Now What?
You’ve finished your Personal Retreat and taken a day to relax and review all you’ve explored. You may have a lot of to-do’s. Maybe you have a few questions to consider. You could even have one big goal you’ve walked away with. Whatever it is, you’ve gotten it started, but what’s next?
After you’ve come up with a great idea, it’s now time for action in making the changes.
“Figuring out next steps is going to take me some time. I must do this other thing first and then that other thing. I’ll get to it later.”
Hesitation is your enemy.
“Wow, it’s been a couple weeks since I did my retreat. I really need to get started on all that. I put a lot of effort into it and I don’t want to waste it. I’ll do it next week for sure.”
Now it gets painful.
“I totally forgot I was going to work on this and now I can’t remember a couple things I didn’t think I needed to write down. I’m kind of disappointed in myself.”
There’s a cyclical process that starts to happen. It starts with a little well-intentioned break, then a completely understandable forgetful moment. Before long you might even start transferring the resentment of your inaction to the very thing that can bring you out of some self-loathing.
Self-Discipline
You are probably no stranger to this concept. We must find the fortitude to get ourselves up and going on the things we NEED to do. Some might call it “adulting” but the motivation to do those tasks comes from self-discipline.
I know a few people who address procrastination as an enemy to fight. I am an Army veteran so I can certainly appreciate turning my obstacles into challenges that I fight through. Scaling that wall, crawling through that mud, jumping over a ditch, and climbing a rope web are a perfect example of the challenges that I put my body through. So now they’re challenges of my mind and motivation.
Maybe you are making changes that are to become new habits. This is where self-discipline can be put to the test. Consider this “toolbox” of habits you can start which help you make new habits.
Have you heard of the statement “you only need to do a thing for 21 days and it becomes a habit”? I’ve heard 6 months, 12 weeks, and all kinds of other sayings. I can tell you that it’s going to be different for each one of us. Don’t see a habit as something that will magically start going on automatic after a certain amount of time.
I’m no stranger to changing habits. I was a tobacco user for many years and the amount of self-discipline I needed to move away from that habit was greater than any I’d ever done before.
Smokers sometimes consider themselves “quit” instead of a non-smoker. They realize that they’ve only quit until they start again. I think this was one way I could take that guilt and resentment out of the equation because I don’t have be hard on myself for my failure. I’ve only quit so long as I’m not smoking.
So, if you fall off the “wagon” just start again tomorrow.
Celebrate Success
Set yourself a reward of a day off, watch a favorite movie, a night out with your best friend, or a couple hours of your favorite hobby to celebrate.
You have a big positive change in your life, a new habit, maybe some new habit-forming skills, and success against many obstacles and adversaries. I can’t think of a better reason to celebrate.
Make it memorable and share that success with friends and family. That will help you remember and when you go on your next retreat, you’ll be even more motivated to explore new things knowing that you can do whatever you set your mind to.
If you think this article could help someone else out, please use the share links below!
I would love to hear your comments!