Day 9. The action solution

Getting out of your head and into action

It's day nine and kaboom, this rocket is heading towards the launch pad and getting ready for lift off. I'm a rocketjan. After yesterday when I looked at the movie of this aspect of my life and went ewww, i didn't like that movie, I get to pitch another script where it's full of really great positive things that will have the audience and me cheering and clapping as I go from scene to scene.

My life is actually pretty great. I am a genuinely happy warm loving person, full of life and energy, I have a great job, live in a fantastic apartment in the city, I'm funny, smart and have had some wonderful adventures and many of the great things i have and have done are because i took action. And I am taking action again.

We can have all the intentions in the world of the things we dream of - like cutting back or quitting drinking, want to pursue - like cutting back or quitting drinking, or want to change - like cutting back or quitting drinking, but unless we actually take action, they will always remain out of reach, unlike the wine bottle that was always within reach.

So recently I took action.  Many people make plans, and make more plans and they organise what they have to do before they can do anything and the difference between success and failure is when you do something, rather than nothing.  Don't plan, don't think, don't worry, don't wonder......just do. So yes I took action.  I did literally go "right now, i am making change" and here i am going through a really positive transformation that i feel amazing benefits from both physically and mentally in such a short time.

I remind myself that this year was about conscious living and one of the aspects is that time is the only thing i will never get back, so how is it best used. I want to go forward with a clear head and make the most of the time i have on this planet.  So as someone who loves to take action, i am really excited by what i am doing.

All i have to do is read each of the chapters of the book and do the action steps and i will be closer to success.  This chapter uses the concept of READY AIM FIRE, where we just go for it and take a shot at the target and if we don't hit the bullseye first time (which may occur when people try to give up or cut back drinking) then at least we know where we have to line up the next shot (poor choice of words) and then fire. what would mr squiggle make of all this? i'm sure this concept would work for him.

In order to take action we have a few tips and tricks to take our desire out of our head and get going. Our theme today is taking action and that's what we have to do. We go on and off course and understand that it is easier once you take the first step and we can learn as we go along. We cross the bridge to thriving, whereby we take the work we have been doing in our inner world - our thoughts, feelings and beliefs and put these new ones into our outer world - our new movie. We become a hero by learning to make decisions based on our long term dreams rather than our short term decisions. We learn how to deal with sobriety anxiety where we ask ourself is there one little thing we can do right now to help solve what is worrying us - again, do something rather than nothing. We get ready, fire and then aim - doesn't matter that we missed the target, cause we can take another shot.

We had 2 little actions today. and they are:

Action 1. write down your top three worries related to problem drinking
Here we give ourself permission to stop worrying and know that we can take action to move forward.

My worry was:
1. that i can't stop till i have had too much.  I don't have the stop button

So.....I give myself permission to stop worrying. So far i have decided to make change and am now 9 days in. I've written a vision, explored the old and new me, learnt about willpower and haven't had alcohol for 8 days and by the end of today it will be 9. I am understanding the psychology of drinking and learning new life skills.

To address my concern, I will continue on with the program.  Appreciate that alcohol isn't the most important thing in life and continue to fill my toolbelt with life skills to ensure success.  I always find a way to make positive change and this challenge should be no different.

I am taking action and i am GREAT at taking action.

Action 2. Start a tiny habit - this can be used for anything that we may want to change.
we have to start a tiny habit by using one good habit to link us to another good habit that we want to start. We have to recite our vision when we are triggered by something habitual we do each day. We are reprogramming the wiring of our rocket ship so when we lift off we will be on the best path.

I've stuck my vision on my wall and read it each time i go to my bedroom and its on my desk at work so i can see it all the time and read it.

I've also added a couple of other really important things in my journal today as i have been collecting some top tips - they are part of the actions.

The first was was about Ready Aim Fire, which i mentioned earlier. where we just do something, plus we got a little tip to help to defeat procrastination.
1. start small. If you have an issue, what can you do in three minutes to make a start. Keep your life creative and simple.
2. Find and anchor.  use an existing routine to act as a trigger for a new habit - i do this now by writing little notes on my hand or using a piece of jewellry that i keep touching all the time as a reminder
3. Celebrate immediately. Acknowledge when you start to do this new behaviour.

For such a short chapter, there was a shit load of takeaways and when i read this next piece, i felt it totally summed up how i live my life. I have had some fucked up stuff happen, but I've just kept on powering through.

The mature human being goes about doing what needs to be done regardless of whether that person feels great or terrible. Knowing that you are the kind of person with that kind of self-control brings all the satisfaction and confidence you will ever need. Even on days when the satisfaction and confidence just aren't there, you can get the job done anyway.....

lets do the "how i feel test". shall we to see how the engine of the rocket is doing.
Feeling pretty good
went to bed really late but slept until i woke up from coughing. Although i feel tired, my head feels clear and i'm quite energetic.
2pm feeling a different kind of amazing energy
3.16pm feeling amazing - so inspired and challenged
5pm - thinking about what to have for tea and my habit of drinking while cooking. i realised that i don't actually have to drink while doing this
7pm - really felling like a glass of wine as i cook dinner. i can almost taste it

have re-read my vision and though about the before me and why i have made this great choice