are really the most important 24 goals.
The annual goal list has been incredibly instrumental in helping us to create the dream of our farm from scratch. But even more, we both credit it with being the the driving force that put us down the path to living a more simple and fulfilling life.
And we still continue to do that very same drill every year – and always will. Here is to putting your goals in writing, and making them all happen. A little every single day with the Power of Do! Happy Living – Jim and Mary
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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