3 “Paths” to Taking Action Towards Your Goals

You have a purpose or mission that gives you direction in life.

This purpose helps create the goals you really want to achieve.

You probably have at least one goal that you want to attain in the near future.

It’s something that’s important to you and you want it really bad.

After all, being able to achieve the goals you want = success. That’s the definition of success right there.

So if you’re a man who realizes his goals, or is on his way to realizing them… then that makes you, by definition, a *successful* man.

Therefore, by this definition, being on your way to achieving your goals is enough to be “successful”.

The Paths to Achieving Your Goals and Becoming a “Successful Man”

How to achieve a goal and be “successful”?

Simply put, the path to success is massive decisive action  

There are series of actions you must take to attain your goal. You probably already know what most of these actions are.

Maybe there are mundane logistics involved, or office supplies you need to buy. Maybe you need to attain skills x, y, and z…. and learn concepts a, b, and c.

Repeat specific actions to sharpen the new skill you want to learn. Study a concept over and over again to ingrain it into your mind. Repetition is the mother of skill.

Those are the actions you need to focus on. The faster you implement them, the faster you work towards your goal.

So now the question becomes…

How Do You Get Yourself to Take Action?

1. Emotional Leverage Triggers Action

You can get yourself to take action when you have emotional leverage.

When you experience a painful event, like a breakup, it gives you emotional leverage because the pain and hurt emotionally motivates you to better yourself.

Motivation isn’t enough, though… you will soon learn that you need willpower as well.

2. Action Triggers Motivation (Doing Courage)

This second method is the most valuable of the two because it allows you to take control of your life.

See, most people are in a zombie-like state of conformity. They get complacent with boring, mediocre results. They numb themselves down with mainstream media and mainstream thought. They eat sugary or salty foods that keep them stimulated and sedated. They tell themselves they still have dreams, but end up only “living in hope”.

Maybe you didn’t get hit with painful emotional leverage, but you are here on my page reading this, which means you absolutely want to break from conformity and reach your dreams without bullshitting yourself or telling yourself an excuse.

You have burning goals and desires you want to fulfill in life, you have experiences left to live, which has motivated you to seek help online, and now here you are reading my page. 

Where am I going with this? I want to describe the path that kicks you out of that zombie-like state and towards real, concrete success.

Now here’s the thing… when we usually think of motivation, we think of emotions that trigger us to take action.

But the real gold is when you flip it around.

One “trick” I learned several years ago is that taking action triggers motivation.

In fact, most of the time, you actually get motivated because you took action first, not the other way around.

Has a buddy ever said “let’s hang out!” and you weren’t in the mood, yet he kept persisting, until you reluctantly agreed to come along… but then suddenly after a while you “woke up” and got in the mood?

That’s because getting in motion to do the thing, IN SPITE of feeling resistance to do the thing… got you motivated to do the thing.

Yes, sometimes things happen that motivate you and give you emotional leverage (emotions putting you in motion)… but you don’t want to sit around waiting for motivation to strike you. You don’t want to depend on just getting lucky…

No, you want to be proactive and take action and get motivated WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO.

So if you don’t feel motivated enough, take action first… and it will wake you up.

Taking Action Without Being Motivated Requires You to “Do Courage”

Doing courage means taking action in the face of resistance.

Resistance can be fear, anxiety… a lazy procrastinating mood etc.

If you already feel extremely motivated and confident, then it’s impossible to do courage. Courage can only happen when there’s resistance.

When part of you faces resistance, and another part of you *knows* you have to take action towards your goals and dreams, then you must *do courage* in the face of resistance… and take action.

Seek Courage-Doing Opportunities to Take Action as a Way to Trigger Motivation

Envision the next action that leads towards your goal, notice yourself feeling the resistance surrounding the action… and then take action anyways.

Then once you take action, you get motivation in return. 

As you aim towards your next goal, remember that the path to success is massive focused action.

When you feel resistance towards the action you *must* do, you must find tricks and tactics to make your body perform those actions. Your body is the vessel… and you must steer the ship in the direction you want it to go.

Another way to get yourself to take action is to…

3. Create Habits: Build Neural Pathways of the Desired Action You Want

We get various “motivational energies” that help us take action.

Motivation is the “why”… the reason for doing things… things that help us reach our goals and serve our purpose.

When you have emotional leverage it is an extreme form of motivation that is easy to turn into action.

However, motivation isn’t enough to take action.

Some people are motivated, but never get themselves to take action.

You also need willpower.

You see, motivation exists in your mind. It gives you the reasons of “why” you want to do something.

But willpower is the mind AND body.

Willpower is the ability to get yourself to take action.

You think of the reasons “why” you want to do something PLUS you make your body do those things. 

That’s what willpower is.

Now researchers at Columbia University have discovered that willpower is like a muscle.

Some people may have more willpower than others, but it’s simply because they have a bigger “willpower muscle”.

Pretend you’re in a gym. Accept where you’re at and focus on how you can make your willpower muscle bigger.

We get a dose of willpower every day… and it’s limited. It’s strongest right after waking up, and then fades during the day.

Invest Willpower Energy Into Creating “Auto-Pilot” Habits

What you want to do is invest your limited willpower energy into habits that run on autopilot.

See, once you build a habit around a specific action that works towards a goal, then you won’t need willpower anymore because the habit will work automatically.

Determine the action you want to take or the skill you want to get good at. Next, repeat the desired action every day for 30 days. Even if you feel resistance, go right through it and do it anyways.

For example, let’s say your girlfriend just dumped you, and those intense emotions gave you emotional leverage to start going to the gym to get fit.

And let’s say your emotional leverage lasted enough to power you through the first month of gym. After the first month, you already mostly recovered from the breakup… but the gym habit now remains!

What Doesn’t Kill You, Makes You Stronger

People are forced to create new life-changing habits thanks to emotional leverage.

Whether your girlfriend leaves you, you get a health scare, or you suffer a financial loss… these traumatic events throw you off your comfort zone and motivate you to learn how to attract women, get fit, eat healthier, and find new ways to make money.

I recently started getting gut inflammation that forced me to eat healthier kinds of foods.

This change of diet is something that NEVER would have happened if it wasn’t for the disease.

Now the inflammation is gone, but the diet habit remains… and I’m 50 pounds lighter!

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

Repetition is the mother of skill.

RECAP: Ways to Get Yourself to Take Action

You can…

1. Wait to get hit with emotional leverage (Emotions put you in Motion).
2. Take action and put yourself in motion first by doing courage (Motion creates Emotion).
3. Invest willpower energy into creating auto-pilot habits with the actions you want

Being Determined With Your Actions Requires Focus

Let’s review the Tony Robbins quote I showed you earlier in the article: “The path to success is to take massive, determined action”.

Now let’s analyze it carefully.

We defined “success” as “being able to achieve your goals”…

And we went through three paths that get you to take action.

But the above quote also has the word “determined”… which means you need determination to follow through with your actions.

To achieve your goals, you must have determined grit and be resolute with your purpose.

Unfortunately, most people give up along the way. They start off eager to embark on their new journey in life… only to have their excitement fade away. Then the excuses start popping up, they rationalize putting things off, and they procrastinate with taking action.

They don’t have the determination to follow through. 

That’s why determination requires “focus” and “holding thought” of your purpose and goals…

Which leads us to the article that I want you to read next:

How to Focus on Your Goals By Saying “No” and Setting Boundaries