And what did you do...INSTEAD?

In my first few minutes of talking strategy with a client, we'd dive into two things: 1) What is the bluest possible sky you're striving towards? and 2) What specific things did you do in the past few days to get there?

They rarely can answer either question.

My goal isn't to challenge or horrify them – it's to redirect their focus. Because what we focus on ignites.

If you have an enormous dream, a real vision for your life, and you're making little or no progress towards it, you might tell yourself that you're too busy, that it's too big to tackle right now, that it isn't likely or even possible that you can make it happen. Take a moment now to reframe that:

It's not that you have too much to do. It's all the less important things you're choosing to do...INSTEAD.

In that first strategy session, we first establish what their bluest possible sky is. That's its own process, so for right now, simply articulate something you frequently say you wish you were doing in your life (even if you only whisper it to yourself).

Now do an Audit of Action:

1. What did you do this morning, yesterday, and over the past seven days to actively move that needle forward?
2. What did you do...INSTEAD?

Write the actual lists down. They both matter. If the first list is short – or empty – list what you could have done in parentheses.

The second list is not a list of unimportant things (this an audit, not a recrimination). You list everything you did because there, on that list, you will find your "insteads." And in the "insteads" lie your areas of opportunity.

If your goal is financial freedom, what "insteads" left your cash flow unchanged – or worse, moved it closer to the red? What if the hour-long break you gave yourself to shop online was reassigned to researching a higher interest savings account?

If your goal is a new job, what "insteads" could be swapped out for broader research about the type of work you really want to do, or for free online skills development and certificates via your public library?

At its simplest, this work helps you ask yourself the simple question: What active steps have I taken to get where I say I'm trying to go? The best possible outcome is not that you feel blame, shame, or futility. Instead...INSTEAD...you experience the satisfying click of a lightbulb:

You thought your dream wasn't happening because it was too far out of reach. INSTEAD, it isn't realized yet because you haven't taken any action to make it so.

Begin.