Original photo by Norma*Iriz*

Whether it’s losing weight, working out, quitting smoking or just making time for yourself, what people tend to lack most isn’t information, but a strategy for implementation.

What is it that causes people give up giving up smoking? Why can some people lose weight and keep it off, whilst others can’t? What makes the difference between succeeded and failed? It invariably comes down to one thing: a breakdown of one of the following 15 steps. Get these right, and you can change any part of your life.

Whether it’s a top athlete, a great business person, or simply someone who’s achieved things that you admire, they’ll all have followed the following steps. They may not have done them all in this order, but they will have done them all.

Before you do anything though, you’re going to have to decide what you want to achieve. Try and phrase it in a positive way, and stick the the SMART rules for goal setting (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-limited). As such, don’t just say “I want to give up smoking”, but set a time frame. “I want to give up smoking over the next month”. Instead of saying “I want to lose weight,” say “I want to lose 12lbs over the next 12 weeks, by eating healthily, eating less, and working out”.

When you’ve decided what you want to do, the following steps should help you follow through. Put together, they form a pyramid which you can view or download here.

Foundation

• Desire. If you’re gonna change something, then you’ve got to be upset with how things are now. This is the number one reason why people don’t achieve things. They know they should give up smoking, but actually they don’t really care too much. They’d like to earn more money, or work from home, but it’d just be hassle. So if you’re upset with how something is right now, I’m going to say that’s a good thing. It shows that you care, and that’s the first step to change. ecide to change
• Target. So you know you want to change something. That’s great. But you’ve got to know where you want to end up. This comes into the S part of SMART. You need to know where you’re aiming to get to, or you’re never going to manage it, and you’ll just float around for a bit, then fail, and blame yourself. Make sure you’ve got an end point in mind.
• Planning. Break down where you want to get to into how to get there. Don’t decide you want to be fit, and then go out tomorrow and try and run a marathon. Everything needs to be broken down into small, measurable, attainable parts. You can do just about anything in life, as long as you make sure you do it in manageable chunks. So get those stages planned.
• Knowledge. Understanding why you haven’t got there already, and what’s holding you back is a vital part of this, and one of the hardest things to do. It’s time to be honest with yourself; and admit that you’re not how you want to be. Then accept that, and try and understand why. If you want to be more active, why do you spend time in front of the tele instead of working out? Is it because it’s going to be hard work? Do you just not really care? Or is it that you don’t want to do it alone? Ask yourself the questions, and then you’ll be able to move on.
• Patience. Learning to accept that things take time and how to keep the faith is a great skill in life, and one that (ironically) takes time to learn. You’re not going to change overnight, but that’s alright. Just as long as you make sure you keep taking a step forward every day, even when you get knocked down, or knocked back.

Layer Two

• Enjoyment. You need to make sure that you structure the changes you’re going to make in a way that’s rewarding and fun. Positive reinforcement really is so important. When you’ve got the structure of what you want to do sorted out, set yourself up with some rewards. If something breaks down into ten parts, then give yourself ten treats to have when you finish each one. That way, you’ll train yourself to keep going, no matter how hard it gets.
• Research. Go out and finding other people who’ve done what you want to do, and learn from them what it takes to do it. If there are books on the subject, read them. If there’s podcasts or blogs or videos, check them out. Immerse yourself in knowledge. Learn everything you can about it. After all, knowledge is power.
• Analyse. Look at what you’ve learned, then break it down and figure out how to do it. Now you’ve learned all you can, it’s time to look at what you’ve found, and see what you can do with it. What have other people said that’s worked for them? What’s held them back? How long did it take them? What advice helped others? It’s one thing to know about a subject, but it’s quite another to be able to apply it. Make sure you can do the latter.
• Resources. Find the tools you’re going to need to succeed. If there are progress trackers, maybe you should have one. If you want to take up walking, a pedometer might not be a bad idea. If you’re going to be working out, have an mp3 player and some headphones. If you’re giving up smoking, get some patches and gum. Get the tools you need to make this as simple and as manageable as possible.

Layer Three

• Roadblocks. Time to take another look at yourself. Try and identify the things that are going to hold you back, based on what you’ve learned. The better prepared you can be for them, the easier they’ll be to deal with as and when the come up. Know what your weakness and problems are going to be, and plan out how you’ll beat them.
• Journal. Keep track of your progress, starting with a benchmark. Know exactly where it is you’ve started from, so that you can compare over time. And don’t just write the measurable things, write everything to do with it. Any thoughts you’re having, anything that anyone’s said, any encouragement you got, write all that stuff down.
• Community. Go and find other people doing what you are, and engage with them. The old adage says “A problem shared is a problem halved”, and it’s true. If you’ve got other people around you who are going through the same things, then you’ll be able to talk to people who can relate and offer advice, support and encouragement. If you’re on your own, you’re going to find it a million times harder.

Layer Four

• Reciprocate. As you learn and progress, you’re going to discover new things. You’re a unique person, and though other people will have done what you’re trying to do before, no-one will ever have done it in quiet the same way. As such, you’re going to learn things other people won’t know, or have different ways of looking at things. Give back to the community that’s helped you, and help others in turn. You wouldn’t be where you are now, if others hadn’t helped you. Even when you can’t see who they were, or they chose to support you without revealing themselves, they’ll have been there. You owe it to them to pass it on.
• Reward. Now you’re achieving the stages you broke your goal down into, it’s time to start rewarding yourself. Remember all those things you promised yourself after you finished each one? Make sure you make time for them. You might be tempted to skip them, but don’t. They’re just as important as any other part, so make sure you follow through on your promises to yourself.

Pinnacle

• Continue. Now you’ve finished it, whatever it is, comes the hard part. You can never go back to how you were before. If you’ve lost that weight, going back will only put it all back on again. You need to throttle back, but you’re always going to have to be different now. Over time, it’ll become second nature, like anything that you do regularly. You’ll adapt. But it’s going to be weird for a while. Don’t worry, it’ll fade in time. Just make sure you don’t relapse, and if you do, sort it out immediately. If you don’t, all that hard work will have been for nothing. Don’t waste the change you’ve made; stick with it.

When it comes right down to it, there’s really nothing that’s beyond your grasp. So if you want to make a change in your life, I’d encourage you to start doing it today. Go through what we’ve just covered, and apply it to yourself. Make your life incredible, because no-one else is going to do it for you.