Lesson 4 – Turning Goals into Action

Alright, so in the first three lessons I wrote a lot about the setting of goals, and mark my words when I say that getting that process right is where most people fail and then later wonder why their actions don’t yield the kind of the results they had hoped. Goals are the foundations on which we stand and the compass we follow when we inevitably (and frequently) get lost in the jungle of the music industry (or whatever field you are aiming to excel in).

At this point I’m going to assume that you’ve read the earlier lessons about BIG PICTURE THINKING, CHALLENGING YOURSELF TO SUCCEED, and CLARIFYING YOUR GOALS. If you haven’t, just click on those titles to go back and read them. It’s fundamental stuff and you’ll be grateful that you did!

So now that you’ve dreamt up and written out (or drawn) your BIG PICTURE, you’ve worked out what this next 12 months is going to be about and how that relates and leads to your ultimate dreams, AND you’ve created a list of a few challenges to undertake over the next 30 days… now what?

Now is the time for action, this first month is going to be a real test for you. It’s so easy to set challenges, write them down, and then just totally bomb out and not even attempt them. This month is going to be the month that you have to ask yourself on a daily basis: “How much do I really want this?”. If your answer is anything less than “More than anything I have ever wanted in my whole life”, then you need to go back to the drawing board.

I mean, seriously, if you have honestly sat down and visualised your BIG PICTURE then you already have an enormous advantage over most of the human race – you know exactly what you want. If you tried to come up with that picture of perfection and nothing came to you, then you should probably spend some more time on that first lesson. And if you’re really stuck, I’d like you to send me an email (use the CONTACT form at the bottom of this page) and tell me what’s going on or where you’re getting stuck, I’d be happy to coach you through the process.

Most of you will have that big picture in your mind, and many of you would have had it there long before I told you to create it. It’s important that you can remind yourself about the details and the feelings associated with this big picture as often as it takes to stay motivated. Keep your written story close by, or make photocopies of the drawing you made and keep them on the fridge, the bathroom wall, the office cubicle. Anytime you feel a sense of doubt, exhaustion, hopelessness, or just forgetfulness, immerse yourself in that vision one more time. If it really is your dream life you see, then as soon as you’re back there in your mind, you will undoubtedly feel waves of inspiration, motivation, passion and self-belief.

THAT IS THE MOMENT TO ACT. Over time you’ll learn ways to put yourself back in that headspace at will, but for now it is important to seize the moment and take an action while you’re thinking about it and feeling motivated.

To give an example, one of my challenges for this month was daily meditation. Sitting still, eyes closed and taking controlled, steady breaths whilst letting my mind wander freely without fixating on any one thing. This is indeed a challenge for me, as it would be for anyone who is not an experienced meditator. So challenging was the notion of sitting down and NOT DOING ANYTHING for a little while, that I totally skipped it for the first four days of the month. Each night I’d crawl into bed thinking “oh damn, I forgot to meditate today!”, fully knowing that I was lying to myself. I didn’t forget at all, I simply put it off. In fact, over each of those 4 days there were at least five times that the meditation challenge entered my thoughts and rather than seizing the moment and moving away from the computer, or studio console, or wherever I was working, I just said to myself “Oh yeah, definitely do that later”.

A little secret about life: LATER NEVER COMES.

Today it turned around for me. I hadn’t yet left for the studio to start my mentoring sessions for the day, and the weather was just beautiful. I was looking at a desk in the shed that I was considering taking to my studio when I suddenly remembered my choice to spend 10 minutes a day in meditation. Instantly I dropped everything and said to my wife and mother-in-law “I need to meditate” and, as if possessed, I walked directly over to a wooden bench in the sunshine under a huge gum tree, sat down with my eyes closed and took a deep… long… calming breath. Ten minutes later I was in a state of placid bliss. When I opened my eyes I was overwhelmed by the colour that burst forth into my skull, and although I had not fixated on too many single thoughts whilst silently sitting, the first thing that happened when I came back up was all of my ideas, visions, possibilities that normally run through my brain like demons from Pandora’s box, all came into sharp focus. I knew exactly what I wanted out of the day ahead and with more grace and peace than I normally carry, I went about my day and had a fantastic one.

In 4 days of putting off my meditation for fear of losing flow in my work, I deprived myself of a state of so much focus and clarity that I would have achieved more in 1 of those days than I did in all of them put together.

My point here is not to shove meditation down your throat as the answer to everything, it was just MY answer in that moment and, especially after the instant gratification of my act of INTEGRITY today, I know with absolute confidence that I will meditate again tomorrow, and every day left in this month. That is one of my five challenges and I feel like it is well in hand, but only because on the 5th day I decided to take immediate action when I was motivated instead of waiting for that “perfect” time.

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME.

Perhaps reading this has brought to mind the areas where you are currently not taking action towards your own 30-day challenge. To be kind, I will stop writing now so that you can drop everything and take an action that sets you back on the path towards your dreams coming true. By the time you get back, the next lesson might be up.

Go on, right now. Go!

Love and much respect

James Higgins

Director and founder of J.Fox Soul