Is there anything you want to achieve? Or accomplish? Do you always achieve your goals?

Same like you, I also have goals, and I have many goals over the years. But I don’t achieve them all. For example, I wanted to join Toastmasters club. I know that public speaking skill is very useful for work, for social occasions, and for personal development. People can even earn money by giving speeches at conferences. Messages are passed on to the audience when delivered effectively. That’s why TEDTalk is so popular. Without effective communication skills, great content can bore the audience.

I fully recognized the fact that my public speaking skill is rudimentary, and I wanted to improve it. So what did I do? I googled online and found a local Toastmasters club. So I attended local Toastmasters meetings.

In fact, I have attended three different places in the past 4 years: Singapore, Zurich, and Zug. I joined one meeting in Singapore, then I stopped. I joined three meetings in Zurich, then I stopped, I join 3 meetings in Zug in December last year, and then I stopped. Only in May this year I became a member. It took me 4 years to be a member of the Toastmasters club.

Why?

Because I was planning to.

Let me explain to you, what do I mean by ‘I was planning to’.

I was planning to means I was thinking of what I want to do instead of doing it.

As a result, on the day of Toastmasters meeting, my thought of ‘oh I am so tired today’, ‘oh, it was too cold outside’, ‘oh, I still have work to do’ will take over the thought of ‘I will join the toastmasters meeting tonight.” Because your lazy thoughts always win. Have you ever experienced that you wanted to go to the gym or do some exercises, then you were asking yourself if you should do it or not? Most of the time, you ended up not doing it.

So you might wonder, how did I join the club in the end?

I stopped thinking and planning, I just did it. I also conditioned my mind to be action-oriented. Instead of saying “I plan to, I want to, or I’d like to”, I conditioned my mind by using sentences like “I join Toastmasters club”, “I go to Toastmasters meeting”. Because when you tell yourself ‘I plan to, I would like to or I want to” You are basically conditioning your mind, that whatever you plan to do, is a wish, an idea. And remember your lazy thoughts? They are always there to fight against your active mind. So by using the verb in the present tense, you are telling yourself ‘you are doing it’. Have you read the book <The Secret>? The essence of the book is about the Law of Attraction — your thoughts become things.

What I did one step further, is to write down my goals on a piece of paper using the present tense to describe my actions. For example, I wrote “I attend Toastmasters meeting every other week” or “I meditate every morning” or “I work out 4 times a week”. I describe what I do, instead of what I wish to do. By both telling myself what I do and write them down, I further reinforced the actions that I take.

I can’t get more results with this method. It is really miraculous. For example with a gym membership. Do you have a gym membership? How often do you use it? For me, it is the fourth time I signed up for a gym membership which I failed to use often in the last three times. But now I am going to the gym minimum of 4 times a week. How? Because I just go. I don’t spare a thought on planning to go or considering going or even feeling it. I already conditioned my mind that I just go to the gym 4 times a week, so I just go. I make taking action a habit.

You only need to change one thing to achieve results — take action.

If you are reading this article, and you have a goal or want to achieve something, stop thinking of it, stop planning for it, stop staying “I plan to, I want to or I would like to”. Just do it! Actions lead to results, not the thinking of it!