You Know What You Need To Do, So Why Aren’t You Doing It?

You cannot change what you can’t see, that’s why responsibility is always the first step.

If you blame your weight on big bones or the person who traumatised you, you won’t even know that it's something you can change, let alone change it. Responsibility puts the control in your hands.

It’s finally knowing that:

you need to get a better job

you spend too much time scrolling

your sleep needs fixing

you need to leave that person behind

So, why aren’t you actually doing something about it?

What’s the difference between knowing and doing? And how can you bridge the gap?

Uncertainty

The reason why doing so becomes so difficult is because although we may hate whatever it is we want to change, we often hate the thought of uncertainty more.

Even bad situations can become our comfort zone, and leaving the comfort zone is always…well…uncomfortable.

It’s leaving old habits, routine, thought patterns, excuses, beliefs and people behind, all of which are scary to face.

Sometimes we’d rather keep a known negative than venture off into the unknown for the possibility of a positive. Keeping us from ever taking action.

But once you identify something that needs changing, you’re going to suffer from it even more than before, that is, until you change it. And the only way to change it is to act.

If you think uncertainty might be holding you back, just think: would you rather face short-term discomfort for the sake of long-term improvement or stay the same forever?

Unfortunately, I do not have a magic formula for the fear of uncertainty to disappear, only remind you that sometimes, discomfort is a necessary evil.

Fear of Failure

Speaking of fear, it’s another major reason people refuse to act.

Knowing it should be changed is one thing, but risking the possibility of failing at the attempt of changing it is on a whole other level.

What if I don’t get the job..

What if I regret leaving them..

What if the business fails..

All of the above are so terrifying that you would rather leave them exactly as they currently are: what-ifs. What you fail to realise, though, is that by never trying, you guarantee the very thing you’re afraid of.

By never trying, you’ve already failed…

At least if you do try and “fail”, you can find out what went wrong, address it, and try again.

Also, if I may let my crazy thoughts run wild here ...what if it works…

There’s only one way to find out.

Lack Of Self-Belief

Another major reason why people never reach the point of action is that they don’t even believe they could change it.

As sad as it may seem, people just don’t believe in themselves to even make the simplest of healthy choices.

But what they don’t realise is that their self-belief, or their lack of it, is changeable.

You’re not born believing in your abilities. You have nothing to believe in. Self-belief is acquired, and it’s acquired through evidence.

You’ve heard me say it before, and I'll say it again: Self-belief is proof.

Of course you don’t believe in yourself to make big life changes when you haven’t even kept the smallest of promises to yourself.

You don’t get up when you said you would, you ate the thing you promised yourself you wouldn’t, you skipped the workout. These are all broken promises that compound into a lack of self-belief.

If your friend broke as many promises to you as you do to yourself, you’d never speak to them again. And yet, you do it to yourself.

So, start there. Set a goal, no matter how small, and work until it’s complete. Set a harder goal, then repeat.

When you start building positive evidence and leave the negative evidence behind, you’ll have no choice but to believe in yourself. You just have to start.