Kristina Ioannou is a journalist, beauty editor and head honcho of social media, public relations and copywriting agency We Are Eden. When she’s not sniffing out her next story or helping brands + businesses kick ass at their own game, you’ll find her satisfying her Pilates addiction, podcast-bingeing, planning her next adventure abroad and spending way too much on smashed avo. Party trick: she can rap the entire lyrics of 2pac Changes without taking a breath.
In life, you need to be both a dreamer and a doer to get shit done. “We’re all dreamers. The doers are the ones that take it from the mind and into real life, who aren’t afraid to give it a crack and make their ideas a reality,” explains Kaylene Langford from The Startup Creative.
Sounds easy, right? Wrong. If procrastination is your middle name–and believe me, you’re not alone–then the whole ‘doing’ side of things can be a tricky feat to conquer, especially if it doesn’t come naturally to you.
However, if you do want to get the most outta’ this one life that we have, the good news is we all have the capacity to shift the paradigm and transmute our dreams into a physical reality. This can result in a general sense of fulfillment, accomplishment and becomes the catalyst for more ‘doing’.
Here’s how to jumpstart the ‘doing’ process and build up enough momentum to catapult yourself towards where you wanna’ be faster than an Olympic pole vaulter:
DAY 1: Define your why
Most of us let lofty dreams fall by the wayside because we don’t have a clear cut ‘why’. When we assign purpose to our dreams and map out the big picture, we suddenly light the fire needed to fuel them on. On the other end of the spectrum, knowing what our ‘why’ is helps us figure out if we’re wanting to do things for the right or wrong reasons (and not simply coz it’ll spice up our insta feed, make our parents happy or make that hot lad notice us). So go on… write down everything that needs to be done in small subheadings and beneath these, jot down exactly why you want to achieve it and how it will make you feel.
DAY 2: Lay out all of your goals then reverse engineer them
Now you know your way, it’s time to reverse engineer your goals–a powerful tactic that gads of successful peeps use to ensure they smash their goals strategically and effectively. Basically you start with the end goal in mind and then break down action steps into bite-sized pieces that aren’t overwhelming or scary to think about. Once you reverse engineer your goal, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to achieve it. Accompanying these elements with deadlines and rewards is the secret to carving out a roadmap that will gear you for success. Pen and paper in hand, get ready, get set… and GO!
DAY 3: Visualisation is everything
So you’ve got your ‘why’ list, and you’ve got your reverse engineered goal list, now you gotta add some gin to that juice with the power of visualisation. Most top performers, regardless of profession, picture themselves succeeding in their minds before they actually do. This can help you connect with the emotion of the end goal of what it is that you want to achieve so you are more likely to accomplish it and manifest it into fruition. “To really make good use of visualisation create a dream board and pick one idea and roll with it,” suggests Langford. Dream board? Don’t mind if we do!
DAY 4: Feel the fear and do it anyway
Okay, okay, this all sounds pretty great but we’re forgetting one thing–the voice of fear AKA the inner bully stopping us from stepping into our greatness. Indeed, most of us listen to that niggling voice in our heads more than we like to. You know, the one telling us ‘we’re not good enough/we’ll fail/we’ll look stupid/we’ll never get to where we want to be/we don’t deserve it’. The end result? We stay stuck and the suffering is even worse. Give your fears the finger and power through the resistance wall with the same resilience as a heavyweight bulldozer. All the good stuff is on the other side anyway.
DAY 5: Take action
What separates the dreamers from the doers? Action. Yup, taking an ‘all or nothing’ approach and starting on something even before you’re ready is a surefire way to slay your goals in lightning speed time. “Everyone has ideas and there is no such thing as perfect timing. The biggest thing holding dreamers back is fear but guess what, fear isn’t going anywhere–get in the game, make a start and learn on the job,” says Langford. Indeed, it’s time to take one tiny baby step towards your bright future. And then another… and then another… and before you’ll know it you’ll have made a gazillion baby steps that will result in a quantum leap of epic proportions. Imagine how damn amazing you’re gonna’ feel at the finish line!
DAY 6: Believe in yourself
Coz if you can’t, no one else will. Don’t give up–you got this.
